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Last-Minute Holiday Shopping; Discovery Astronauts Prepare for Work; Drunken Englishman Disrupts Railway Service

Aired December 16, 2006 - 12:00   ET

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, trees and power lines down, more than a million people without electricity and temperatures are plunging. People in Washington and Oregon struggle to cope with the worst windstorm in more than a decade.
A friend of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko tells the BBC he was killed over a dossier he had compiled on a powerful Russian. Litvinenko died of radiation poisoning in London last month. On his deathbed, he blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin denies the allegations.

A call for early elections. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants a new vote to end the political stalemate with the rival Hamas party, but Hamas rejects the idea.

And astronauts plan a third spacewalk today. Two astronauts will complete the rewiring job on the international space station starting on Thursday and if time allows, they'll also take a closer look at the solar panel that won't fully retract. The engineers think it's caught on a guide wire.

This hour, another big drive in the search for three climbers missing on Oregon's Mt. Hood. We're expected to hear from their mothers. We'll bring that to you live.

A drunk catching a snooze on the train tracks of all places, a slight leg movement and he would have been electrocuted.

And nine shopping days until Christmas. Do you have that perfect gift yet? We do and it's in the NEWSROOM. The news unfolding live on this Saturday, the 16th day of December, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

On Oregon's highest mountain, the search for three missing climbers is back on track today. A blizzard kept search crews on the sidelines yesterday, rescuers have reached the 8,000 foot level on Mt. Hood, heading up the south side of the mountain. They want to reach the summit at 11,000 feet, a climb that could take several more hours.

One thing that has helped searchers, clearing weather on Mt. Hood. CNN's Chris Lawrence is near Mt. Hood -- Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredricka, it's a huge difference from yesterday, we saw seven, eight hours of the just driving pouring rain and then the temperatures dropped and it was just blizzard conditions. Today, you can see it's much clearer out, which has allowed some of the helicopters to already get out. We've been listening to some of the scanner traffic from some of the crews that are already up on the mountain.

One crew said he can already see some of the Blackhawks buzzing the mountain above him. But the weather may not be quite as good as they had hoped. We listened to one crew say that the winds had whipped up now to about 35-miles-per-hour, pretty sustained, and that he was going to have to evacuate his contact on the ground said that's a good idea, you come on down the mountain.

Some of the other crews have said that the air temperature there is about five degrees, the wind chill 35 degrees below zero. In fact, we heard one of the crews say that his liquid filled binoculars that he been using to try to scope out an area were literally frozen. So again, when you talk about it being better conditions that doesn't mean they're necessarily ideal conditions for this search -- Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Now Chris talk to me about the prospect of this C- 130. The Air Force wanted to use a C-130 for its heat seeking devices. Now that it's clearer today, less windy, less rainfall, what are the prospects of that taking place today?

LAWRENCE: There's very good chance that the C-130 will fly today. And again, the C-130, obviously, would be much more protected against some of these really vicious winds that have been blowing, that some of the Blackhawk helicopters would be. And again, that C- 130 has heat seeking technology, it can see at night, it can see during the day. So it's going to give them some better options in terms of getting eyes on the mountain, which is, again, that is the challenge. They have pinpointed that cell phone signal to a general area through the cell phone technology, but at the same time, you still need to get an eye on the mountain, some sort of camera, some person actually looking to try to pinpoint where these men might be.

WHITFIELD: Chris Lawrence, thanks so much for that update. And again, we're waiting, a press conference to update us on the rescue and search effort. Stay with CNN for the very latest developments on this story as they unfold.

Also coming up in the next 15 minutes, we've got live coverage of that news conference, updating the search efforts, and the mothers of the missing climbers will also be at that news conference. We look forward to hearing from them.

Surviving brutal mountain storms in winter, it is possible if you know what to do. CNN's Rick Sanchez traveled to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado for some quick lessons.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From a distance, Rocky Mountain Summits seem to melt into the clouds. As we get closer, though, they reveal their danger. That cut is called "Seven Sisters," see the seven parallel paths? Each one is a known avalanche zone where skiers and mountaineers have haven't trapped or killed.

(on camera): You're not going to be able to get out of the way once that thing getting rolling?

