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American Morning
Tornado Destruction in Florida; Tsunami: Two Years Later; Looking for Bargains After the Holiday
Aired December 26, 2006 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Candiotti, coming to you live from Pasco County, Florida, where cleanup has begun and why some people are calling the aftermath of the storm a Christmas Day miracle.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: I'm Allan Chernoff at New York's LaGuardia airport, where many people are beginning their winter vacations and others are coming back from the Christmas holiday and heading straight to the office.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And we'll get out the CNN crystal ball, look into 2007. Will the new year see a rebound in the real estate market, or will it still be a buyer's market?
We'll have predictions ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you, Tuesday, December 26th. Boxing Day, if you're in the British commonwealth.
I'm Miles O'Brien. Good to have you with us.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Alina Cho, in for Soledad today.
We're glad you're with us.
O'BRIEN: In Florida this morning, a huge mess and several injuries after a Christmas Day of wild weather and tornado touchdowns. The damage stretches from Jacksonville and Daytona, on the East Coast, through central Florida and on into Pasco County, north of Tampa.
Susan Candiotti live now from San Antonio, Florida, in Pasco County with the latest from there.
Good morning, Susan.
CANDIOTTI: Good morning, Miles.
Yes, there were injuries, but fortunately, no fatalities. And for that reason, some are calling the aftermath of the storm a Christmas Day miracle.
Over my shoulder, one of the examples. You see the blue tarp on that roof. The back of that home, we can't get you back there, has been wiped out. There was a family living in this house when the storm hit, including children. Everyone opening up Christmas presents. No one seriously injured in that home. But cleanup is now starting today. Here's what the damage looked like across the state.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice over): A chorus of chainsaws, not what you expect to hear Christmas morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wind picked up, and like everybody says, you know, you hear the train coming, and that's exactly what it was.
CANDIOTTI: Columbia County, west of Jacksonville, hit early. Authorities say a likely twister cut a seven-mile path of destruction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was terrible. My wife was looking out the window, all she could see was just white.
CANDIOTTI: Damage expected to run at least $3.5 million, yet no serious injuries. Incredibly for some, a holiday dinner served after all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bird is in the oven. Everything's OK. Everybody is OK. We're going to cook that bird and go in there and enjoy it. And thank god we're still alive.
CANDIOTTI: A few hours later, another severe thunderstorm took aim north of Tampa.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It hit so fast with power that I -- it was only, I would say, 45 seconds, and it was gone.
CANDIOTTI: Gone, but not easily forgotten. Strong winds peeled off roofs and uprooted trees. Fortunately, police say, no one critically injured.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The roofs are gone from a lot of the houses, and they're collapsed. There were cars still in the garage. It's just devastating.
CANDIOTTI: In Volusia County, near Daytona Beach, about 50 planes crushed, crumbled and piled on top of each other at internationally known flight school Embry-Riddle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like a war zone. I mean, Embry-Riddle took a beating. What happened here at the apartment complex and further on up, how we didn't lose any lives, god was smiling on us.
CANDIOTTI: Up to 200 mobile homes also damaged in the area. But no lives lost.
BEN JOHNSON, VOLUSIA COUNTY SHERIFF: I'm amazed, absolutely amazed that we didn't because, by all rights, we should have a number of fatalities.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Now that the sun is up in this community, some people, some residents taking a walk around to survey the damage. In their case, their home was not touched by the storm.
We want to point out that people here had very little warning. There is no alert system, other than tuning into the news media. But on Christmas morning, if you happened to not have the television turned on, opening up Christmas presents, you didn't know it was hitting. In some cases people had weather band radios, but they didn't have them turned on.
Back to you.
O'BRIEN: That's it. If you have the weather radio, you've got to turn it on.
All right. Susan Candiotti, thank you very much -- Alina.
CHO: Well, a lot of you are reporting for CNN, sending in your images of storm damage. Take a look.
Larry Menaro (ph), a student at Florida's Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, took this shot of damaged planes on his campus.
Cory Walter (ph) of Marathon, Florida, took this photo on Christmas Day of a brewing tornado along Route 95 near Melbourne, Florida. There it is.
And if news happens where you are, you, too, can be a citizen journalist. Send your cell phone video and digital photos to ireport@cnn.com. Just be careful out there.
Let's get the latest forecast now where all the severe weather is heading -- and there's a lot of it.
Severe weather expert Chad Myers live at the CNN weather center with more on that.
Hey, Chad. Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Chad -- Alina.
CHO: Today marks the two-year anniversary of the devastating tsunami that struck Southeast Asia. Here's how it played out that morning right here on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): The quake hit off the coast of Sumatra, reportedly killing scores of people in the province of Aceh. It flattened buildings and triggered tidal waves.
