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CNN Live Sunday

A Look At Travel Delays Around The Country; Ali Velshi Discusses Investing In Art; Interview with Michael Scott

Aired November 28, 2004 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boom, like quick, there, see, there's something behind us right now.

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ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Not Iraq, not the Amazing Race, and not even Survivor. We'll take you behind the scenes of the latest reality TV show.

Ever think about art as an investment? Well, the returns might surprise you. And you don't have have to be a millionaire to profit.

And this woman is sailing around the world solo. How is she doing so far?

Hello, and welcome to CNN live Sunday. I'm Andrea Koppel. All of that and more after this quick check of the headlines.

Several people are reported injured following a major earthquake in Japan. The magnitude quake was 7.0 and struck Northern Japan 2 hours ago. There are no reports of any serious damage or deaths.

A victory for advocates of stem cell research. Voters in Switzerland approved a new law today permitting medical research on human embryonic stem cells. The law allows scientists to extract stem cells from unwanted embryos, but prohibits cloning.

In China, a frantic rescue operation is under way to save over 160 miners trapped after a major gas explosion. The blast tore through a coal mine in Northern China today. So far, 127 miners have escaped or have been rescued, while 25 others are reported to have died.

We start with a nation on the move. Travel and Thanksgiving go together like turkey and stuffing. And now that the feast is over and the long holiday is coming to an end, Americans are filling airports and highways across the country, but the journey home won't be easy for some. Crowds, bad weather or a combination of both are causing delays in some places, no surprises there.

We have correspondents at some of the busiest airports monitoring the situation for you you. Kimberly Osias is at Reagan International Airport near Washington DC. Alina Cho is at New York's LaGuardia airport. Denise Belgrave is at Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. And Miguel Marquez is at LAX. Let's start with Alina Cho.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Andrea, thank you. By all accounts, surprisingly enough it is a typical Sunday here at LaGuardia. Why is it a surprise? Well, as you've been hearing, this is supposed to be one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, the busiest, in fact.

No real signs of that here at LaGuardia. The lines seem to be moving, people seem to be going through security fairly quickly. LaGuardia and Newark, we can report, one-hour delays out of those airports, mostly due to high winds. JFK, no reported delays. But those who are delayed today are finding creative ways to pass the time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're delayed. That's why we're sitting here relaxing.

CHO: Passing the time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. We just found out we're delayed another hour and a half. So, we're trying to go to Akron, Canton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going down to Fort Lauderdale, getting out of this weather, how could you be upset about that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Joining us is Kerry Griffin of Travelocity, the online ticketing agency. Kerry, you're here compiling data for people going online to your Web site. What is the national picture in terms of what's going on at the airports you're monitoring?

KERRY GRIFFIN, TAVELOCITY.COM: Nationally what we found is across the board we are getting through security and checking in relatively hassle-free.

CHO: But then once they get to the gate.

GRIFFIN: Once they get to the gates, travelers are experiencing 45 minutes to an hour delays, primarily in the Northeast and Mountain West.

CHO: OK. And by Mountain West, you mean places like Denver, Reno?

GRIFFIN: Correct, Salt Lake City.

CHO: Right. And you're finding that the big problem or the big factor here today seems to be the weather and that surprised you a bit, right? Why?

GRIFFIN: Well, we're here to alert our travelers, if there are check-in problems, traffic problems, and we haven't found that across the board. We're located in 25 busiest airports and all of the delays that we have found are due to weather.

CHO: Are you a little surprised that you haven't seen more delays? I mean, after all, this is the busiest travel weekend of the year.

GRIFFIN: Yes, and we're happily surprised that we haven't.

CHO: Pleasantly surprised.

GRIFFIN: Exactly.

CHO: All right. Kerry Griffin of Travelocity, we thank you for joining us today.

The other bit of good news coming out of New York is that though, there are still some high winds, the sky seemed to be clear and hopefully that will help holiday travelers get to their destinations, mostly home, on time.

We're going to turn it over now to Kimberly Osias who joins us now from National Airport near Washington D.C.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Alina, I tell you, the story is much the same here. Very, very smooth situation at Reagan National Airport. Remember, we all heard about the 37 million plus people that were going to be traveling more than 50 miles from home taking to the air and to the roads. Well we haven't seen those folks coming back, in part because they are probably scattering their travel, following all of that good information that we heard, really allowing ample cushion time about two to two and a half hours.

And speaking about allowing ample time, and on time check out this screen. This is unbelievable, the departures much like the arrivals, everything on time all the way down from Indianapolis to New York, amazing And part again, because people have been adhering to the good advice from the experts, and also take a look at this scene outside here, outside of Reagan National Airport. Absolutely beautiful, clear, blue skies, making for quite a smooth situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE; We had to get up at 4:30 in the morning, just to get to the airport, and the airport was really crowded, a lot of people. But we're back. We're tired, but we had a great time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Got here about two and a half hours before my departure time, just to make sure that everything was going to be smooth. But now, I don't know. I hope I get my luggage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: And speaking about luggage, this is the secondary or the screening area here. Some other good hints from TSA, they say all of those holiday leftovers that may have expanded your waistline, well, don't let that expand your luggage, because that may actually give some false positives, especially that fruitcake that you may not have liked the first go round, well don't take it back fort second.

Reporting live, Kimberly Osias, back to you Andrea.

KOPPEL: Well, so long as it was the fruitcake and not what I happen to love, which is the cranberry relish. That would get everywhere. Thanks so much, Kimberly.

Now we're going to head south to the world's busiest passenger airport, that's Hartsfield/Jackson in Atlanta. That's where we're going to find our Denise Belgrave who is watching her post there. Hi, Denise.

DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Andrea. How are you doing?

Just as my colleagues said, we have a beautiful travel day today. The skies are blue, the winds are pretty reasonable. And if you look behind me, you can see it's very calm, people are getting through the airport relatively quickly.

We talked to airport officials earlier this morning and they said they expected an increase of about 60,000 passengers today over what they would normally do on a Sunday, but that doesn't seem to have had any big impact here. It was a busier earlier this morning and it's probably going to get a little busier later in the day. But with 37 million people traveling it's surprising.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I expected a lot more people. This has been very smooth. It just seems like a regular travel day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I expected there to be a lot of traffic, a lot of hecticness and everything. So, I actually brought my mom to the airport like three hours early than she was supposed to be here, and she was like why are we here so early? There's no crowds, no nothing.

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BELGRAVE: Well, I think it's better to get there early than to get there, late -- Andrea.

KOPPEL: ALL right. So, we've gone south, we've gone north, now it's time to head over to the west, where CNN's Miguel Marquez is standing by at Los Angeles International Airport. So, how is it looking over there, Miguel?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was looking absolutely horrible just a few minutes ago there, Andrea, but now it's looking a heck of a lot better. We're at terminal one of six terminals here, the Southwest Terminal. We're going to show you what's left of the line down here, it's sort of small line. Minutes ago, literally, about 10, 15 minutes ago, there was about 100, maybe 200 feet long.

One of the people who was looking at that line is Scott Lilibeau who is from Portland. You're heading back today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

MARQUEZ: When you got here, what did you see?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The line was probably about 50 yards back there before we came in and checked our bags.

MARQUEZ: It's amazing how well they get through it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was moving pretty quick. Faster than the Disneyland lines.

MARQUEZ: And how well is your travel experience going today?

UNIDENTFIED MALE: Pretty good. If the lines are going to stay small like they are now, it is going to be a pretty good ride, I think.

MARQUEZ: Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Have a good flight home.

These guys are here. Their flight is at 4:00. So, they got here way early for that flight. But the problems are not so much at here at LAX in the west but at Reno/Tahoe International Airport up in Nevada. They've been having serious problems over the last 24 hours or so.

Yesterday they added 18 inches of snow in the area. And for 7 hours, it shut down the airport. About 69 flights, approximately, had to be canceled, that stranded thousands of passengers. The airports saying that things should be back to normal by about Tuesday.

The airport also saying that it wasn't their fault. They had their runways cleared and the planes deiced, but the instrument landing equipment, which allows planes to land in heavy fog or snow failed. FAA, they say, operates that equipment.

The FAA says that this is the second time in a month that that equipment has failed. They know that two parts of that equipment failed this last time. They're not sure what caused it the first time to fail.

All of it is under investigation. And the airports certainly up in Reno/Tahoe want some answers, because it shudders their entire airport every time that happens.

Back here at LAX, though, it is a beautiful, sunny day. And it appears as though things are moving pretty smoothly -- Andrea.

KOPPEL: The kind of news that everyone wants to hear. Miguel Marquez out in LAX, thanks so much. Well, is it snowing, raining or clear where you're headed? To find out, we go down south to meteorologist Orelon Sidney who is at the CNN Weather Center. It's looking pretty nice out there -- Orelon.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, there are some trouble spots. Most of the nation is enjoying pretty good travel weather. But take a look at all of the planes in the air. This is current, real-time data. I guess the delay is about 15 minutes showing all of the planes in the air across the nation at the current time.

