we're live in times square where it is already 2010. >> i can't believe it. it's flown by. >> it has flown by. >> and your hair is frizzing. >> i don't know what that means. one of the things that's interesting about tyke times s this place clears out after 12:15. the crowds disperse quickly. cleaning crews move in quickly. >> is that one of your side jobs? >> cleaning? >> just to make ends meet? it's a tough year. >> got to do what you can. >> bravo "my life on the d list." >> the crowd, a matter of minutes. >> don't act like a few people aren't going to roll home. >> a few people will roll home. >> and maybe make new friends. >> the police did a thorough and good job as they do every year in times square of keeping this thing very safe. >> barricades. systems. >> very heavy security. >> yes. >> and it was a great -- i think it was good. >> yes.

it was -- as far as i know no one got hurt. just your career. took a little hit. >> we do what we can. it's all right. >> it's over for lance bass. let's face it. no, i tease lance bass. i love that guy. >> gary tuchman i think may still be running. >> what is he running from? i mean, really obviously an emotional issue. >> there's the fun run in central park. >> have you tried to get him counseling? >> where are you now? >> gary, what's wrong? >> reporter: kathy thinks i need counseling? i'm insulted by this. i thought we were doing a wonderful thing. are we doing a wonderful thing? everybody? how do you feel about running on new year's eve, new year's day? people from all over the world. one mile up to the race. my daughter, is a msamantha is g me i can't quit. next year i'll tell you my final time. anderson, kathy, happy new year. >> happy new year. i'm incredibly impressed. >> you don't think they paid

those seven people? >> last year he ran with his daughter. she completed the race as well. >> was that his real daughter? >> absolutely it was. >> i'm doing a very special episode of "law and order." i'll be filming it. >> i love "law and order." >> it's a different side of me. >> i call it suv. >> my mother calls it suv. it's the svu one and it has twists as the show does. follow me on twitter and get the book and watch the "d list." see me live in madison square garden. >> it's like a machine. you're plugging everything. >> really, andy? >> let's take a look at the ball drop again. just ringing in the new year. let's take a look at how it went down. >> okay. ♪ i will wake up in a city that

doesn't sleep ♪ ♪ and when i'm king of the hill, top of the heap ♪ >> nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. >> and that was the scene. >> is that poppy? >> that was poppy in the crowd. >> i thought that was poppy making out with that guy. >> no, it was poppy exhorting people to dance. >> can we admit poppy is the real story of the night? it's all about poppy. >> for kathy and all of us on both sides of the camera at cnn, have a great year, happy and safe new year. a good decade and a safe night. up next, tom foreman with all the best and all the worst of 2009. bye-bye.

change, change, change. >> reporter: 2009 exploded across mark like a million points of hope and promise. >> beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. >> but it soon fizzled down to the same old problem. >> we don't have time to do that. >> the economy went from bad to worse. >> there's no doubt times are still tough. >> jobs ran short. and tempers did, too. and we're going to grind it all out on the mean streets with our panel. ing a actor and author ben stein. comedian robert cho. joy behar. jack gray. political analyst leslie sanchez. l.a. times columnist joel stein. from the daily beast, tina brown. and mtv's sway call loway. all here to help us unveil 360's all the best, all the worst of

2009. welcome, i'm tom foreman. if you did not get a little nervous this year you weren't paying attention. from economics to politics to pop culture everything seemed to be in flux. sure the nation signed on for change but by year's end some were ready to say keep the change. let's move on to better times. still, as we chart our course into the future, it's worth looking back on all that got us to where we are. back to where the whole big, bad year began. we've got to give the biggest and worst story of 2009 to the economy. because it certainly gave it to us. >> i think it's a year where america had to get off its sugar high. >> started out with an economic