Tsunamis generated by that quake also hit Thailand, particularly its tourist island of Phuket. Thousands have been evacuated, and many are said to be missing and major damage there.
In Sri Lanka, hundreds of people are feared dead or missing after tidal waves hit eastern towns and the capital, Colombo.
India's minister of communications says at least 300 people are dead in one state alone after huge waves came crashing ashore in the south of the country. There are also reports of mild tremors in that region.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: More than 230,000 people in a dozen countries died in the tsunami. Damage is estimated in the billions and some areas still have not recovered two years later.
O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, rebel forces in Somalia in retreat, and forces from neighboring Ethiopia are advancing on the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Islamic militants have been fighting for control of Somalia since June. Somalia's internationally-backed government called on militants to surrender and promised them amnesty if they stopped opposing the government.
In Iraq this morning, three more U.S. soldiers killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad. The death toll there passes a milestone -- 2,977 American service personnel have now died in Iraq. Four more than the number of people killed in the 9/11 attacks.
In Georgia, three people killed in a small plain crash just north of Atlanta. The twin-engine Cessna 414 traveling from Palm Beach, Florida, to Lawrenceville crashed on final approach in heavy fog last night. No survivors.
More tough talk from Iran as it marches forward on efforts to make nuclear fuel. The country promising to announce some major steps forward in February. This, as Tehran threatens to pull out of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog program. Possible retaliation for that U.N. vote to impose sanctions on the country.
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will have surgery this morning in Los Angeles for a fractured femur. He's seen here in file tape, of course. He broke his leg skiing on Saturday. Doctors say the procedure takes about two hours under general anesthesia. California's lieutenant governor will fill in during that time.
And if you're trying to get home, we have some good news. You're clear to fly in or out of Denver today. The backlog from last week's blizzard finally straightened out just in time for another big storm to move in.
Chad, as he just told you, forecasting perhaps 20 inches of snow for Denver later this week. Insult, meet injury there. Today, some people are returning home or heading to their new year's vacation destination. CNN's Allan Chernoff is live at New York's LaGuardia airport.
We are doing neither today. We are just talking about people going to fun places.
Allan, good morning.
CHERNOFF: Good morning to you, Miles.
And the morning rush has actually been quite smooth around the country even though the airports have been packed. As a matter of fact, AAA estimates that more than one million people will be flying today. Certainly one of the busier travel days. Not the busiest, but it has been packed here at LaGuardia airport.
Lots of people beginning their winter vacations. Others coming back from Christmas holiday. And here in New York, what do they do? Well, some people actually head straight to the office.
We just spoke to a couple that arrived just a few minutes ago from Cleveland.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: And you're here in time to get to work?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Probably a little bit late, but hopefully in time.
CHERNOFF: What time do you have to be at work?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About now. So I'll be -- I'll probably be a few minutes late.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Try to maximize the time there and still be able to get to work today.
CHERNOFF: Are you going to make it, no problem?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'll make it. I'll make it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Certainly showing lots of confidence in air travel. As a matter of fact, many people have been flying, showing more and more confidence.
New York City -- the New York City region last week welcomed its 100 millionth air traveler of the year, the first time that have ever happened in the New York City region. That's for the three regional airports here -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: It's a lot of travelers.
Allan Chernoff at LaGuardia.
Thank you -- Alina.
CHO: Trouble already for the widow of the late soul legend James Brown. Tomi Rae Brown tells "The Augusta Chronicle" her late husband's lawyer and accountant locked her out of the home she shared with Brown in South Carolina.
Mrs. Brown acknowledges she is not on the deed to the home but says she has a legal right to live there. The couple married in 2001 and have a 5-year-old son.
Still to come this morning, ready, set, shop. It's going to be a busy day at the country's malls, and our Rusty Dornin is in the mix -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rusty Dornin in Atlanta (AUDIO GAP) obstacles they're going to have to avoid.
Details coming up.
CHO: A little glitch there. We'll fix that.
Also, behind the music of the new movie "Dreamgirls." One of the original Supremes is weighing in on the film version of their musical history.
And stick around for some predictions for the new year. Have we seen the bottom of the real estate market?
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. Two breaking news stories we're watching for you this morning.
More than 200 people are dead in Nigeria after a fuel line explosion outside Lagos.
And a 7.2 magnitude earthquake striking off the coast of Taiwan a short time ago. A three-foot tsunami is now heading towards the Philippines. That's according to The Associated Press.
O'BRIEN: We'll watch that one closely for you.
Today is Boxing Day in the British commonwealth. It dates back to futile times. Apparently, on the day after Christmas, the nobility boxed up the annual stipend for the (INAUDIBLE). Well, these days there is new meaning to the term as shoppers box up what they don't like and head to the malls to get the stuff they really wanted, or maybe find a bargain, too.