If you have this many planes in the air, you're going to run into some weather. And we have some across the Southern plains, the Central plains and the Northeast. The Northeast probably the area with the greatest potential for delays.

But the good news is, a lot of this big storm system is moving out. This is a new cold front that's pushing off the coast now. It has cleared Philadelphia, New York, most of Long Island, but Boston Logan still going to have some problems with rain and wind in the forecast. In fact, you have 162-minute delays at last check.

The ground stop has been lifted. All planes can say get to Boston. It's just going to take awhile to do that.

Denver Stapleton was deicing, no delays showing there. They did have a few delays, but they've done a great job out there.

New York LaGuardia, still looking at delays close to two hours. And Newark, also looking at delays of about one hour in those areas.

There's quite a bit of delay activity, too, in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Naples. That is just due to the number of people in the air trying to get in and out of the airports.

Here's the way the forecast shapes up for the rest of the evening. The East Coast, you're not going to get much pain from the weather. As soon as this low pressure system clears out from the coast, you're just going to see cold air and clear conditions settling in.

But our winter-type storm moves across the plains states today and tonight. Could see as much as six to eight inches of rainfall along Interstate 80. If you have to travel through parts of the plains, especially Nebraska, watch out for potential heavy snows in those areas -- Andrea.

KOPPEL: I should have added the caveat it looked beautiful where our correspondents were, but it didn't mean that it was beautiful everywhere. Orelon, thanks so much.

SIDNEY: You're welcome.

KOPPEL: So, is the ugly American back? Bill Schneider says he is and takes a look at what that means for President Bush, as he heads to friendly Canada this week.

And then...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARAK OBAMA, (D) SENATOR-ELECT ILLINOIS: And then he invited me over to the White House and we had breakfast with Dick Cheney and Carl Rove. And it was a real fun time.

DAVID LETTERMAN, LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN: Yeah, it sounds like...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: The world in politics according to late night comedians.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOPPEL: The political standoff in Ukraine intesifies. Ukraine's pro-Russia eastern region has voted to hold a referendum on splitting from the western part of the country. The referendum would be nonbinding and is seen as a symbol of mounting anger over last week's presidential election.

Also today, an aide to Ukraine's opposition candidate is urging protesters to mass outside the Supreme Court tomorrow. The court is to meet to examine complaints of voter fraud.

Progress is being reported on the nuclear stalemate in Iran. Iran's media says Tehran has reached a compromise with European negotiators. Under the deal, Iran would not be able to test its centrifuges as part of a total suspension of its nuclear enrichment activities, but Iran would still have access to them. The International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to vote on the resolution tomorrow.

President Bush is back in Washington, and back to work after a long holiday weekend in Texas. The president returned to the White House about an hour ago, where he was confronted by more pleas to push for intelligence reform. CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us from the White House with details.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Andrea.

That's right. The pressure is certainly on here in Washington for the president to take action on that September 11 -- or rather the intelligence reform bill.

The president, as you said, a short time ago returned here to Washington after spending the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. But on this bill, which encompasses the recommendations of the September 11 commission, there are actually enough votes in the House to pass it, but Speaker Dennis Hastert will not let it come to a vote because of the objections raised by 2 House Republicans.

One of them, Congressman Duncan Hunter, the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, who worries that the military's chain of command will not be preserved and that intelligence won't reach troops on the battlefield.

Now, also hLeading the holdout delegation, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin wants to bar states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Now the president has already gotten involved. He called Congressman Sensenbrenner to talk about this. Although, both Republicans and Democrats say they would like to see more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP0)

SEN. BARBARA BOXER, (D) CALIFORNIA: I would challenge the president now. He says he has political capital. He owns the Congress, the House, the Senate, all of that. There is no reason this bill can't be voted on. Let's get that bill out there. Because I tell you, if we don't get it out there, it's going to be delayed. And if we're attacked again, it's going to be a sad day in this country that we didn't do what we have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, in addition to that, one of the chairs of the 9/11 commission, Tom Kean also adding his voice, saying that he believes the bill can pass, if in fact, the president does work on it, in the words of about Kean.

Now, Congress coming back in December. It's still unclear, though Andrea, whether or not they will move forward and budge on any of these issues. But the White House maintains that the president does remain committed to seeing this legislation pushed through -- Andrea.

KOPPEL: So any sense, Elaine, what the president's next move might be?

QUIJANO: Well that's a good question. At this point, it's really not clear. Now the president, as we said, has already moved on this, taken action. Some say he hasn't done enough, that he needs to really lean even harder to get this through. And they even question perhaps his commitment to seeing this through.

Now what the White House says is that the president does remain committed to this. They say that they will have more on this in the days to come, but for now, he will continue to work closely with Congress, they say.

KOPPEL: Elaine Quijano at the White House. Thanks so much, Elaine.

Well, President Bush sets off on an official visit to Canada on Tuesday. It appears the president will be spending time mending fences with a key U.S. ally that's become increasingly critical of American foreign policy. CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider explains. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: In 1958, Vice President Richard Nixon went to Venezuela and was confronted with rampaging protesters. This month, President Bush went to Chile, and found the same thing, the ugly American syndrome is back.

The rest of the world just doesn't get President Bush, not even America's closest ally, the British. Look at the London newspaper headlines after Bush won re-election, "How Can 59 Million People Be So Dumb?" "Oh, God."

Polls taken in 23 countries this fall found Kerry favored over Bush in 22 of them, usually by overwhelming margins. Bush was narrowly ahead in Poland.

Next week, President Bush will be making an official visit to Canada, a country that's supposed to understand the U.S.

BUSH: I'm looking forward to bringing the greetings of my great country to your great country.

SCHNEIDER: But do they?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we've got a lot of issues to discuss in terms of north America and also in terms of the world.

SCHNEIDER: Two-thirds of Canadians say their opinion of the U.S. has worsened over the past 4 years. Two years ago, a top aide to former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien resigned after she was overheard calling President Bush a moron.

Chretien was forced to state that President Bush is quote, "a friend of mine. He is not a moron at all."

This year, Canadian member of Parliament Carolyn Parish had this to say about President Bush's missile defense plan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not joining the coalition of the idiots.

SCHNEIDER: This month, Parish was shown on the news stomping on a George W. Bush action figure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cut it out.

SCHNEIDER: Prime Minister Paul Martin threw her out of the Liberal Party Caucus. The U.S./Canada relationship clearly needs repair. What kind of reception might President Bush get in Ottowa? President Ronald Reagan addressed the parliament there in 1987. He got heckled.

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Nicaragua, we see such a campaign on our own shores. Threatening -- is there an echo in here? SCHNEIDER: Some Canadian political activists are debating whether President Bush could be indicted under Canada's War Crimes Act. If so, the president could be facing arrest the minute he sets foot on Canadian soil.

(on camera): What's dividing the United States from the rest of the world and reviving the ugly American syndrome? The same thing that's dividing Americans at home -- Iraq, Iraq, Iraq. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: Politics generated lots of laugh on the late night talk show circuit this week. Here's a look in case you missed it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OBAMA: It was a great honor speaking at the Democratic Convention.

I turned to my wife. I said, you know, this is kind of a big speech.

LETTERMAN: Yes.

OBAMA: I'm feeling kind of nervous. My wife's wonderful. She held my hand and looked me in the eye, and she said, honey don't screw it up.

JAY LENO, TONIGHT SHOW: When Dan Rather announced he was leaving, President Bush said, I didn't know he was in my cabinet. How did that happen?

OBAMA: And then he invited me over to the White House. And we had breakfast with Dick Cheney and Carl Rove and it was a real fun time.

LETTERMAN: Yes, it sounds like...

LENO: And while he was in Chile, President Bush said he wants the people of South America to know how much he likes them. In fact, he even changed the name of his plane for this this flight. Can we show the plane? Se, it's now Air Force Juan.

LETTERMAN: When you run for president. And I have the feeling and you have the feeling, you come back and see us then, all right?

OBAMA: I hope you invite me before that.

LETTERMAN: We will...

LENO: There's now talk in political circles of amending the United States Constitution so Arnold Schwarzenegger could be president. But, the Democrats are against it. First they want the Constitution changed so maybe a Democrat could be president again. They'd like to see that. Is that possible? (END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: You may have missed one of the latest extreme reality shows on TV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is it. You don't shower for awhile. You're in the back of trucks, but you know what? It's all worth it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: What's worth it? Is it money? We'll talk to one of the stars later in our show.

But first, investing in art. It's not just for the rich anymore.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOPPEL: Now some stories from across America. A newspaper is reporting that convicted Oklahoma City bombing consuperior Terry Nichols admitted last year that he'd helped Timothy McVeigh make the bomb that killed 168 people in 1995. The Oklahoma newspaper says Nichols' confession came to state prosecutors in a sworn statement in an early attempt to avoid the death penalty. Nichols is currently serving a life term with no chance of parole.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the oil spill in the Delaware River near Philadelphia has left at least 50 birds and two snapping turtles dead. Volunteers are still trying to rescue other birds. A leak from a Greek (ph) owned tanker has left a 20-mile oil slick on the river.

