[Baldwin:] It is the week before Christmas, and a few places are busier than normal. I'm talking about the airports on the east coast and the west coast. They're full of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines and airmen lucky enough to be sprung from duty to be home with their families for the holidays. I want to bring in Casey Wian who is at the marine corps base in Camp Pendleton, California. A busy day there for a lot of military families. Casey, hang tight for me. I want to hear from CNN's Reynolds Wolf. He's been at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. And Reynolds, to you.
[Reynolds Wolf, Ams Meteorologist:] Brooke, the scene here today has been incredible. We've been seeing one group of soldiers after another come up these escalators. They walk right past here. Here's a group of them. They go right past this USO desk and through those doors. We're expecting about 2,000 today. Another 2,000 tomorrow. Then as we fast forward into Sunday, possibly another 5,000 service people right through these doors. And when you think about it, an entire year, they have half a billion that will step along the same steps we're walking now. Obviously it is all decorated, the great holiday things. Also here, which I love looking at this, a check-in sheet, your sign-up sheet. If you look carefully, psych the states them come from places like Texas, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, as far away as even Alaska. And they're from all branches of the military, from the air force, from say the army, the marines, the Navy, coast guard. And when they come in, they get the opportunity to kind of kickback, watch some TV, enjoy some game, check out the Wi-Fi or get a bite to eat. They got a little of everything from muffins to cookies to hotdogs. Great hotdogs, aren't they?
[Unidentified Male:] They're great hot dogs.
[Wolf:] The best hotdogs.
[Unidentified Male:] Especially made for our troops.
[Wolf:] There you go, especially made for everyone. It gives them a chance to kickback a bit. Here you can see the guys enjoying video game and who wouldn't? Even a chance to get away from that excitement and go to places where it is a little more quiet, say back here. We've got some office space where they can just enjoy a little bit of solitude. Catch up on their e-mail. That's the latest we've got. Brooke, let's kick it back to you.
[Baldwin:] Reynolds, thank you. Now to the west coast. I hear the screams. Casey, want to go right to you. Camp Pendleton, talk to me about what we're about to see.
[Casey Wian, Cnn Correspondent:] Brooke, behind me you can see alpha company, the first battalion, fourth marines. They're just returning. And over here, you can see their family members waiting for their arrival. We've been seeing reunions happening all morning long. And it is just one of the most incredible experiences that you can witness, seeing some of these marines reunite with their families. In many cases they've seen their babies for the first time. This group of marines has been deployed overseas for a little more than seven months. And during their tenure, they have provided close air support in Afghanistan. They've also provided flood relief to victims in Pakistan. And back in September, you may remember when a group of Somali pirates captured a German cargo ship, this group of marines, they are the marines that actually recaptured that commercial cargo ship from those Somali pirates, rescued the civilian crew. So they provided many important operations that we often don't think about. There's been so much focus on Iraq and Afghanistan. But the U.S. military, obviously, is deployed all over the world. And you can start to hear the screams of these family members who are just anxiously awaiting the arrival, their reunions with their loved ones.
[Baldwin:] Casey, let me jump in and ask. Some people may be saying, why aren't these kids and mothers and husbands running toward each other? Explain the process. They have to hang back momentarily.
[Wian:] Well, the process is fairly involved. They landed, they were on ships offshore. And they came to shore in smaller boats and rode over to the Camp Pendleton base in buses. And then they have to go check their gear and store their weapons. And so many of them have been here for several hours. And the family members have been waiting anxiously for them to actually reunite. But it is quite a long process that they have to go through. Let's just listen to this.
[Baldwin:] Deal. Here they go.
[Wian:] Welcome home. Can we talk to you for just a second? Tell me your name, your rank, and who you're with.
[Unidentified Male:] Lance Corporal Ibarra. This is my wife Sarah and my daughter Alexandra.
[Wian:] How old is she?
[Unidentified Male:] She's 15 months, sir.
[Wian:] So you've been away from her for how long?
[Unidentified Male:] About seven months, sir.
[Wian:] What has it been like?
[Unidentified Male:] It's tough, sir. I miss them a lot. Communication is not so good all the time, so it is good to finally see them, sir.
[Wian:] And what is it like to have your husband back?
[Unidentified Female:] It's amazing. It's so amazing. I was so excited to make sure he was back by Christmas. I can't tell you how excited I was.
[Wian:] That's going to be a pretty good Christmas at the Ibarra house.
[Unidentified Male:] Yes, sir.
[Unidentified Female:] Yes.
[Wian:] Thanks for your time. Thanks for your service. Brooke, it just doesn't get any better than that.
[Baldwin:] It really doesn't. It was just total serendipity that they were able to catch this at this precise moment. Thank you so much. And please pass along our gratitude to these men and women for all of their duty, their duty overseas. What a wonderful moment to share with everyone.
[Wian:] Will do. Will do.
[Baldwin:] Casey, thank you. Now moving on how about that? Amazing. I want to remind you, we're also waiting for more live pictures. Not more of that though perhaps we will see more. We're waiting for President Obama. He is expected in to sign a tax cut deal into law minutes from now after weeks and weeks of fighting back and forth between the Democrats and the Republicans. So who will be standing by him when he signs that bill into law? And is this really a defining moment in Mr. Obama's presidency? That is next. Don't move.