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[Whitfield:] All right, I think everybody can identify with this next question. Do you ever find it tough to get a loan with decent interest rates? Well, new rules are in the works requiring lenders to spell out why. CNN's Christine Romans is here with details on that. So, Christine, break this all down for us.
[Christine Romans, Cnn Business Correspondent:] Look, Fred, if there is anything that consumers really need to know over the past few years, right, it's like why they were getting a certain interest rate. It's sort of mysterious. It's called risk-based pricing. That's what it's called by the lenders and by the Fed. But the Fed and the FTC, two big regulators of your money and the banks are saying that now there will be new rules so that you must know, you must be notified why you're getting a higher interest rate, for example, than the average of what most people are getting. You have to be notified that you're getting a higher interest rate and they have to give you a free credit report to show you specifically why, that what it is in your credit history that makes you riskier. Because, again, the riskier you are in the eyes of the lender, the higher the interest rate or the different terms that they can offer you. Now this is effective January 1st, 2011. So still...
[Whitfield:] A year?
[Romans:] ... consumers have quite a bit of time here before they're going to get a year, I know. It's something that we've noticed in a lot of these new rules that are supposed to be consumer protections, Fredricka, and I'm sure you noticed it in the new credit card the new credit card rules, too. The banks, the lenders, have been given a lot of time to comply with these new rules. They've said they need a lot of time to comply but again, consumers are a little frustrated because they would like to know specifically why they are a higher risk. And it also goes into financial literacy a little bit, too. I mean for a long time there was a boom and credit was easy and it was sort of mysterious how you got money but there was a lot of money to borrow quite freely. Well, those days are over. And now people really need to be empowered and know why. This will matter for anybody who's getting a credit card, Fredricka, a mortgage, a car loan, who's borrowing any kind of money. They'll have to be notified when they get higher interest rates and why those interest rates are high.
[Whitfield:] OK. So this brings me now to the "Roman Numeral." So it's not going to be 2011.
[Romans:] No.
[Whitfield:] What is it going to be?
[Romans:] It's 720. 720 is the "Romans Numerals." And if you're somebody like me...
[Whitfield:] Yes. Yes. Go ahead.
[Romans:] You want it to be 720 or higher. This is your credit score. If you have 720 or higher credit score, you're get to get among the best terms. You're going to get among the best and most competitive interest rates. For the people who have not been able to keep their credit history, you know, burnished and bright, they are the ones who really need to know what's going on, why they're getting worse terms and the like. And you know, it's almost a catch-22 for people because they've had a couple of missteps, they've may be had a personal bankruptcy or they are near a personal bankruptcy. They need to borrow money and their credit is really rotten. So it means that they have to pay even more for the money they borrow which keeps them kind of in a hole. So all of these rules, all of this transparency is good. It's just going to take another year before anybody gets it.
[Whitfield:] Yes. And it does...
[Romans:] Really right there.
[Whitfield:] Does it not seem like never before has it been so important that credit score rating? So if you need to work toward that "Roman Numeral," that 720, this would be the year, 2010 is the year to try to straighten things out, get your...
[Romans:] I think so, too.
[Whitfield:] You know, your score up because everything I guess everything rides on that credit score nowadays.
[Romans:] If you don't need to buy anything, then if you don't need to borrow any money to buy anything, the credit score doesn't matter. But remember when you're applying for a job, your employer is probably doing a credit check on you, anyway. Your employer or your prospective employer is looking and saying, whoa, what's happening here? Is this person trustworthy with money? Does this person have, you know, financial issues that we need to know about? So, yes, you're right. I think 2010 should be the year of financial recovery and repair for everyone.
[Whitfield:] Everybody. All right, thanks so much, Christine Romans, appreciate it, from New York.
[Romans:] Sure.
[Whitfield:] All right, this morning a U.S. general in retreat. Major General Anthony Cucolo, rather, is dialing back on his controversial order making pregnancy in a war zone punishable by court-martial. CNN's Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon. So what's the general saying now, Barbara?
[Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Well, good morning, Fredricka. Retreat or clarification? Either way, the story not unexpectedly is changing just a bit. Major General Anthony Cucolo, that commander in northern Iraq, held a telephone press call with reporters late yesterday. He said he's going to stick to his guns that soldiers who become pregnant or impregnate another soldier will be disciplined but he wanted to make clear now that he has no intention of court-martialing anybody. Have a listen via this telephone press conference what he had to say.
[Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo Iii, U.s. Army:] I regret that the term "court-martial" is bandied about or mentioned by one of the earliest written reports on this. I have not ever considered court-martial for this. I do not ever see myself putting a soldier in jail.
[Starr:] But General Cucolo was obviously frustrated and concerned about the mounting public criticism about all of this. But nonetheless, he says the rules will stick for the 22,000 troops under his command in northern Iraq and he reiterated what he's been saying for the last several days. The reason, in the war zone, he says he needs every troop he's got. He can't afford to be sending female soldiers home if they get pregnant. So that's his major reasoning. It's about mission first, he says. But still the criticism of this entire matter goes on. Fredricka?
[Whitfield:] All right. Standing his ground but at the same time retreating just simply because the words court-martial were used. But standing his ground on the policy set forth. All right, thanks so much, Barbara Starr, appreciate that. All right, the health care reform bill complicated and confusing. You have questions and we'll have answers.