MICHAEL ALKAITIS, AMERICAN MOUNTAIN GUIDES ASSN: Oh no. No, you'll be right in it.

SANCHEZ: Reporter: Really?

ALKAITIS: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: Chances of surviving?

ALKAITIS: I couldn't say. It's not very good.

SANCHEZ: Not good?

ALKAITIS: Yeah.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): As we drive higher, we're met by a sudden ground blizzard. I expected it would be extreme, but this is unimaginable.

(on camera): There are places on earth where you feel god's fury, but I can't imagine any of them being any worse than this. What we're feeling right now. We're almost 12,000 feet, this is the continental divide. I've been in enough hurricanes to know what hurricane force gusts, if not winds, feel like. This is easily at least 60-miles-an-hour gusts that are blowing through here. At times it's difficult to stand up. It's a biting cold. It's hard to see. In fact it's just downright painful.

The question now is if you were stuck in these conditions, what do you do? How do you survive?

(voice-over): We're elicited the help of two renowned mountaineering experts who teach the first order of business is to build a snow cave. Without it, you will not survive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would just get in there, into that cave. Get on our pack to insulate ourselves from the snow.

SANCHEZ (on camera): I see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And stay warm, huddled close together all night.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Even in a snow cave, you could still get Slammed by an avalanche, but experienced mountaineers avoid it by taking into account both slope and snow density when figuring out where to camp.

(on camera): We can't see the top of that peak. Look straight up there. Because of this wind you can't see it, but could that start an avalanche at any time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not tall enough...

SANCHEZ: I see. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...right no now to start an avalanche. If it did slide it has no energy.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): But by far, the biggest killer is the weather itself. Within hours of being exposed, mountaineers can suffer hyperthermia which causes them to become strangely delusional.

ALKAITIS: You'd eventually become euphoric, think that the snow is really warm and soft, and lay down and go to sleep forever.

SANCHEZ: It is why some victims are found disrobed. They actually believe it's warm in freezing weather. Experts recommend not going into these conditions without a shovel, a backpack, a head lamp, a compact stove to melt water and least a sleeping bag. Say, even with these items, under extreme conditions, you'll still only be able to hold on for so long.

Rick Sanchez, CNN, Loveland Pass, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And it's pretty miserable in Washington state where power company crews are struggling to restore service after is the worst windstorm to hit the Pacific northwest in more than a decade. We have report from Gary Chitham of CNN affiliate WKING.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY CHITHAM, WKING REPORTER (voice-over): The high wire acts continued through the night. First the chainsaws, then the repair teams, this power restoration one piece at a time, painfully slow and extremely dangerous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're doing what we can do. I don't know what to say. We're just trying to get it all up.

CHITHAM: You can hear it in their voices, they are overworked and overwhelmed, but determined to get the power back on for some one million customers who lost it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they start to appreciate us a little more, especially this year. I mean it's just been kind of insane.

CHITHAM: Adding to the insanity of the temperatures dipping below freezing in many places overnight and expected to continue doing so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just trying to stay warm.

CHITHAM: Many are powerless are flooding markets for alternative fuels. And while that's a good way to cook on outdoor barbecues, some are trying dangerous methods to heat their homes with disastrous results.

The outages are causing other problems, gasoline stations that have fuel are running out and police had to help keep the peace and patience at stations where is big lines were forming. The problems at the pump and everywhere else can be solved at the pole where power crews are concentrating their efforts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, let's check in with Reynolds Wolf for a look at the weather and certainly along the northwest quadrant of the country it has been brutal the last few days, really almost a whole week now, right?

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right, Reynolds, sorry I got to cut you off because we've been waiting for this press conference coming out of the Mt. Hood area for an update on those three missing climbers. Let's listen in right now.

JOE WAMPLER, HOOD CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT: We've been searching all week and -- but when an opportunity opened up because of the weather, gave us a break to be up there this morning. What's going on -- what our strategy is today, and it's going to continue through the weekend, is we've got teams on the mountain right now that basically started at 4:00 this morning -- and our strategy is to get a summit team from the south side of the mountain from Timberline, and this is totally dependant upon avalanche conditions, which are extreme on the mountain right now. As you can see, even from right here, we system have some wind on the mountain, now to the east and there's a lot of fresh snow and there's blowing snow up there. But that's OK, we're able to operate in that environment, today.