The start of the holiday shopping season has been encouraging for many realtors. Retailers, but Wal-Mart, the biggest, has cut its sales projections after a disappointing week.

And the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston is celebrating the birth of a Western Loland Gorilla. Zoo attendents won't be able to examine the baby and determine its gender for a few months because, and I'm not kidding, nobody wants to upset a protective mother gorilla.

I'm not going in there, are you going in there? You can just hear them.

Well, for the wealthy, a balanced portfolio means stocks, real estate and maybe some fine art. But did you know that you can learn about art and start collecting for less than $5,000? And that money could outperform your other investments? This week's "Velshi's Adventures" shows how you can fill some space on your wall and in your portfolio. Here's Ali Velshi

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE; Art is a good investment. The returns can be incredible. And whether you're spending, you know, $1,000 or $100,000 or $1 million, I mean, the recent market has really shown an incredible growth.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to a study tracking art sales over the last 50 years, investing in art would have given you a 12.5 percent return on your money. That's better than the 11.5 percent the S&P would have given you. Want to get started?

SHARLA BAILEYKIDER, BIDDINGTON'S INC: You can start, I suppose about $1,000 would be a reasonable minimum. If you can go up to $5,000, that's better yet, but that's a reasonable price range.

VELSHI: Sharla Baileykider runs Biddingtons.com, an online contemporary art gallery.

BAILEYKIDER: I've got the paintings in.

VELSHI: She's a broke of sorts, helping people start and build their art collections with the work of professional artists.

BAILEYKIDER: A professional artist these days, has gone to art school, has been showing work around at galleries and at suitable venues for a number of years. So that's your starting point. That's your first builder. You don't need a brand name artist, but you need somebody who is not a Sunday painter and somebody who is not a street artist.

VELSHI: But where do you find all of this information?

BAILEYKIDER: There's wonderful art information on the net. And physically, if you're going around town looking at things, it's good to go to galleries. University out across America, university museums often run wonderful, wonderful contemporary art programs.

VELSHI (on camera): OK. So even though it's an investment, it's going to be on your wall. How about something realistic like this. You can have this in your house for less than $5,000. And don't worry if you don't really like that sort of thing. Try something like this, a little more abstract. Probably cost you about the same thing.

BAILEYKIDER: This is how you're going to live with your art. I think people have gotten a little too accustomed to thinking that art is something in a great white space wall, or in some museum with gargoyles, you know. My love of art is to live with it. It's here when the light changes with the seasons.

It's a way to look at art. This is how you're going to live with it.

VELSHI (voice over): Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: Well look out extreme makeover. Here comes "Extreme Missionaries." Coming up the latest adventure in reality TV and how it's shedding new light on missionary work.

But first one soldier's story about his first trip overseas, life in Iraq and life back home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't think about it ten months at a time. You have to go one last less day one day closer to coming back home. That's how we deal with it, that is how my wife deals with it.

ROB MARCIANO, METEOROLIGIST: Hi I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Weather Center. Time for the cold and flu report on this Sunday. Look at the map, more green showing up, meaning sporadic activity but Alaska and New York stand out on the map this morning with regional activity in the state of New York and wide spread flu being reported up there in the state of Alaska. Only a handful of states in yellow, which means no activity. So a lot of folks starting to feel as we head towards the holiday season. Hope you're feeling well this Sunday and enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOPPEL: Here's a check of what's happening now in the news. The U.S. geological survey says an earthquake with a magnitude of at least 7.0 has rocked the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Japanese television is reporting some injuries but there are no reports of deaths or serious damage.

Rescue workers in China are trying to save at least 166 miners who have been trapped for hours since early this morning after a gas explosion tore through a coal run. China's news-run agency says so far 127 people have been escaped or have been rescued and at least 25 died and over 40 are hospitalized.

The U.S. military says two soldiers were wounded after a car bomb exploded near their military convoy on the road leading to Baghdad's airport. It says there were no reported civilian casualties. A military statement says Baghdad patrols temporarily closed the road to investigate and clear debris.

There are thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq, each is coping with the mission in his or her own way. CNN's Nic Robertson followed one task force Olympia soldier working on the dangerous streets of Mosul. Here is his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Outside in the pre-raid darkness, specialist Dan Suiter is distinguishable only by the antenna protruding from his backpack. Inside, where even in the light the uniformity of battle gear camouflage his suit among his comrades, he sticks close to his lieutenant, just as a radio operator should.

DAN SUITER, TASK FORCE OLYMPIA: Move some of your guys out of here. It's too crowded in here now.

ROBERTSON: The raid could be going better, but no surprise, barely two months into their year-long mission, they are already familiar with the problems they face. SUITER: It's hard to gain trust around here. It seems to be the culture to be polite up front but dagger and cloak type of attitude sometimes like. Yes, we'll be nice but it's because we don't want to be killed.

ROBERTSON: Known as freq as in radio frequency to his platoon mates, Suiter shares his warm small cabin on base with medic Doc Powers. The testimony to loves and lives put on hold.

SUITER: You can't think about it ten months at a time. You have to go one less day, one day closer to coming back home. That's how I deal with it. That's how my wife deals with it. Mallor to 913 Victor.

ROBERTSON: At 27, Suiter is older than the average specialist. He signed up after 9/11, fueled by a patriotic desire to help. Never quite expecting this.

SUITER: First day we got here took mortar fire. Our first mission we took small arms mortar RPG fire. I'm like are we in Fallujah or Mosul? Seriously. It was the biggest eye opener.

ROBERTSON: He's not angered by what he's learned. Indeed, the man from a town of just 17,000 in Indiana.

SUITER: What's up buddy? I'm doing good. Egg rolls today, I'm happy.

ROBERTSON: He had never been overseas until now. Carries with him the small town work ethic of wanting to help and accepting and rising to every challenge.

SUITER: At one time I thought I saw one of my buddies actually get hit by a round. You just kind of, it just kind of, I don't know how to say it. It's kind of like getting hit by a frying pan in the face. The reality of it.

ROBERTSON: His advice for those considering following in his footsteps?

SUITER: This isn't Hollywood. When you come over here, it's, you realize you're here for real. It's the real deal. This is real world. This is actual happening. That's really full metal jacket flying over your head. There's no glory. You do your job. Everything is out the window. It's just the men to your left and right that you look at to do your mission and you try make sure they all come back with you and that's a successful mission.

ROBERTSON: Nic Robertson, CNN, Mosul, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: (INAUDIBLE) has come under attack in Afghanistan. Suspected Taliban militants stormed an aide office in southwestern Afghanistan before dawn, killing at least two people. A third person was killed nearby. All three were said to be security guards. A fourth person is missing. The attack comes almost a week after several U.N. aide workers held hostage in Afghanistan were freed.

Right now, there are an estimated 900,000 people in this country who are HIV positive. They come from all walks of life and the CDC believes one-fourth of them don't even know they have the disease. Health advocates and celebrities alike are fighting to get the word out. Here are some of their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am 12 years old and I have been HIV positive for as long as I can remember, since I was born and it's just been a great part of my life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I want to say to everyone is, any age, you do not know the sexual history of anybody else, only yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reality is, it only takes one partner to become infected with HIV.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One day everybody will be touched by this. Don't think it can't happen to you, because it can.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When the doctor told me when I was positive, I didn't want to die. Then as the years went by, I'm not afraid to die.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just because I'm doing well doesn't mean they're going to do well if they get HIV.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are still stuck on this concept that I don't support homosexuality. Therefore, I'm not addressing HIV. Who cares? Who cares whether you support homosexuality or not? The fact is that we have a major crisis in our community.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't stop the spread of HIV unless you talk about sex.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 20 years into the epidemic. You think this wouldn't be going on anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe I can be a part of something that helps spark a revolution.

RICHARD GERE, THE GERE FOUNDATION: Village to village, face to face, heart to heart, and that's where real communication or transformation happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Tonight's CNN's senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes you inside the lives of people living with HIV. The program, "Are You Positive" is a compelling, compassionate and realistic look at HIV and AIDs and it also focuses on what people are doing to raise awareness in the U.S. and around the world. It airs at 10:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN. You won't want to miss it. The Minnesota man accused of killing six deer hunters in Wisconsin last weekend is expected to be charged tomorrow. Chai Vang remains in the Sawyer County jail on $2.5 million bail. He's hired three attorneys and today his daughter spoke out about his ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, VANG'S DAUGHTER: I am his oldest daughter, and I do give my condolences to the other family members of this incident. All of our families, our faith and hardships at this time and we all have questions that, you know, need answers. My father, he is a great person, and he does take care of his family. He loves his family very much. And you know, at this time, I really don't know what my father did, you know. I haven't talked to him. I haven't had any kind of contact with him. You know, it was a shock to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Chai Vang's daughter. He's expected to be charged tomorrow.