CNN's Rusty Dornin live for us in Atlanta.
Stores are open. Not exactly crowded just yet, Rusty, but people are there, right?
DORNIN: Nobody boxing. I do want to find out later where you found that futile boxing story. But anyway, the story here opened at 7:00 a.m. And I guess in Atlanta people like to sleep in a little bit after Christmas before they get out there and start shopping. But one family who was here at Sears when the doors opened are the Whites.
We have Sidney (ph), Tish (ph) and Leland (ph).
And why are you here? Why were you here at 7:00 a.m.?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to beat the crowds and need to get some outerwear for my boys because it's getting kind of cold. And I needed to definitely get some coats for them.
DORNIN: OK. And so now, Leland (ph), you are armed with what now? Show us what you got.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I have my winter coat here, a new one that I've been needing for over an entire year. Some undergarments and some socks.
DORNIN: And meantime, the store managers actually say that's what people look for. You guys have the exact items people apparently are looking for discounts.
Was that a good price you got there for your jacket?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely. I think it was marked off maybe 50 percent. So it's like $60 now.
DORNIN: OK.
And Sidney (ph), you, too. Look, same jacket, same jacket as your older brother, I see here. You also got socks and...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Socks and a jacket.
DORNIN: Socks and a jacket. He doesn't want to tell us really.
But anyway, these are the kinds of things they say that people are going to be going for, the discounts and, of course, the Christmas items. You know, Christmas trimming and wrapping and that sort of thing. But by the time it looks like the rest of Atlanta will be in the store, the Whites are going to be home and unpacking, fortunately -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ah, yes. Smart shoppers, indeed, they are. The early bird gets the bargain.
Rusty Dornin, thank you.
DORNIN: That's right.
O'BRIEN: It's a little past -- quarter past the hour, which means time to check in with Chad. (WEATHER REPORT)
CHO: Three Duke lacrosse players no longer face rape charges, but prosecutors are pressing ahead with kidnapping and sexual offense charges.
How strong are those cases? Norm Early is the former Denver district attorney. He's now with the National District Attorneys Association.
Mr. Early, good morning and thanks for joining us.
NORM EARLY, NATIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION: Good morning.
CHO: You know, the prosecutor dropped this bombshell on Friday when he said he was dropping the rape charges. So, with the accuser saying now that she's not sure that she was raped, how are these other charges going to stick?
EARLY: Well, it's going to be difficult. But, you know, if he was looking for an opportunity to drop the charges altogether and get rid of the case, Mike Nifong would have done so at this point.
So it appears for some reason he believes he still has enough evidence to prove the charges that are left. This would have been an opportune time to say, OK, enough is enough, we can't really prove this case. He didn't do that. There's got to be a reason for it, and I think the reason probably is that he feels that he can move forward with those charges.
CHO: There's clearly some evidence we haven't seen there.
Let's talk a little bit about DNA evidence. As you well know, the prosecutor, Mike Nifong, has been criticized recently for withholding some key evidence about no DNA matches between the accuser and the three lacrosse players, or any of his teammates for that matter.
What do you think about Nifong going forward in terms of getting sanctions, potentially being thrown off the case, potentially this case being thrown out altogether? As a former prosecutor yourself, how scared are you about this?
EARLY: Well, you know, I think that any case is best when the prosecutor puts forward all their evidence and lets the defense know where they stand, because then you can have meaningful negotiations, if there are going to be negotiations on a case, and you can also have a trial where there are no surprises. I don't know what happened here, where Mr. Nifong did not turn over evidence about lack of DNA, but I do know that they also say that there was DNA from other individuals that the defense was not informed of.
And North Carolina has a rape shield statute, which means that evidence of sexual contact with other men is not relevant unless the court says that it goes to prove another material fact. I think that is probably why Mike Nifong didn't turn over that particular evidence, DNA evidence.
CHO: All right. A potential explanation there.
I'm curious, because you have gone back and forth a little bit on your support for the prosecutor, Mike Nifong, how do you feel he's handled the case?
EARLY: Well, you know, my -- my analysis is based on what I see and what he does. And I was critical at the beginning when he made some statements about the fact that he believed the victim, that he believed that there was a sexual assault here, because I think that when you do that, you paint yourself into a corner. And of course that could come back to bite him again.
I don't know whether he's done a great job, an average job, a medium job of handling this case, because I don't know all the evidence. But what I do know is that the defense has done a very good job of trying to smear the victim and smear Mr. Nifong.
Mr. Nifong went to court, filed his -- filed his motions in court, had the judge grant it, as he should have. And I don't know anywhere in the law books where it says after that defense attorneys go on TV for a half hour, smear victims, smear defense (sic) attorneys. That's not part of the procedure.