So we've got teams advancing. We hope to summit really by midday if conditions are going to allow us to do that. But we're just getting into the base of the south side and we've got teams advancing from the north side. So, we've got 25 mountaineers, rescue climbers, ascending from Timberline, as we speak. And then we've got another 30 on the north side, and we're got guys, an advance team on Elliott Glacier, the Snow Dome, Elk Cove, Narl Ridge and then we've got two teams in support of those advance teams standing by on Coopers Spur.

And we've got our aerial assets, what they did this morning. We had a Hood River County search fixed wing aircraft out at first light giving us the temperature at 12,000 feet, as of about half an hour ago it was three degrees. The temperature at 6,000 feet was about 14 degrees. And so those are the conditions on the mountain right now.

So we're hard at it. The aerial support here, I'm going to let our military supporters talk about those, and how we're going to utilize those.

Yesterday, we had a C-130 try to make a couple of electronic flights over the mountain with no results. We're going to use -- try to utilize that asset along with the other aircraft that we have available to us today -- we're going to try to get everybody in there today, too. So, real quick, any questions?

QUESTION: Sheriff, if you've got more than 50 climbers going up this mountain from both sides, helicopters, airplanes, have you ever seen anything like this?

WAMPLER: Yes. This is not an uncommon amount of resource utilized on Mt. Hood. We've had several rescues that involved a lot of people, and these are the assets available for us here.

QUESTION: Sheriff, is this your last genuine chance to find these guys this weekend?

WAMPLER: We'd like to find it this weekend. This going to be a good weather window for us and it's going to give us a lot of opportunities. Again, a big concern is even though visibility is good, the wind's down, is the snow condition on the steep parts of the mountain, right now.

QUESTION: I meant after this weekend, is there still a chance or it's pretty much over with?

WAMPLER: We're going to stay with it -- a lot of what we're doing today is evidentiaevidentiary, to literally, tell us about what's been going on the mountain, what's going on the mountain, and all of those are, you know, intelligence gathering opportunities for us to evaluate the survivability of the climbers on the mountain.

QUESTION: If you rescue the climbers today, where will you bring them?

WAMPLER: Now, if we can get a rescue going today, we find these guys, we'll -- the evacuation plan is to fly them right to a trauma center in Portland.

QUESTION: Joe, what do you know about the equipment they have or their plans? All the details they left in that note that we found yesterday. What -- how do you evaluate their chances?

WAMPLER: You know, these guys, because this whole thing started months ago for them, you know, these three guys got together and were going to -- you know, had planned a trip -- climbing trip on Mt. Hood. You know, they had corresponded with each other and it's pretty obvious that these guys are good climbers. They're good recreational climbers. You know, they did all the right things, they had all the right tools. You know, we've got some concerns about what they actually have with them now compared to what they had -- because you know, they left a list of stuff they took. They registered their climb at the ranger's station at Mt. Hood and you know, left notes along their way about what they were doing.

What equipment they had with them at the time. And you know, we had people that actually saw them along their route and that are climbers and outdoorsmen who said hey, they had all the best stuff. I mean, these guys were prepared to climb the advanced route that they did climb on the north side of Mt. Hood. So, but we actually never saw -- nobody ever saw them above the Timberline. There is some question about whether they actually left some stuff behind. We haven't been able to find that. We've been looking because they said they were going to stash some stuff, which probably included their sleeping bags and pads for a fast ascent on this side of the mountain. We haven't been able to find that. They stashed it really good or they have it with them. So you know, we're assuming that what they said they had they still may have with them which greatly increases their chance of survivability.

QUESTION: Sheriff, if you find them alive on the mountain, do you expect to be able to airlift them down or will you are to literally carry them down?

WAMPLER: Well, it depends on the conditions. We are prepared to airlift them down or get them down to a place where they can be airlifted, but that -- the initial plan is if we can get them to a place where they can be airlifted, we'll airlift them from the mountain directly into Portland.

QUESTION: Can you use Blackhawk helicopters to send rescuers up the mountain?