There is a new reality show that is taking viewers to the deserts of Ethiopia as it documents the lives of two young missionaries. The stories behind their sometimes dangerous travels straight ahead.

And then, 72 days of nothing but water. This record-breaking attempt coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOPPEL: And Carol Lin is here with a preview of what's ahead on "CNN Live Sunday." Carol I understand you have a big controversy brewing about gift cards.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You bet. Andrea since so many people have been shopping for their holiday gifts one of the most popular gifts this year is a gift card so that you can buy what you want. But what you don't really understand maybe is the fine print and how there are a lot of restrictions, maybe even extra fees. That is being debated.

And also, no matter what your opinion is about the U.S. presence in Iraq, we have an amazing story of a soldier who has come home briefly but his mission in Iraq is going to make you feel pretty good about what some of the troops are doing over there. So all at 6:00 Eastern tonight Andrea.

KOPPEL: And I owe you a birthday gift, birthday girl, yesterday was your birthday. Happy belated birthday.

LIN: Thank you so much. That's very nice of you to say. Thank you.

KOPPEL: We'll be tuning in for you at 6:00. Thank you Carol.

LIN: Good deal. KOPPEL: Well, reality TV meets the gospel, in the adventure of a lifetime. The new show chronicles the travels of two real life missionaries as they test themselves and their faith in some of the most remote places on earth. CNN's Rhonda Grayson has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got to say Tibet is one of the toughest places to get around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is one of the trucks we may be taking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in the African wild!

RHONDA GRAYSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Missionaries Tim Scott and Will Decker have traveled 40,000 miles for 18 months in 25 countries, including parts of Africa, Sudan, China, Tibet, India, and Pakistan, sharing the gospel.

These young Christians recorded their journey for a reality television series called "Travel the Road." There have been many experiences along the road, including being stalked by lions in the desert the of Ethiopia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely here we can see the trackings. The guy was so worried about us. You can't go back there otherwise they'll swallow you up and eat you.

GRAYSON: The show has paid big dividends, winning a Tellie, a Nova and a People's Choice Award.

Tim's brother Michael co-produced the series.

MICHAEL SCOTT, TRAVELTHEROAD.COM: We designed it for the use. It's high impact, a lot of energy, it has an MTV-style to it, I always say it's a cross between "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" but has an eternal purpose.

GRAYSON: And that purpose is to inspire young adults to do mission work. These young missionaries travel the world wherever god may leave them because they have an important message to share of hope and faith.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an evidence of redemption.

GRAYSON: The missionaries say praying keeps them safe. There have been some faith testing moments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sh. [ gunfire ]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my gosh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boom, like quick there. See, there's something behind us right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are definitely developing a high tech type of missionary. In the old days, for example, the pioneer, Dr. David Livingston traveled up but Sub-Saharan Africa in his entire lifetime. We did a trip in seven weeks on a vehicle what he did in his entire lifetime in one of our four-wheel-drive trucks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next day weigh decided to head to the Hawash National Park.

GRAYSON: Fulfilling their desire for adventure and sharing their faith keeps these missionaries traveling the road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is it. You don't shower for awhile, you're in the back of trucks but it's all worth it.

GRAYSON: Rhonda Grayson, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: As you just saw in Rhonda's piece, the "Travel the Road" series is produced by Michael Scott. He is joining me now live from Los Angeles to talk about the rigors of putting together the show. Hi there Michael.

SCOTT: Hello. How's it going?

KOPPEL: Great. Well, what an interesting idea for a series. I understand, as we've heard in the story that Tim is your brother. Who is the other missionary?

SCOTT: The other missionary is William Decker. He's a good friend of mine. We went to college together and that's originally how Tim and William got together. They met through me, and he decided he'd take it up and go overseas.

KOPPEL: Now, obviously there's a serious side to the work of these young missionaries but you decided to put it together as a reality TV show. Why?

SCOTT: Really the purpose behind it, I mean, we weren't setting out to stage anything or do anything like that. Everything you see is real. What we wanted to show is the youth of America in the world, what missions is all about through the eyes of two young guys out there doing it in some of the most remote countries in the world.

KOPPEL: And the answer is? What is it like?

SCOTT: It's, I would say, it's amazing. You're out there. You never know what's going to happen. I mean, one moment you could be in a jungle in Laos, trucking back to reach a tribe. I'll never forget the time I was there we were attacked by leaches and all these things happen, or you're in Africa on the Savannah out there and the lions might be out there and different things, and your meeting remote peoples and interesting groups all over the world, and when you get back to them it's so incredible to be able to share with them and talk with them, your faith and it's just an incredible experience.

KOPPEL: Michael, how do you communicate with these people? Do you bring translators with you?

SCOTT: Typically in each country you go to, we'll work with the local church or we'll find a local guide that speaks the language, and hire them or work with them and they'll do all of the translating for that particular area.

KOPPEL: Now, you are a Christian, is that correct?

SCOTT: Yes I am.

KOPPEL: I have friends who are Mormons and who went and did their missionary work. My understanding was, at least in their case, they lived in one country. Why is it that your brother and your friend are kind of almost Rambo-style moving into one village and hopping off to the next place?

SCOTT: Well, it depends on the country they're in. They go from area to area. Some places they'll spend six months. Some places they'll spend two or three weeks, and they're really out there trying to find the areas, doing some of the research. There will be people that will follow up after them to be able to help them out if they need to grow in their faith or anything like that. They'll turn them over to the local pastors in the area source that they can teach them.

So they really want to explore the whole world, show you what's out there, what it's like, so you know, the youth of America in the world can see where they might have an interest to go, whether it be Ethiopia or Tibet or Laos or wherever it might be.

KOPPEL: Who was working the camera?

SCOTT: You know what actually that's one of the big questions always asked. Everything you see in the series is done by Tim and Will, and throughout different points in the series, they're joined by other people, and so they handle all the camera work and do everything like that. It's very difficult for to you bring a camera crew. It loses what you're trying to do there and becomes about a TV series instead of about the mission.

KOPPEL: So if viewers want to tune in where can they watch your series and what channel and what time?

SCOTT: They can catch it on TBN on Saturdays at 8:30 Pacific or 11:30 Eastern, or they can check our Web site at Traveltheroad.com and get all of the local show times and a bunch of information about the show and kind of gives you basically information about missions, the show, or you can find your local listings and everything like that.

KOPPEL: Well I'll tell you what it, it looks like it is gripping television, and congratulations to you, Michael. It sounds like you guys had a wonderful idea, and we'll be looking forward to watching it.

SCOTT: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me on. It's an incredible series. If you haven't seen it, I encourage you guys to watch it. KOPPEL: Michael Scott joining us from L.A. "Travel the Road."

An extreme adventure of another kind is underway, this adventure will cover 27,000 miles. Coming up, one woman's attempt to set a new world record for the fastest solo sail around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOPPEL: A 28 year old British woman is hoping to make history by becoming the fastest person to sail around the world on a solo trip. ITV's Helen Callahan (ph) has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HELEN CALLAHAN, ITN (voice over): An emotional farewell to Falmouth before her most grueling adventure yet. Ellen Macarthur wants the set a new world record for the fastest solo sail around the world. She knows it can be tough.

ELLEN MACARTHUR: I think this is the biggest change by far I've ever attempted. Because the boat's big and powerful. The record I'm trying to beat is to get a boat as fast as humanly possible around the planet.

CALLAHAN: Time then for good-byes and last minute checks of equipment and supplies, including lucky charms and Christmas presents, and then be off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good luck Ellen!

CALLAHAN: The next time she sees this harbor, Ellen hopes she'll have made history, having covered some 27,000 miles in under 72 days. So Ellen's epic journey is finally under way. She's being towed out of Falmouth Harbor, escorted by well-wishers in small boats. Ellen and her 75-foot long Trimaran will have to reach speeds of more than 15 knots as well as dodging ice bergs in the southern seas and riding out waves that will crash right over the top of the mast. For two and a half months it will just be Ellen.

She'll see nothing but this boat and the ocean. Repairs will be any time around the clock, leaving little time for eating, sleeping and crucially, loneliness. So now she's heading across the channel to the official start line which she's due to cross tomorrow morning and then the clock starts ticking. Helen Callahan, ITV News, Falmouth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: She's an Oscar winning superstar. Now Julia Roberts has a new role, mom. She gave birth to twins earlier today in Los Angeles. Roberts, who is 37, was admitted to the hospital last month after having early contractions. The twins are a boy and girl, Phinius and Hazel. Roberts is married to cameraman Danny Moder.

That's it for us. "Next@CNN" is straight ahead. Here's Daniel Seiberg with a preview. DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ahead on "Next@CNN" what made the 2004 hurricane season such a monster? What could we expect in 2005?

Also some new gadgets to let you carry 80 hours of entertainment in your pocket.