crisis and seemed to be a bottomless pit and started out as a very frightening time. >> certainly if you had a job you were really lucky and everybody was scaling back in their own way. >> from the start all the numbers were running bad, employment down, home sales down, business down, down, down. >> i think it was a brutal year. i think this was a year when americans worked twice as hard to earn half as much. >> the economy sucks. every man for himself. start stuffing your mattress full of cash. >> worst ratio of the year. 6-1 as in six people applying for every one job opening. unemployment wound up at 10%. way up from the beginning of the year when it was well below 8%. >> i like to fish. when i fish now i fish with dinner. before i fish was for it. it's different now. >> the worst waiting list. almost 16 million americans at one point looking for paychecks and not finding them. >> with all the unemployed

people, did the hands across america, they could circle the lower 48. why aren't we working on that? that's what the internet's for. should i tweet this now? we can get this done by noon. >> we have no place to go but up. >> we certainly pushed the deficit up in our efforts to stop the financial hemorrhages. there was federal money to stabilize banks, car companies, and more. the most stimulating number to be tossed around like popcorn? $1 trillion. >> i can't comprehend what $1 trillion is. i have negative $30 in my checking account. >> i don't know how many zeros that is. it's hard to fathom. >> it was shocking how much the government can spend. >> even in a recession they're just crazy with the credit card. i think it's online shopping that's done this. >> the amount of money that the government is spending relative to the amount it's taking in has become a national catastrophe and it is a catastrophe that cannot be avoided forever.

we're going to be paying so much interest on the national debt. so much of each human being's work year is going to be spent paying the interest on the national debt. it is just going to be a crushing, terrible burden. >> still, even many critics call the stimulus plan the best bailout possible among a lot of bad options. >> i think there's no question that without the extreme measures that were taken by the obama administration we really would have had a collapsed economy which would have been an absolute catastrophe. >> worst job fare tote board. the white house's job website which tracks fictional jobs along with factual ones and relied on the double speak of the year. jobs created or saved. >> i always got the feeling the jobs created were the people in charge of deciding how the jobs were lost or created. i don't think other jobs were created. >> best and most common question of the year? >> are there going to be jobs tomorrow? am i going to have a job tomorrow? >> it's a scary time for people.

this is seasonal time and so people are in particular dire straits. let the kids start playing with pots and pans like they used to in 40s. it was fine. bang the pots with a wooden spoon. >> best bounces. the stock market shot up and down but overall took the high road. the housing market, too, seemed to finally hit bottom and homes started selling again in some places. although buyers often came in through the bargain basement. worst time? all the mortgages still out there teetering on the blink of foreclosure and the banks that keep falling like dominos. >> we have passed through a spectacular bubble in real estate. somebody is going to have to pay for it. >> i own the housing market, stock market, i don't know blackjack, roulette. it's kind of all the same to me now. so i try not to play any of it. you know? >> i think that i'm willing to

give faith and have faith that things will change. things have been so awful for the last so long. >> enough on the economy. there were plenty of other things to take our breath away this year. including, i don't think we're in alaska anymore, toto. >> you lie! >> and the t.e.a. party express. >> the dna of america is liberty and freedom. >> no wonder hillary clinton is smiling. she knows what's coming up on all the best, all the worst, 2009.

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a couple of years ago, almost no one would have expected a little-known senator from illinois to become president, but if barack obama anticipated the political storm waiting for him, he might not have taken the job. >> i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear -- >> the inauguration was cold,

but the politics heated up fast. >> with two wars raging, the economy in chaos, and no sign of the bipartisan cooperation the president promised. >> les let's be real, whether he was a republican or democrat, anyone walking in his shoes would have a hard time. >> he walked into a job that has a lot of complexities. you have to deal with a lot of variables in order to make change happen. >> the republicans hate it when we bring it up that it was bush's fault, but it was bush's fault. >> there was so much enthusiasm and excitement about obama taken over. and everybody thought everything would change overnight. >> i don't think we defined the destiny of change that well, right? we just wanted things to be, like, awesome. >> worst lack of awesomeness. the battle over health care reform. it was the president's signature issue, but the attacks came early and often. the worst cheap shot -- >> the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are