WAMPLER: We can if need be. Right now, we've got teams on the mountain, working the mountain, and depending on what they see, what they find, you know, if we need to move a team quickly, we've got a team in place here to be moved by the helicopters to those locations.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) would you lower a string with a basket or would it...

WAMPLER: Probably. Yeah, because of the snow conditions on the mountain, I don't foresee us having the ability to actually set down on the mountain. That might -- I mean we can do that, but I'm not sure that's going to be necessary. I think a lift is order.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) flight restrictions on the mountain, today?

WAMPLER: The mountain is closed. We've got what's called a temporary flight restriction around the mountain which extends from the summit of the mountain out to three feet from the surface. And then, we've the Forest Service actually closed the use of the mountain to climbers and recreational people so that we can keep track of our teams, an electronic search can be done and we know who's who on the mountain and not have other tracks interfering with any clues that we might be able to develop up there.

QUESTION: Sheriff, (INAUDIBLE) keep people on the mountain tonight?

WAMPLER: Excuse me? Say that again.

QUESTION: Are you planning on keeping people on the mountain tonight?

WAMPLER: You know, we'll -- at the end of today, if we don't do any good, we'll pull our teams off the mountain back down, warm them up, because it's really easy for us to actually get up on the mountain, we're starting at 6,000 feet clear around the mountain, cloud cap ends, what we're using on the north side, virtually Timberline Lodge on the other side and it's real easy for us to get the guys in the Cat and move them up as close as we can.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) danger for the searchers and the rescue workers on the mountain?

WAMPLER: Right now, it's hard for them to move because they're traveling in deep snow, for one, and so they're having to utilize skis and snowshoes to stay on top so they don't sink clear down. So, it's hard to get around. Second, it's cold. A little bit windy, but it's pretty good. I mean, the searchers on the mountain are excited to be there. This is a big break for them. We've hand-picked the advance teams to be there based on their skills and abilities. We've got avalanche experts with these teams. We've got paramedics, reach and treat folks with the climbing teams, and we virtually got the best hand-picked teams between the Clackamas County Sheriff's Offices and the Hood River County Sherrif's Office, because of their personal knowledge of Mt. Hood.

QUESTION: Can you give is idea what the wind conditions are let's say from 7,000 feet to the summit today (INAUDIBLE)?

WAMPLER: Today, the forecast -- presently we've got light winds, they're about 20-miles-an-hour out of the east on the mountain. And there's powder snow, so it's blowing that snow around up there, and really the prediction is today for the winds to actually get lighter as the day goes on.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

WAMPLER: Thank you very much. You know, I'm going to do one more thing here before I run away, because I haven't actually had an opportunity to thank some people. And then we'll let the captain jump right in here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well actually, I think the sheriff said it all. We have the resources, we have the weather, we have a plan, we're going to get to work and save these people. Thank you.

WAMPLER: I'm sorry, but I'm going to take advantage of you guys here right now. Personnel at the Hood River County Sheriff's Office, including our 911 center. Clackamas County sheriff's office, Mt. Hood National Forest, Portland Mountain Rescue. Crag Rats; Corvallis Search and Rescue, Lane County Mountain Rescue, Corvallis Search and Rescue, Mountain Wave Communications, who started late last night, staging their selves around the mountain so we could all talk to each other. Fourth battalion of the 160th Special Operations Air Guard, the 1042nd Air National Guard, the One Delta 113 Unit of the Oregon National Guard. the 152nd Nevada Air National Guard, Mt. Hood Meadows, Coopersburg Ski Area, T-Mobile, R-Car...

WHITFIELD: All right, ticking off the number of teams that are involved in this massive search. While it may seem like there are extraordinary measures being taken to look for these climbers, we also heard from these officials saying it's not uncommon to have this amount of resources involved at Ft. Hood -- Mt. Hood, rather, to look for such climbers.

Our Chris Lawrence is there.

Chris, you heard a number of the detail. They have many climbing teams on both the north and the south side, but concentrating on the south side, trying to get to the 11,000 foot summit, because they still feel rather hopeful that summit is where those climbers are.