KOPPEL: Thanks so much for joining us. We'll be back with the headlines after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired November 28, 2004 - 16:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boom, like quick, there, see, there's something behind us right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Not Iraq, not the Amazing Race, and not even Survivor. We'll take you behind the scenes of the latest reality TV show.

Ever think about art as an investment? Well, the returns might surprise you. And you don't have have to be a millionaire to profit.

And this woman is sailing around the world solo. How is she doing so far?

Hello, and welcome to CNN live Sunday. I'm Andrea Koppel. All of that and more after this quick check of the headlines.

Several people are reported injured following a major earthquake in Japan. The magnitude quake was 7.0 and struck Northern Japan 2 hours ago. There are no reports of any serious damage or deaths.

A victory for advocates of stem cell research. Voters in Switzerland approved a new law today permitting medical research on human embryonic stem cells. The law allows scientists to extract stem cells from unwanted embryos, but prohibits cloning.

In China, a frantic rescue operation is under way to save over 160 miners trapped after a major gas explosion. The blast tore through a coal mine in Northern China today. So far, 127 miners have escaped or have been rescued, while 25 others are reported to have died.

We start with a nation on the move. Travel and Thanksgiving go together like turkey and stuffing. And now that the feast is over and the long holiday is coming to an end, Americans are filling airports and highways across the country, but the journey home won't be easy for some. Crowds, bad weather or a combination of both are causing delays in some places, no surprises there.

We have correspondents at some of the busiest airports monitoring the situation for you you. Kimberly Osias is at Reagan International Airport near Washington DC. Alina Cho is at New York's LaGuardia airport. Denise Belgrave is at Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. And Miguel Marquez is at LAX. Let's start with Alina Cho.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Andrea, thank you. By all accounts, surprisingly enough it is a typical Sunday here at LaGuardia. Why is it a surprise? Well, as you've been hearing, this is supposed to be one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, the busiest, in fact.

No real signs of that here at LaGuardia. The lines seem to be moving, people seem to be going through security fairly quickly. LaGuardia and Newark, we can report, one-hour delays out of those airports, mostly due to high winds. JFK, no reported delays. But those who are delayed today are finding creative ways to pass the time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're delayed. That's why we're sitting here relaxing.

CHO: Passing the time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. We just found out we're delayed another hour and a half. So, we're trying to go to Akron, Canton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going down to Fort Lauderdale, getting out of this weather, how could you be upset about that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Joining us is Kerry Griffin of Travelocity, the online ticketing agency. Kerry, you're here compiling data for people going online to your Web site. What is the national picture in terms of what's going on at the airports you're monitoring?

KERRY GRIFFIN, TAVELOCITY.COM: Nationally what we found is across the board we are getting through security and checking in relatively hassle-free.

CHO: But then once they get to the gate.

GRIFFIN: Once they get to the gates, travelers are experiencing 45 minutes to an hour delays, primarily in the Northeast and Mountain West.

CHO: OK. And by Mountain West, you mean places like Denver, Reno?

GRIFFIN: Correct, Salt Lake City.

CHO: Right. And you're finding that the big problem or the big factor here today seems to be the weather and that surprised you a bit, right? Why?

GRIFFIN: Well, we're here to alert our travelers, if there are check-in problems, traffic problems, and we haven't found that across the board. We're located in 25 busiest airports and all of the delays that we have found are due to weather.

CHO: Are you a little surprised that you haven't seen more delays? I mean, after all, this is the busiest travel weekend of the year.

GRIFFIN: Yes, and we're happily surprised that we haven't.

CHO: Pleasantly surprised.

GRIFFIN: Exactly.

CHO: All right. Kerry Griffin of Travelocity, we thank you for joining us today.

The other bit of good news coming out of New York is that though, there are still some high winds, the sky seemed to be clear and hopefully that will help holiday travelers get to their destinations, mostly home, on time.

We're going to turn it over now to Kimberly Osias who joins us now from National Airport near Washington D.C.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Alina, I tell you, the story is much the same here. Very, very smooth situation at Reagan National Airport. Remember, we all heard about the 37 million plus people that were going to be traveling more than 50 miles from home taking to the air and to the roads. Well we haven't seen those folks coming back, in part because they are probably scattering their travel, following all of that good information that we heard, really allowing ample cushion time about two to two and a half hours.

And speaking about allowing ample time, and on time check out this screen. This is unbelievable, the departures much like the arrivals, everything on time all the way down from Indianapolis to New York, amazing And part again, because people have been adhering to the good advice from the experts, and also take a look at this scene outside here, outside of Reagan National Airport. Absolutely beautiful, clear, blue skies, making for quite a smooth situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE; We had to get up at 4:30 in the morning, just to get to the airport, and the airport was really crowded, a lot of people. But we're back. We're tired, but we had a great time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Got here about two and a half hours before my departure time, just to make sure that everything was going to be smooth. But now, I don't know. I hope I get my luggage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: And speaking about luggage, this is the secondary or the screening area here. Some other good hints from TSA, they say all of those holiday leftovers that may have expanded your waistline, well, don't let that expand your luggage, because that may actually give some false positives, especially that fruitcake that you may not have liked the first go round, well don't take it back fort second.

Reporting live, Kimberly Osias, back to you Andrea.

KOPPEL: Well, so long as it was the fruitcake and not what I happen to love, which is the cranberry relish. That would get everywhere. Thanks so much, Kimberly.

Now we're going to head south to the world's busiest passenger airport, that's Hartsfield/Jackson in Atlanta. That's where we're going to find our Denise Belgrave who is watching her post there. Hi, Denise.

DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Andrea. How are you doing?

Just as my colleagues said, we have a beautiful travel day today. The skies are blue, the winds are pretty reasonable. And if you look behind me, you can see it's very calm, people are getting through the airport relatively quickly.

We talked to airport officials earlier this morning and they said they expected an increase of about 60,000 passengers today over what they would normally do on a Sunday, but that doesn't seem to have had any big impact here. It was a busier earlier this morning and it's probably going to get a little busier later in the day. But with 37 million people traveling it's surprising.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I expected a lot more people. This has been very smooth. It just seems like a regular travel day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I expected there to be a lot of traffic, a lot of hecticness and everything. So, I actually brought my mom to the airport like three hours early than she was supposed to be here, and she was like why are we here so early? There's no crowds, no nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELGRAVE: Well, I think it's better to get there early than to get there, late -- Andrea.

KOPPEL: ALL right. So, we've gone south, we've gone north, now it's time to head over to the west, where CNN's Miguel Marquez is standing by at Los Angeles International Airport. So, how is it looking over there, Miguel?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was looking absolutely horrible just a few minutes ago there, Andrea, but now it's looking a heck of a lot better. We're at terminal one of six terminals here, the Southwest Terminal. We're going to show you what's left of the line down here, it's sort of small line. Minutes ago, literally, about 10, 15 minutes ago, there was about 100, maybe 200 feet long.

One of the people who was looking at that line is Scott Lilibeau who is from Portland. You're heading back today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

MARQUEZ: When you got here, what did you see?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The line was probably about 50 yards back there before we came in and checked our bags.

MARQUEZ: It's amazing how well they get through it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was moving pretty quick. Faster than the Disneyland lines.

MARQUEZ: And how well is your travel experience going today?

UNIDENTFIED MALE: Pretty good. If the lines are going to stay small like they are now, it is going to be a pretty good ride, I think.

MARQUEZ: Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Have a good flight home.

These guys are here. Their flight is at 4:00. So, they got here way early for that flight. But the problems are not so much at here at LAX in the west but at Reno/Tahoe International Airport up in Nevada. They've been having serious problems over the last 24 hours or so.

Yesterday they added 18 inches of snow in the area. And for 7 hours, it shut down the airport. About 69 flights, approximately, had to be canceled, that stranded thousands of passengers. The airports saying that things should be back to normal by about Tuesday.

The airport also saying that it wasn't their fault. They had their runways cleared and the planes deiced, but the instrument landing equipment, which allows planes to land in heavy fog or snow failed. FAA, they say, operates that equipment.

The FAA says that this is the second time in a month that that equipment has failed. They know that two parts of that equipment failed this last time. They're not sure what caused it the first time to fail.

All of it is under investigation. And the airports certainly up in Reno/Tahoe want some answers, because it shudders their entire airport every time that happens.

Back here at LAX, though, it is a beautiful, sunny day. And it appears as though things are moving pretty smoothly -- Andrea.

KOPPEL: The kind of news that everyone wants to hear. Miguel Marquez out in LAX, thanks so much. Well, is it snowing, raining or clear where you're headed? To find out, we go down south to meteorologist Orelon Sidney who is at the CNN Weather Center. It's looking pretty nice out there -- Orelon.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, there are some trouble spots. Most of the nation is enjoying pretty good travel weather. But take a look at all of the planes in the air. This is current, real-time data. I guess the delay is about 15 minutes showing all of the planes in the air across the nation at the current time.