here illegally. >> you lie! >> -- goes to republican congressman joe wilson. but democrats got angry, too, splitting as they debated coverage for abortions, illegal immigrants, and the ever present worry about cost. >> this government is out of control. >> the best political theater -- >> you're a socialist fascist pig. >> those town hall meetings where insults were traded like baseball cards. >> you don't trust me? >> on what planet do you spend most of your time? >> as much as the president tried to make a case that really health care is such a big part of the economy, it's all of this, families do not see it that way. >> best bus tour -- >> the dna of america is liberty and freedom. >> the t.e.a. partyers caught top democrats and republicans offguard by pulling big crowds coast to coast. >> you know i'm a huge tea

drinker, and these t.e.a. parties lacked a lot of tea. >> i think the t.e.a. parties were really against being marginalized. some people were against taxes, some people were prolife, there wasn't a common theme. >> there's always a group of angry people in every country, though. they get more press because they're more entertaining than watching joe biden rearranging his hair or something. you know what i mean? >> it's possible the best last laugh will go to the president, however, despite setbacks, his health care bill, all 2,000 pages, is still on the table. >> i imagine the health care bill in one form or another will pass and there will be a government control over a huge amount of health care provision. and that scares me to death. i don't want a government bureaucrat telling me what kind of health care i can get.

>> sonia sotomayor, elected to the supreme court. worst photo opt, could give it to air force one buzzing new york or the beard summit. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> but the award goes to the party crashers. never have two people looked so good making white house security look so bad. it proved a remarkably good year for other political players. best power couple, returning champions, hillary and bill clinton. >> hillary clinton looks like a rock star, very bipartisan looking, very pro-american and very high marks from both republicans and democrats. >> and he played a pivotal role in getting the two journalists released from north korea. >> we express our gratitude to president clinton. >> sarah palin's resignation from the governorship of alaska.

>> best counter attack? palin, again with a best-selling book. facts? who needs them. >> really brilliant because she invigorated the republican party in a way i've never seen it ever. it was like this revolution. >> a great visceral vitality about sarah palin. >> i think she's just an amazing populist. from a purely tv standpoint sarah palin is gold because she says whatever she wants to say and winds up blaming liberal media. >> she's a dynamic, exciting woman, but as president when life and death decisions for the entire world are involved i would be quite frightened of having her there. but quite frankly, i'm frightened of having mr. obama there, too. >> as to family matters, worst almost in law, levi johnston who fathered a palin grandchild and

dropped his pants in the pages of "playgirl." >> levi let it all hang out johnston. he's a genius. >> worst bad girl, meghan mccain who posted a late-night photo of herself online, but she gets the best response to critics saying "i have always embraced my curves and will continue to do so." >> one of the things that is so curious in the way of today's connective culture is that people put pictures of themselves, you know, throwing around their arms in the air with a drink or whatever and then resent the reaction. >> the best family portrait. the obamas. michelle -- >> she's stunning. >> -- and the girls always looked cool no matter how much hot water dad was in. >> it's a great family. to see them experiencing things in that way was a very strong positive image for this country. that's something all of us can appreciate. >> well -- >> i can't get that excited about a woman's arms. i mean, i know the country was

just in love with her arms, and she's a lovely person. i have met her. she's very nice. >> beyond the world of politics it seemed like a lot of people were asking, why not, this year. that put plenty of folks on thin ice by the time winter rolled around. when all the best, all the worst of 2009 continues. would you like a pony ? yeah. would you like a pony ? yeah ! ( cluck, cluck, cluck ) oh, wowww !

that's fun ! you didn't say i could have a real one. well, you didn't ask. even kids know when it's wrong to hold out on somebody. why don't banks ? we're ally, a new bank that alerts you when your money could be working harder and earning more. it's just the right thing to do. it could be working harder and earning more. to the heart of belfast... it might be because you met tom... who owns the fishing boat. the castle is actually 300 years of age. a mermaid darts in dark hollow...

light drips in shimmering scale... did i merely see a girl that day... and drm the glorious tail? but i'd still recommend you visit belfast... before you leave northern ireland.

the world of big news stories rumbled in 2009 from the saber rattling of kim jong-il to

the fist shaking of mahmoud ahmadinejad. iranian protesters ran beneath a banner of a young woman. the pan a.m. terrorist walked free. iraq and afghanistan heard plans for american troop buildups and pullouts. even as a military community dealt with tragedy close to home and concern for the growing number of veterans kept growing, too. >> i think we owe it to them, absolutely owe it to them to take care of them when they come back. >> yet for many americans the biggest worry was a tiny bug. worst virus, the h1n1/swine flu had everyone on the run. it was less deadly than fear. >> i don't want to come off as pro-pandemic, but i feel like i have been cheated. like, when's it coming? >> the vaccine was also much harder to find than federal officials predicted.