LAWRENCE: Exactly. You know, if you go by what those pings from that cell phone that Kelly James had with him that pinpointed him somewhat above the 10,000 foot level, so they've got a very clear idea of what where they think they might be. And again, we heard a little bit about some of the conditions that they're in -- very deep snow, having to use skis and snowshoes to get through there. The winds have quieted down to about 20-miles-per-hour. We've heard traffic over the scanner that some of the gusts are still kicking up to 35-miles-per- hour and as he mentioned, you've got a lot of very powdery snow. When that wind starts to whip up, it can be very hard to see even a few feet in front of you.

Earlier, we did see the helicopters land, we heard earlier some of the crews say, that they -- the crews on the mountain, that is, we could hear them over the scanner say that they could see the helicopters buzzing above them, so it seems to be a massive effort under way they're taking advantage of really the first real break in the weather all week.

WHITFIELD: All right, Chris Lawrence, thanks so much. They're using those choppers and possibly may use that C-130 Air Force cargo jet again today with the heat seeking device to try to look for those climbers.

Meantime, way, way above they've trying shaking it, they've tried jostling it, now an astronaut is going to have to venture out into space one more time to fix a stubborn solar array.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Again, I want to take you straight back out to near Mt. Hood, Oregon, where everyone remains optimistic in the search for the three climbers including the family members. We're listening now Maria Kim.

MARIA KIM, MOTHER OF JERRY "NIKKO" COOKE: Thank you, everyone, for their support and prayer. I appreciate everyone trying to find Jerry and Brain and Kelly. I pray for all and thank you all for those helpers everyday.

Every time I think about my son in the snow cave, hungry, cold, tear my heart apart, but I know that they all strong men who believe in god. I know that god is watching over them and keeping them safe. I am very excited today because today's weather is finally getting better. God is sending his soldier today to save our sons.

I want to -- mountain to release our sons and mountain has no right to keep our sons. I can't wait to hug my son, Jerry, then I want to hug Brain and Kelly, my new family. I wish to tell my son that I love him in Korean. (SPEAKING KOREAN). God bless you, everyone. Thank you so much and the sheriff and the captain (INAUDIBLE), thank you very, very much for all this, you're doing. Thank you. I cannot say thank you so much. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And my mother, Mrs. Luann Cameron, Kelly's mom and my mom.

LUANN CAMERON, KELLY JAMES' MOTHER: I just want to thank everyone for all the support they've given us. It's just been incredible and like Maria mentioned, this mountain climber, this young boy that was trapped on mountain for 16 days and they came through it and they were just teenagers, and they gave us a lot of hope last night. And we're all very encouraged by what he had to say. And everybody, the whole town, the whole world has turned out for us and supported us and been praying for us. My church in Little Rock, Arkansas, they have been praying and many, many churches and people have been praying for us. And I know my son's coming down today. It's my birthday and he wouldn't miss my birthday, I know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, mom.

I think that'll be it for today. Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: All the family members -- specifically the mothers of Brian Hall of Dallas, Kelly James of Dallas and Jerry Cooke of Brooklyn, New York, coming together there at the foot of Mt. Hood as many rescue teams continue their searches for these three experienced climbers.

Search teams are on both the north and south side of Mt. Hood, looking and trying to traverse very tough conditions, blowing snow and very cold conditions. While it has cleared up today, that means that the search teams are very optimistic that they can perhaps reach that 11,000 foot summit, which is where they believe those three climbers may be holed up in a snow cave. More on this story as it develops throughout the day.

Half past the hour now. Here is what's happening in the news. Temperatures are dropping in the Northwest. The worst windstorm in 14 years left six dead. Freezing residents are warned against using outdoor grills and propane heaters to try to keep warm. Thirty-three people who did are being treated for now carbon monoxide poisoning.

The weather is clearing up in Oregon and searchers as I mentioned are engaged in a full court press to find the three climbers lost for nearly a week now on the rugged slopes of Mt. Hood. Black hawk helicopters and air force crew and expert climbers are all taking part.

Executions in Florida now on hold. Governor Jeb Bush suspended them after a bungled execution this week. A medical examiner says the execution took 34 minutes, twice as long as usual.