If you have this many planes in the air, you're going to run into some weather. And we have some across the Southern plains, the Central plains and the Northeast. The Northeast probably the area with the greatest potential for delays.

But the good news is, a lot of this big storm system is moving out. This is a new cold front that's pushing off the coast now. It has cleared Philadelphia, New York, most of Long Island, but Boston Logan still going to have some problems with rain and wind in the forecast. In fact, you have 162-minute delays at last check.

The ground stop has been lifted. All planes can say get to Boston. It's just going to take awhile to do that.

Denver Stapleton was deicing, no delays showing there. They did have a few delays, but they've done a great job out there.

New York LaGuardia, still looking at delays close to two hours. And Newark, also looking at delays of about one hour in those areas.

There's quite a bit of delay activity, too, in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Naples. That is just due to the number of people in the air trying to get in and out of the airports.

Here's the way the forecast shapes up for the rest of the evening. The East Coast, you're not going to get much pain from the weather. As soon as this low pressure system clears out from the coast, you're just going to see cold air and clear conditions settling in.

But our winter-type storm moves across the plains states today and tonight. Could see as much as six to eight inches of rainfall along Interstate 80. If you have to travel through parts of the plains, especially Nebraska, watch out for potential heavy snows in those areas -- Andrea.

KOPPEL: I should have added the caveat it looked beautiful where our correspondents were, but it didn't mean that it was beautiful everywhere. Orelon, thanks so much.

SIDNEY: You're welcome.

KOPPEL: So, is the ugly American back? Bill Schneider says he is and takes a look at what that means for President Bush, as he heads to friendly Canada this week.

And then...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARAK OBAMA, (D) SENATOR-ELECT ILLINOIS: And then he invited me over to the White House and we had breakfast with Dick Cheney and Carl Rove. And it was a real fun time.

DAVID LETTERMAN, LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN: Yeah, it sounds like...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: The world in politics according to late night comedians.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOPPEL: The political standoff in Ukraine intesifies. Ukraine's pro-Russia eastern region has voted to hold a referendum on splitting from the western part of the country. The referendum would be nonbinding and is seen as a symbol of mounting anger over last week's presidential election.

Also today, an aide to Ukraine's opposition candidate is urging protesters to mass outside the Supreme Court tomorrow. The court is to meet to examine complaints of voter fraud.

Progress is being reported on the nuclear stalemate in Iran. Iran's media says Tehran has reached a compromise with European negotiators. Under the deal, Iran would not be able to test its centrifuges as part of a total suspension of its nuclear enrichment activities, but Iran would still have access to them. The International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to vote on the resolution tomorrow.

President Bush is back in Washington, and back to work after a long holiday weekend in Texas. The president returned to the White House about an hour ago, where he was confronted by more pleas to push for intelligence reform. CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us from the White House with details.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Andrea.

That's right. The pressure is certainly on here in Washington for the president to take action on that September 11 -- or rather the intelligence reform bill.

The president, as you said, a short time ago returned here to Washington after spending the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. But on this bill, which encompasses the recommendations of the September 11 commission, there are actually enough votes in the House to pass it, but Speaker Dennis Hastert will not let it come to a vote because of the objections raised by 2 House Republicans.

One of them, Congressman Duncan Hunter, the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, who worries that the military's chain of command will not be preserved and that intelligence won't reach troops on the battlefield.

Now, also hLeading the holdout delegation, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin wants to bar states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Now the president has already gotten involved. He called Congressman Sensenbrenner to talk about this. Although, both Republicans and Democrats say they would like to see more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP0)

SEN. BARBARA BOXER, (D) CALIFORNIA: I would challenge the president now. He says he has political capital. He owns the Congress, the House, the Senate, all of that. There is no reason this bill can't be voted on. Let's get that bill out there. Because I tell you, if we don't get it out there, it's going to be delayed. And if we're attacked again, it's going to be a sad day in this country that we didn't do what we have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, in addition to that, one of the chairs of the 9/11 commission, Tom Kean also adding his voice, saying that he believes the bill can pass, if in fact, the president does work on it, in the words of about Kean.

Now, Congress coming back in December. It's still unclear, though Andrea, whether or not they will move forward and budge on any of these issues. But the White House maintains that the president does remain committed to seeing this legislation pushed through -- Andrea.

KOPPEL: So any sense, Elaine, what the president's next move might be?

QUIJANO: Well that's a good question. At this point, it's really not clear. Now the president, as we said, has already moved on this, taken action. Some say he hasn't done enough, that he needs to really lean even harder to get this through. And they even question perhaps his commitment to seeing this through.

Now what the White House says is that the president does remain committed to this. They say that they will have more on this in the days to come, but for now, he will continue to work closely with Congress, they say.

KOPPEL: Elaine Quijano at the White House. Thanks so much, Elaine.

Well, President Bush sets off on an official visit to Canada on Tuesday. It appears the president will be spending time mending fences with a key U.S. ally that's become increasingly critical of American foreign policy. CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider explains. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: In 1958, Vice President Richard Nixon went to Venezuela and was confronted with rampaging protesters. This month, President Bush went to Chile, and found the same thing, the ugly American syndrome is back.

The rest of the world just doesn't get President Bush, not even America's closest ally, the British. Look at the London newspaper headlines after Bush won re-election, "How Can 59 Million People Be So Dumb?" "Oh, God."

Polls taken in 23 countries this fall found Kerry favored over Bush in 22 of them, usually by overwhelming margins. Bush was narrowly ahead in Poland.

Next week, President Bush will be making an official visit to Canada, a country that's supposed to understand the U.S.

BUSH: I'm looking forward to bringing the greetings of my great country to your great country.

SCHNEIDER: But do they?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we've got a lot of issues to discuss in terms of north America and also in terms of the world.

SCHNEIDER: Two-thirds of Canadians say their opinion of the U.S. has worsened over the past 4 years. Two years ago, a top aide to former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien resigned after she was overheard calling President Bush a moron.

Chretien was forced to state that President Bush is quote, "a friend of mine. He is not a moron at all."

This year, Canadian member of Parliament Carolyn Parish had this to say about President Bush's missile defense plan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not joining the coalition of the idiots.

SCHNEIDER: This month, Parish was shown on the news stomping on a George W. Bush action figure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cut it out.

SCHNEIDER: Prime Minister Paul Martin threw her out of the Liberal Party Caucus. The U.S./Canada relationship clearly needs repair. What kind of reception might President Bush get in Ottowa? President Ronald Reagan addressed the parliament there in 1987. He got heckled.

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Nicaragua, we see such a campaign on our own shores. Threatening -- is there an echo in here? SCHNEIDER: Some Canadian political activists are debating whether President Bush could be indicted under Canada's War Crimes Act. If so, the president could be facing arrest the minute he sets foot on Canadian soil.

(on camera): What's dividing the United States from the rest of the world and reviving the ugly American syndrome? The same thing that's dividing Americans at home -- Iraq, Iraq, Iraq. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: Politics generated lots of laugh on the late night talk show circuit this week. Here's a look in case you missed it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OBAMA: It was a great honor speaking at the Democratic Convention.

I turned to my wife. I said, you know, this is kind of a big speech.

LETTERMAN: Yes.

OBAMA: I'm feeling kind of nervous. My wife's wonderful. She held my hand and looked me in the eye, and she said, honey don't screw it up.

JAY LENO, TONIGHT SHOW: When Dan Rather announced he was leaving, President Bush said, I didn't know he was in my cabinet. How did that happen?

OBAMA: And then he invited me over to the White House. And we had breakfast with Dick Cheney and Carl Rove and it was a real fun time.

LETTERMAN: Yes, it sounds like...

LENO: And while he was in Chile, President Bush said he wants the people of South America to know how much he likes them. In fact, he even changed the name of his plane for this this flight. Can we show the plane? Se, it's now Air Force Juan.

LETTERMAN: When you run for president. And I have the feeling and you have the feeling, you come back and see us then, all right?

OBAMA: I hope you invite me before that.

LETTERMAN: We will...

LENO: There's now talk in political circles of amending the United States Constitution so Arnold Schwarzenegger could be president. But, the Democrats are against it. First they want the Constitution changed so maybe a Democrat could be president again. They'd like to see that. Is that possible? (END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: You may have missed one of the latest extreme reality shows on TV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is it. You don't shower for awhile. You're in the back of trucks, but you know what? It's all worth it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: What's worth it? Is it money? We'll talk to one of the stars later in our show.

But first, investing in art. It's not just for the rich anymore.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOPPEL: Now some stories from across America. A newspaper is reporting that convicted Oklahoma City bombing consuperior Terry Nichols admitted last year that he'd helped Timothy McVeigh make the bomb that killed 168 people in 1995. The Oklahoma newspaper says Nichols' confession came to state prosecutors in a sworn statement in an early attempt to avoid the death penalty. Nichols is currently serving a life term with no chance of parole.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the oil spill in the Delaware River near Philadelphia has left at least 50 birds and two snapping turtles dead. Volunteers are still trying to rescue other birds. A leak from a Greek (ph) owned tanker has left a 20-mile oil slick on the river.