>> if you see swine flu -- what the government would do if it was really a serious virus, would be a picture of the government unable to cope. >> it's one of those things where you say, i don't want to come in today and your bosses are like, why? you can easily say, i have swine flu and you're excused. i think swine flu came the biggest excuse not go to work. >> on the other hand -- >> i think this concern is the vaccine is some kind of government trick or government mind control to wreck people's lives is pretty silly. >> airplanes had their share of serious troubles including the air france jet that disappeared over the atlantic. there were also some quirky incidents. worst navigation. pilots who flew from san diego to minneapolis and then kept flying. overshooting their target by 150 miles before turning back. >> we have distractions -- >> best improvisation.

the miracle on the hudson. one plane, a flock of geese and a mind-blowing emergency landing in the river by captain sully sullenberger. >> sully was great. he was right out of central casting. like the clint eastwood of airline pilots. imagine him when the geese hit the engines. he was like, not on my watch. >> i don't know if he was lauded because he was able to land in the hudson river or just got a great parking spot in new york. >> gay marriage supporters saw two more states allow same-sex weddings but several other votes ran against their cause. >> i think if gay people want to get married more power to them, but i think it should be a state matter. >> beauty queen carrie prejean spoke up against same-sex marriage but ended up out of her crown, and gown, too, as rumors of sexy videotapes swirled out of her past. >> i think that she -- she really is proof that looks are

not everything. >> did anyone see her sex tape? i don't think she has sex. it's tease, tease, tease with her. i need more -- i need either more or less carrie prejean. this level of carrie prejean, no thanks. >> then she goes on larry king and tries to walk off larry king. >> larry, you're being inappropriate. >> i was like, what do you mean, i'm inappropriate? he should have said to her, eight sex tapes, that's inappropriate. >> somebody who stood for strong, christian conservative values but some of that can get laughed at, i think, and oversimplified when you appear on different types of shows that don't understand what she's talking about. >> it turned out to be a terrible year for relationships in the news. worst boyfriend, r&b singer chris brown, who beat up his pop star girlfriend, rihanna, on grammy night, no less. >> oh, i'm so mad at chris brown. i'm still mad about it and i'm glad they're not together. i was so furious about that. >> you can't go around beating up women.

>> i think that it sends a terrible message to young men out there. >> you're voted off the island. >> best handling of a bad situation? david letterman admitted sex with staff members after an alleged extortion attempt. many fans were disappointed but many gave him props for coming clean. >> the way he handled the sex scandal was so classy, such an elegant, just perfect way to handle something that could potentially be really ugly. >> the reason that he went forward was because of the extortion. that he knew it was going to go public. that's not exactly sincere effort to kind of, you know, show you my transgressions. >> the women who were involved with him did it totally consensually. he didn't do anything wrong. >> worst excuse for inexcusable behavior. he was hiking the appalachian trail. that was one explanation for the disappearance of south carolina governor mark sanford who was actually off to argentina to see

his mistress. >> married men can go missing for about eight minutes before they need a very, very good excuse, i.e., coming home. once you pass the four-hour mark you are very, very missing as a husband. >> you can imagine that call. his staff, you know, how was the hike? oh, it was so good. oh, i hiked twice. i haven't hiked twice since college. amazing. >> so were his repeated attempts to explain himself. >> each time he opened his mouth it just made it worse. he made his wife even madder. >> but absolutely the worst drive into the rough, tiger woods. his late-night car crash was just the beginning of a hard road of revelations. best crime news, the surprising rescue of jaycee dugard 18 years after she was kidnapped. worst? there are too many to choose from. shootings, robberies, fires