And the shuttle astronauts prepare for the next phase of their mission and another walk outside the International Space Station. A live report straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. Well the Christmas rush is on and just in time. We'll show you some of the best gifts under 50 bucks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So it's thing to design your home like Martha Stewart would. It's an entirely different thing to live in an actual Martha Stewart home. Gerri Willis stopped by one Atlanta suburb to take a tour for this week's "Modern Living."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK Martha, here we are on Martha Stewart Lane surrounded by your houses.

MARTHA STEWART, BUSINESSWOMAN: Aren't they pretty?

WILLIS: So tell me, these are all based on your own home designs.

STEWART: They are.

WILLIS: You've got to show me the interior.

STEWART: OK, come on in. Nice side lights on the doors. Beautiful clear glass on the door so that you can get lots and lots of light. Thank you. Thank you for wiping your feet.

WILLIS: Let's let's talk about this room. This is the living room, but it's not the grandest room in the house.

STEWART: Well, it's one of the living rooms. This is gathering room.

WILLIS: So for me, for my money, the big room in the house is the kitchen. It's all about the kitchen for me.

STEWART: Well, here you have, I think one of the most generous sized kitchens ever for a house of this kind. Isn't this great? With eight burners?

WILLIS: That's for entertaining. Obviously the master is really something to see. Can you show me that?

STEWART: Oh, I love this room. I love it.

WILLIS: I like the yellow.

STEWART: Oh, isn't it pretty? So here you can sit and watch the fire, you can read, you can talk, in this beautiful sitting area. And then in here is the bedroom, again with a fireplace.

WILLIS: I'm Gerri Willis and that's this week's "Modern Living."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And now this just happening in Bucyrus, Ohio. See this train derailment? These cars are carrying some hazardous material, but we understand according to police that there are no leaks being reported and no injuries, but this took place in a rather remote field just north of Bucyrus there in Ohio. More information as we get it.

Meantime very miles above earth, Discovery's astronauts prepare for another delicate dance outside the International Space Station. Today's efforts will involve some pretty fancy footwork with astronauts inside and flight controllers on the ground. Our Miles O'Brien also on the ground tracking the mission and joining us now from New York. Good tos ee you, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Fredricka.

This will be the 76th spacewalk focused on building the International Space Station and there may be a little surprise at the end if the astronauts have some time, they may go to work on that bulky solar array we've been telling about all this week. But first of all, let's take a look at the suit-up and give you a sense of what astronauts do to get ready for a walk in space.

A little bit of the boss there, born to run, they are. There you see the hair of Sunny Williams, she a rookie astronaut and a rookie space walker to be very shortly in the next couple of hours. She and Robert Curbeam will head out into the void and begin mirror image type work on what they did earlier this week on Thursday as part of a rewiring campaign for the International Space Station.

The idea is to bring these solar arrays fully into the power grid, so to speak. And as part of that, prepare these solar arrays No. 2 here for a move a little bit later and rewire them from their temporary wiring situation to a fully permanent wired set-up all along the truss of the International Space Station.

That will be the task. Last time the astronauts were out, they had great success with this effort. As a matter of fact they finished hours in advance of time, ahead of the time line and that may provide some time for them to address this bulky solar array.

Now let's back up just a little bit and show you what they were trying to do. They were trying to retract this solar array in to make room for this solar array to pivot around like a paddle wheel to make it easier for it to gather the sun's rays. They got about, oh say that far and you can stop it right about there. Got to that point and they ran into some trouble.

Bunches of it there and it folds kind of like a map, were not folding properly. So it's kind of stuck in this configuration, which isn't the worst case scenario because this thing can still do its paddle wheel routine, it's not in the way anymore, but nevertheless eventually they want to get this thing completely retracted so they can move it over here. So let me show what you they've been doing to try to jiggle this map into place, if you will. This is sped up by 10 times, I should tell you. A lot of things in space move kind of slowly even though you're going at 17,500 miles an hour. Nevertheless you can see where things are bunching right along in here.

That's where the problem area is, and so they rotated it, pivoted it on this little bar here to see if they can make it jiggle-free. If you look at these next pictures, you can really get a sense what was causing the problem. There are little holes in the solar arrays right through here, and in those holes are little grommets. And through the grommets go some wires, or one wire. And the wire is bunching up, just one of them. If you can just get out there and put your hand on it, you could you solve this problem very quickly.