The start of the holiday shopping season has been encouraging for many realtors. Retailers, but Wal-Mart, the biggest, has cut its sales projections after a disappointing week.

And the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston is celebrating the birth of a Western Loland Gorilla. Zoo attendents won't be able to examine the baby and determine its gender for a few months because, and I'm not kidding, nobody wants to upset a protective mother gorilla.

I'm not going in there, are you going in there? You can just hear them.

Well, for the wealthy, a balanced portfolio means stocks, real estate and maybe some fine art. But did you know that you can learn about art and start collecting for less than $5,000? And that money could outperform your other investments? This week's "Velshi's Adventures" shows how you can fill some space on your wall and in your portfolio. Here's Ali Velshi

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE; Art is a good investment. The returns can be incredible. And whether you're spending, you know, $1,000 or $100,000 or $1 million, I mean, the recent market has really shown an incredible growth.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to a study tracking art sales over the last 50 years, investing in art would have given you a 12.5 percent return on your money. That's better than the 11.5 percent the S&P would have given you. Want to get started?

SHARLA BAILEYKIDER, BIDDINGTON'S INC: You can start, I suppose about $1,000 would be a reasonable minimum. If you can go up to $5,000, that's better yet, but that's a reasonable price range.

VELSHI: Sharla Baileykider runs Biddingtons.com, an online contemporary art gallery.

BAILEYKIDER: I've got the paintings in.

VELSHI: She's a broke of sorts, helping people start and build their art collections with the work of professional artists.

BAILEYKIDER: A professional artist these days, has gone to art school, has been showing work around at galleries and at suitable venues for a number of years. So that's your starting point. That's your first builder. You don't need a brand name artist, but you need somebody who is not a Sunday painter and somebody who is not a street artist.

VELSHI: But where do you find all of this information?

BAILEYKIDER: There's wonderful art information on the net. And physically, if you're going around town looking at things, it's good to go to galleries. University out across America, university museums often run wonderful, wonderful contemporary art programs.

VELSHI (on camera): OK. So even though it's an investment, it's going to be on your wall. How about something realistic like this. You can have this in your house for less than $5,000. And don't worry if you don't really like that sort of thing. Try something like this, a little more abstract. Probably cost you about the same thing.

BAILEYKIDER: This is how you're going to live with your art. I think people have gotten a little too accustomed to thinking that art is something in a great white space wall, or in some museum with gargoyles, you know. My love of art is to live with it. It's here when the light changes with the seasons.

It's a way to look at art. This is how you're going to live with it.

VELSHI (voice over): Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: Well look out extreme makeover. Here comes "Extreme Missionaries." Coming up the latest adventure in reality TV and how it's shedding new light on missionary work.

But first one soldier's story about his first trip overseas, life in Iraq and life back home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't think about it ten months at a time. You have to go one last less day one day closer to coming back home. That's how we deal with it, that is how my wife deals with it.

ROB MARCIANO, METEOROLIGIST: Hi I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Weather Center. Time for the cold and flu report on this Sunday. Look at the map, more green showing up, meaning sporadic activity but Alaska and New York stand out on the map this morning with regional activity in the state of New York and wide spread flu being reported up there in the state of Alaska. Only a handful of states in yellow, which means no activity. So a lot of folks starting to feel as we head towards the holiday season. Hope you're feeling well this Sunday and enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOPPEL: Here's a check of what's happening now in the news. The U.S. geological survey says an earthquake with a magnitude of at least 7.0 has rocked the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Japanese television is reporting some injuries but there are no reports of deaths or serious damage.

Rescue workers in China are trying to save at least 166 miners who have been trapped for hours since early this morning after a gas explosion tore through a coal run. China's news-run agency says so far 127 people have been escaped or have been rescued and at least 25 died and over 40 are hospitalized.

The U.S. military says two soldiers were wounded after a car bomb exploded near their military convoy on the road leading to Baghdad's airport. It says there were no reported civilian casualties. A military statement says Baghdad patrols temporarily closed the road to investigate and clear debris.

There are thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq, each is coping with the mission in his or her own way. CNN's Nic Robertson followed one task force Olympia soldier working on the dangerous streets of Mosul. Here is his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Outside in the pre-raid darkness, specialist Dan Suiter is distinguishable only by the antenna protruding from his backpack. Inside, where even in the light the uniformity of battle gear camouflage his suit among his comrades, he sticks close to his lieutenant, just as a radio operator should.

DAN SUITER, TASK FORCE OLYMPIA: Move some of your guys out of here. It's too crowded in here now.

ROBERTSON: The raid could be going better, but no surprise, barely two months into their year-long mission, they are already familiar with the problems they face. SUITER: It's hard to gain trust around here. It seems to be the culture to be polite up front but dagger and cloak type of attitude sometimes like. Yes, we'll be nice but it's because we don't want to be killed.

ROBERTSON: Known as freq as in radio frequency to his platoon mates, Suiter shares his warm small cabin on base with medic Doc Powers. The testimony to loves and lives put on hold.

SUITER: You can't think about it ten months at a time. You have to go one less day, one day closer to coming back home. That's how I deal with it. That's how my wife deals with it. Mallor to 913 Victor.

ROBERTSON: At 27, Suiter is older than the average specialist. He signed up after 9/11, fueled by a patriotic desire to help. Never quite expecting this.

SUITER: First day we got here took mortar fire. Our first mission we took small arms mortar RPG fire. I'm like are we in Fallujah or Mosul? Seriously. It was the biggest eye opener.

ROBERTSON: He's not angered by what he's learned. Indeed, the man from a town of just 17,000 in Indiana.

SUITER: What's up buddy? I'm doing good. Egg rolls today, I'm happy.

ROBERTSON: He had never been overseas until now. Carries with him the small town work ethic of wanting to help and accepting and rising to every challenge.

SUITER: At one time I thought I saw one of my buddies actually get hit by a round. You just kind of, it just kind of, I don't know how to say it. It's kind of like getting hit by a frying pan in the face. The reality of it.

ROBERTSON: His advice for those considering following in his footsteps?

SUITER: This isn't Hollywood. When you come over here, it's, you realize you're here for real. It's the real deal. This is real world. This is actual happening. That's really full metal jacket flying over your head. There's no glory. You do your job. Everything is out the window. It's just the men to your left and right that you look at to do your mission and you try make sure they all come back with you and that's a successful mission.

ROBERTSON: Nic Robertson, CNN, Mosul, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: (INAUDIBLE) has come under attack in Afghanistan. Suspected Taliban militants stormed an aide office in southwestern Afghanistan before dawn, killing at least two people. A third person was killed nearby. All three were said to be security guards. A fourth person is missing. The attack comes almost a week after several U.N. aide workers held hostage in Afghanistan were freed.

Right now, there are an estimated 900,000 people in this country who are HIV positive. They come from all walks of life and the CDC believes one-fourth of them don't even know they have the disease. Health advocates and celebrities alike are fighting to get the word out. Here are some of their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am 12 years old and I have been HIV positive for as long as I can remember, since I was born and it's just been a great part of my life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I want to say to everyone is, any age, you do not know the sexual history of anybody else, only yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reality is, it only takes one partner to become infected with HIV.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One day everybody will be touched by this. Don't think it can't happen to you, because it can.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When the doctor told me when I was positive, I didn't want to die. Then as the years went by, I'm not afraid to die.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just because I'm doing well doesn't mean they're going to do well if they get HIV.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are still stuck on this concept that I don't support homosexuality. Therefore, I'm not addressing HIV. Who cares? Who cares whether you support homosexuality or not? The fact is that we have a major crisis in our community.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't stop the spread of HIV unless you talk about sex.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 20 years into the epidemic. You think this wouldn't be going on anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe I can be a part of something that helps spark a revolution.

RICHARD GERE, THE GERE FOUNDATION: Village to village, face to face, heart to heart, and that's where real communication or transformation happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Tonight's CNN's senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes you inside the lives of people living with HIV. The program, "Are You Positive" is a compelling, compassionate and realistic look at HIV and AIDs and it also focuses on what people are doing to raise awareness in the U.S. and around the world. It airs at 10:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN. You won't want to miss it. The Minnesota man accused of killing six deer hunters in Wisconsin last weekend is expected to be charged tomorrow. Chai Vang remains in the Sawyer County jail on $2.5 million bail. He's hired three attorneys and today his daughter spoke out about his ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, VANG'S DAUGHTER: I am his oldest daughter, and I do give my condolences to the other family members of this incident. All of our families, our faith and hardships at this time and we all have questions that, you know, need answers. My father, he is a great person, and he does take care of his family. He loves his family very much. And you know, at this time, I really don't know what my father did, you know. I haven't talked to him. I haven't had any kind of contact with him. You know, it was a shock to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Chai Vang's daughter. He's expected to be charged tomorrow.