But it's just not that easy as that, you just don't go do that kind of thing willy-nilly. So it is possible despite the fact that they've done all these wiggles and the retraction, it's possible they may end up leaving the space station with it in place.

But it could very well happen today that the space walkers -- take a look at this live picture, you can see them in the final stages of preparations -- if they get done soon enough with their task on the rewiring, they will get a chance to go over there and perhaps jiggle those solar arrays free and get them stowed like they should be -- Fred?

WHITFIELD: Wow, pretty amazing stuff, but also seemingly very tedious.

O'BRIEN: Yes, you know, it's interesting. It's tedious work with a great view.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it is. And we're enjoying the view. All right, Miles, thanks so much.

Well of all the places to catch a nap, drinking off a binge, well it has to be the absolute worst location. A drunken Englishman disrupted railway service, delayed thousands of passengers and nearly got electrocuted. Paul Davies of International Television News has the story of a deep, but not very sound sleep.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL DAVIES, ITV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It looked like a body on the busy railway line outside Epsom Station. Only a witness noticed the body was snoring.

Former company director Kevin Craswell was drunk when he wandered onto the track, laid his head on the rail and went to sleep. A police helicopter filmed the chaos that ensued. Trains on four lines had to be stopped and diverted.

Railway workers had to disconnect power, because Mr. Craswell's foot was just a few inches from the third live rail. And through all the drama, he slept on, even when a train passed just a few feet from where he slept, oblivious to the noise, oblivious to the risk and unaware that thousands of commuter journeys were being disrupted. Eventually, when the track was safe, police officers and paramedics were able to reach him and only then did he wake up.

(on camera): Kevin Craswell says he's deeply ashamed of what he did that day. He says he had been drinking so heavily, he has absolutely no recollection of walking onto the track here and then lying down to sleep on it. British transport police say he's incredibly lucky not to have been electrocuted.

GRAHAM COTTINGTON, BRITISH TRANSPORT POLICE: If he had outstretched his leg, he would have touched the third rail and he would have been been electrocuted at 750 volts. If he had moved his leg one foot, he would have have been dead.

DAVIES (voice-over): A recovering alcoholic, Kevin Craswell was told he could be been sent to jail. Instead, he was fined and ordered to undertake community service. Paul Davies, ITV News, Epsom.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, perhaps you're still shopping for the holidays. We'll try to save you some money, gifts under 50 bucks, that's the focus of our dollars and deals coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And we want to bring you these live pictures right now in Manhattan where many dozens of people have converged there, being led by the Reverend Al Sharpton, all in protest still and the outrage over the killing of a groom to be, Sean Bell last month.

The march is the latest in a series of demonstrations that have taken place. This march taking place just near Central Park there. We apologize for the movement of these live pictures, but we're trying to give you a panoramic view as well as a closer view of how many people have turned out for this demonstration.

The investigation involving the police department is still under way but it's an investigation that has branched out beyond the New York police department. Whose fault is it? That is what is at issue. And Al Sharpton and many others have said, including the mayor, that excessive force was used in that shooting death of Sean Bell.

Meantime, many Americans are filling up the malls these days to buy gifts for their loved ones. There are others who have nothing but find way to give thanks for the very little things in life anyway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just should never take for granted what you have, because you never know when one day you don't have it anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Forced into a shelter after being pushed out of the middle class, this weekend, the CNN NEWSROOM shows you the new face of homelessness. Could it happen to you? A paycheck away. Saturday night, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 Pacific.

Countdown to Christmas, just nine days away. The malls are packed. Your budget is stretched and you're out of ideas. We know what you're talking about and we have help. Donna Banks, features editor for "Reader's Digest" is going to show us some best gifts under $50.

DONNA BANKS, FEATURES EDITOR, READER'S DIGEST: Hi, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you. All right, well let's talk about what is available for lot of folks. Maybe too late to get it all online. These are items that you really need to go shopping for?

BANKS: You can still get some online, you would need to get going today, absolutely.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well let's talk about some of the gift ideas that we have in mind. A little something for everyone, whether it's in the kitchen or maybe you're a gardener or maybe there are other things you like to do outdoors.

BANKS: This is the flexible flyer. I don't know if you can see this, but it's a flexible flyer sled, this is for the kid on your list or the still just a big kid on your list. It's great, it's lightweight foam with a heavy duty laminated bottom, so they're very fast. Child size is $26, adult size is $30 and it's $49 for both.

WHITFIELD: Wait a minute, and how are you using that?

BANKS: This is a sled.

WHITFIELD: Oh. Like the old-time flyers.

BANKS: Hours of fun.

WHITFIELD: Although it's nouveau now.

BANKS: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: All right, some of the other ideas. You've got some brownies for us?

BANKS: Oh, for the brownies. These are fabulous. The Dancing Deer Baking Company, we've eaten thousands of calories as we've tested all of this stuff. This their brownie sampler and now question, it's straight up yumminess. It's 16 brownies, you get chocolate chunk.

WHITFIELD: We can't see them, can you hold them up?

BANKS: Chocolate chunk, caramel, pecan and peppermint fudge and they come in a great container, $34.50 for 16 brownies.

WHITFIELD: Yummy yum. Wow, those must be some good brownies, because those are some pricey brownies.

BANKS: They're delicious though, they're worth every cent.

WHITFIELD: All right, well I like to garden and I can't have enough gardening gloves.

BANKS: So the gardener -- this is for a rose enthusiast. They're a washable suede, they're lightweight, they're flexible, they're thorn proof and they go all the way up to your elbow. These are from the West County Gardener and they're $30.

And then for the woman on the go, for the traveler, we've got these are flex flops and consider them the emergency flip-flop which you can take to get your pedicure or throw them in your bag when you're traveling. They have a slide strap so you can avoid smudges.

WHITFIELD: Oh, they're embezzled there, so a little blinkety blink there.

BANKS: They're great. As shown, they're $48 and they say things like mistletoes, ho, ho, ho. Pedi, please. They're a lot of fun.

WHITFIELD: Oh, these are nice, very glamorous gifts I think anybody would appreciate: family, friends, all that.

BANKS: Very glamorous. Absolutely. And then if you've got somebody on your list who's got aches and pains, may be a little cranky as a result, these are pint-sized massagers. This is the atom, they're pressure activated. This is spot. You toss it on the floor, it's great for your feet.

WHITFIELD: All right, we like that. Well, Donna, we're out of time but we know that picking up an issue of "Reader's Digest" will give us an idea of all the other great ideas you have under $50, what a bargain.

BANKS: Under $50. RD.com/giftguide.

WHITFIELD: All right, we love that. Thanks so much, Donna.

BANKS: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. And coming up, some of the most popular I-Reports coming your way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: You, our I-Reporters have been hard at work, staying on top of that severe weather in the Northwest. Take a look at this picture from Joe Bruzda. He says nearly 30 fir trees were blown down within 400 yards of his home in Corvallis, Oregon. Joe says he heard cracking and then an amazing thud as the trees came crashing down and there's the result.

The next one from Barbara Page. It's a photo of Heather Bosich (ph) and her son Nick assessing the damage from 70 mile-per-hour winds in her area, hitting the Central Park area near Aberdeen, Washington. Her home suffered only minor damage.

And more damage here, even concrete wouldn't hold this tree in place, as heavy rains and winds made short work of it in Corvallis. Our thanks to Kay Sha (ph) for that photo. And thanks to all of you who have sent us I-Reports over time. See more at CNN.com/exchange.

One more look at the weather. Straight ahead Reynolds, what's coming up?

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Let's have another weather check this hour with Reynolds Wolf. Some real extremes out there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Reynolds.

A look at the top stories in a moment. "IN THE MONEY" is next. Here's CNN's Ali Velshi with a preview.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks. Coming up on "IN THE MONEY," no frills with Wall Street awash in holiday cash. See what happened to your bonus. Also ahead, go figure. Find out why a college did better when it started charging more. And sticker stockers. We'll look at what's being America's growing love affair with a bargain. All of that and more after a quick check of the headlines.

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