There is a new reality show that is taking viewers to the deserts of Ethiopia as it documents the lives of two young missionaries. The stories behind their sometimes dangerous travels straight ahead.

And then, 72 days of nothing but water. This record-breaking attempt coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOPPEL: And Carol Lin is here with a preview of what's ahead on "CNN Live Sunday." Carol I understand you have a big controversy brewing about gift cards.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You bet. Andrea since so many people have been shopping for their holiday gifts one of the most popular gifts this year is a gift card so that you can buy what you want. But what you don't really understand maybe is the fine print and how there are a lot of restrictions, maybe even extra fees. That is being debated.

And also, no matter what your opinion is about the U.S. presence in Iraq, we have an amazing story of a soldier who has come home briefly but his mission in Iraq is going to make you feel pretty good about what some of the troops are doing over there. So all at 6:00 Eastern tonight Andrea.

KOPPEL: And I owe you a birthday gift, birthday girl, yesterday was your birthday. Happy belated birthday.

LIN: Thank you so much. That's very nice of you to say. Thank you.

KOPPEL: We'll be tuning in for you at 6:00. Thank you Carol.

LIN: Good deal. KOPPEL: Well, reality TV meets the gospel, in the adventure of a lifetime. The new show chronicles the travels of two real life missionaries as they test themselves and their faith in some of the most remote places on earth. CNN's Rhonda Grayson has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got to say Tibet is one of the toughest places to get around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is one of the trucks we may be taking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in the African wild!

RHONDA GRAYSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Missionaries Tim Scott and Will Decker have traveled 40,000 miles for 18 months in 25 countries, including parts of Africa, Sudan, China, Tibet, India, and Pakistan, sharing the gospel.

These young Christians recorded their journey for a reality television series called "Travel the Road." There have been many experiences along the road, including being stalked by lions in the desert the of Ethiopia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely here we can see the trackings. The guy was so worried about us. You can't go back there otherwise they'll swallow you up and eat you.

GRAYSON: The show has paid big dividends, winning a Tellie, a Nova and a People's Choice Award.

Tim's brother Michael co-produced the series.

MICHAEL SCOTT, TRAVELTHEROAD.COM: We designed it for the use. It's high impact, a lot of energy, it has an MTV-style to it, I always say it's a cross between "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" but has an eternal purpose.

GRAYSON: And that purpose is to inspire young adults to do mission work. These young missionaries travel the world wherever god may leave them because they have an important message to share of hope and faith.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an evidence of redemption.

GRAYSON: The missionaries say praying keeps them safe. There have been some faith testing moments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sh. [ gunfire ]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my gosh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boom, like quick there. See, there's something behind us right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are definitely developing a high tech type of missionary. In the old days, for example, the pioneer, Dr. David Livingston traveled up but Sub-Saharan Africa in his entire lifetime. We did a trip in seven weeks on a vehicle what he did in his entire lifetime in one of our four-wheel-drive trucks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next day weigh decided to head to the Hawash National Park.

GRAYSON: Fulfilling their desire for adventure and sharing their faith keeps these missionaries traveling the road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is it. You don't shower for awhile, you're in the back of trucks but it's all worth it.

GRAYSON: Rhonda Grayson, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: As you just saw in Rhonda's piece, the "Travel the Road" series is produced by Michael Scott. He is joining me now live from Los Angeles to talk about the rigors of putting together the show. Hi there Michael.

SCOTT: Hello. How's it going?

KOPPEL: Great. Well, what an interesting idea for a series. I understand, as we've heard in the story that Tim is your brother. Who is the other missionary?

SCOTT: The other missionary is William Decker. He's a good friend of mine. We went to college together and that's originally how Tim and William got together. They met through me, and he decided he'd take it up and go overseas.

KOPPEL: Now, obviously there's a serious side to the work of these young missionaries but you decided to put it together as a reality TV show. Why?

SCOTT: Really the purpose behind it, I mean, we weren't setting out to stage anything or do anything like that. Everything you see is real. What we wanted to show is the youth of America in the world, what missions is all about through the eyes of two young guys out there doing it in some of the most remote countries in the world.

KOPPEL: And the answer is? What is it like?

SCOTT: It's, I would say, it's amazing. You're out there. You never know what's going to happen. I mean, one moment you could be in a jungle in Laos, trucking back to reach a tribe. I'll never forget the time I was there we were attacked by leaches and all these things happen, or you're in Africa on the Savannah out there and the lions might be out there and different things, and your meeting remote peoples and interesting groups all over the world, and when you get back to them it's so incredible to be able to share with them and talk with them, your faith and it's just an incredible experience.

KOPPEL: Michael, how do you communicate with these people? Do you bring translators with you?

SCOTT: Typically in each country you go to, we'll work with the local church or we'll find a local guide that speaks the language, and hire them or work with them and they'll do all of the translating for that particular area.

KOPPEL: Now, you are a Christian, is that correct?

SCOTT: Yes I am.

KOPPEL: I have friends who are Mormons and who went and did their missionary work. My understanding was, at least in their case, they lived in one country. Why is it that your brother and your friend are kind of almost Rambo-style moving into one village and hopping off to the next place?

SCOTT: Well, it depends on the country they're in. They go from area to area. Some places they'll spend six months. Some places they'll spend two or three weeks, and they're really out there trying to find the areas, doing some of the research. There will be people that will follow up after them to be able to help them out if they need to grow in their faith or anything like that. They'll turn them over to the local pastors in the area source that they can teach them.

So they really want to explore the whole world, show you what's out there, what it's like, so you know, the youth of America in the world can see where they might have an interest to go, whether it be Ethiopia or Tibet or Laos or wherever it might be.

KOPPEL: Who was working the camera?

SCOTT: You know what actually that's one of the big questions always asked. Everything you see in the series is done by Tim and Will, and throughout different points in the series, they're joined by other people, and so they handle all the camera work and do everything like that. It's very difficult for to you bring a camera crew. It loses what you're trying to do there and becomes about a TV series instead of about the mission.

KOPPEL: So if viewers want to tune in where can they watch your series and what channel and what time?

SCOTT: They can catch it on TBN on Saturdays at 8:30 Pacific or 11:30 Eastern, or they can check our Web site at Traveltheroad.com and get all of the local show times and a bunch of information about the show and kind of gives you basically information about missions, the show, or you can find your local listings and everything like that.

KOPPEL: Well I'll tell you what it, it looks like it is gripping television, and congratulations to you, Michael. It sounds like you guys had a wonderful idea, and we'll be looking forward to watching it.

SCOTT: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me on. It's an incredible series. If you haven't seen it, I encourage you guys to watch it. KOPPEL: Michael Scott joining us from L.A. "Travel the Road."

An extreme adventure of another kind is underway, this adventure will cover 27,000 miles. Coming up, one woman's attempt to set a new world record for the fastest solo sail around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOPPEL: A 28 year old British woman is hoping to make history by becoming the fastest person to sail around the world on a solo trip. ITV's Helen Callahan (ph) has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HELEN CALLAHAN, ITN (voice over): An emotional farewell to Falmouth before her most grueling adventure yet. Ellen Macarthur wants the set a new world record for the fastest solo sail around the world. She knows it can be tough.

ELLEN MACARTHUR: I think this is the biggest change by far I've ever attempted. Because the boat's big and powerful. The record I'm trying to beat is to get a boat as fast as humanly possible around the planet.

CALLAHAN: Time then for good-byes and last minute checks of equipment and supplies, including lucky charms and Christmas presents, and then be off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good luck Ellen!

CALLAHAN: The next time she sees this harbor, Ellen hopes she'll have made history, having covered some 27,000 miles in under 72 days. So Ellen's epic journey is finally under way. She's being towed out of Falmouth Harbor, escorted by well-wishers in small boats. Ellen and her 75-foot long Trimaran will have to reach speeds of more than 15 knots as well as dodging ice bergs in the southern seas and riding out waves that will crash right over the top of the mast. For two and a half months it will just be Ellen.

She'll see nothing but this boat and the ocean. Repairs will be any time around the clock, leaving little time for eating, sleeping and crucially, loneliness. So now she's heading across the channel to the official start line which she's due to cross tomorrow morning and then the clock starts ticking. Helen Callahan, ITV News, Falmouth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: She's an Oscar winning superstar. Now Julia Roberts has a new role, mom. She gave birth to twins earlier today in Los Angeles. Roberts, who is 37, was admitted to the hospital last month after having early contractions. The twins are a boy and girl, Phinius and Hazel. Roberts is married to cameraman Danny Moder.

That's it for us. "Next@CNN" is straight ahead. Here's Daniel Seiberg with a preview. DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ahead on "Next@CNN" what made the 2004 hurricane season such a monster? What could we expect in 2005?

Also some new gadgets to let you carry 80 hours of entertainment in your pocket.

KOPPEL: Thanks so much for joining us. We'll be back with the headlines after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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