And the reason that that is done is so critically important, because they're trying to affect the potential jury pool in North Carolina and they're also trying to put so much pressure on Mr. Nifong that he eventually drops these charges. No D.A. should ever drop charges because of an amount of pressure that's brought to bear on them.
CHO: One final question. I know you believe this case is being tried in the media. A lot of people agree. I wonder, which side do you think is hurt most by that?
EARLY: I think the prosecution has been hurt, because since the beginning of this case, when Mike Nifong made some statements that he shouldn't have made, he has kept tight-lipped. He has been trying to try his case in the courtroom, which is what he should do.
He's filed his motions. He's lived up to his obligations as a prosecutor.
The defense, on the other hand, has taken every opportunity they can to try to make it as though Mr. Nifong, who has had 27 years of trial experience, doesn't know what he's doing, and also to make it look as though this victim should not have her day in court. And if she does, she's going to be so bloodied and so smeared that she's going to wish she didn't.
CHO: We'll be watching it all.
Norm Early, former Denver D.A., we thank you for joining us this morning from Washington.
EARLY: Thank you.
CHO: Coming up, it's all in your head. New research on a supergene linking brain power and a long, healthy life.
Stay with us. AMERICAN MORNING will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Breaking news now. A 7.2 magnitude earthquake striking off the coast of Taiwan just a short time ago. The eastern Philippines bracing for a possible three-foot tsunami as a result. This, according to Associated Press.
We are watching that for you closely.
And just in, the Spanish doctor who recently examined Fidel Castro says the Cuban leader does not have cancer. Go figure on that one.
It was only a matter of time, but ads are now coming to your cell phones. Sorry to bring you that news at 25 minutes past the hour. But Ali Velshi gives us the good, the bad and the ugly in the business world.
Good morning, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm -- good morning. I'm not interested in the ads on my cell phone business.
O'BRIEN: You're not interested?
VELSHI: Not interested. With that said, I'm not a guy who surfs the Web on his cell phone. I phone -- I make phone calls on my cell phone. I don't need...
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: You barely need a cell phone, right?
VELSHI: Yes. Yes -- no.
So, starting 2007, Verizon -- early 2007, like a week from now -- Verizon says it's going to start putting -- allowing banner ads on cell phones. It's not a big business, advertising on cell phones. It's been about $150 million business this year. But by 2010, the estimates are that companies are going to spend $1.3 billion dollars.
The cell phone thing is neat because for advertisers, it can target people based on age, based on gender, but more importantly, based on location, where you are. So the kind of people who would advertise on cell phones would typically be restaurants or, you know, places where you need to go when you're somewhere that you are.
So, you're noodling around in some restaurant...
O'BRIEN: Hungry for pizza? There's one two blocks away from where you stand.
VELSHI: Yes. That's exactly the idea.
O'BRIEN: That's kind of creepy.
VELSHI: Yes, it is kind of. It is kind of creepy. I'm not really interested in doing that.
But, speaking of advertising, all right. So, we were talking about the Chevy Silverado, second best-selling vehicle in America after the Ford F150. The Chevy Silverado for 10 years had Bob Seger's tune as its -- as its anthem. And it changed...
O'BRIEN: "Like a Rock."
VELSHI: Yes. In about October, it changed over to John Mellencamp's "Our Country."
Take a listen to this ad.
(MUSIC)
VELSHI: All right. So, nice -- nice song, 39,000 downloads so far on iTunes. It sounds like a good deal, except for the album that it's on hasn't been released yet and there's some concern that the song has been overexposed and no one's going to buy John Mellencamp's CD.
O'BRIEN: It's also interesting to see in a commercial images of Katrina...
VELSHI: Oh, yes.
O'BRIEN: ... post-911 stuff. You know, ground zero. Interesting.
VELSHI: Yes. It's buy this truck because this is our country. Nothing stops us from going on. I mean, Chevy is good at doing this, but John Mellencamp is hoping that people will still buy his album. There are more songs on it, he says.
O'BRIEN: I'm sure. I'm sure he's getting a little revenue off the ad, too.
VELSHI: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Ali Velshi.
VELSHI: Good to see you.
O'BRIEN: See you a little later.
CHO: Coming up, the latest on a breaking story we're following. A powerful earthquake hits Taiwan, triggering warnings of a destructive tsunami in the Philippines.
We'll have much more on that story coming up.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Christmas blitz, tornadoes tear apart neighborhoods in Florida. Other parts of the country bracing now for snow, wind, and rain.
CHO: Inside autism, Dr. Sanjay Gupta continues our week-long series looking at possible causes of the disorder affecting more children than ever.
O'BRIEN; And predicting 2007, including whether the real estate market will shift back to a seller's market on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you, Tuesday, December 26th. I'm Miles O'Brien.
CHO: And I'm Alina Cho in today for Soledad. Thanks for joining us.
O'BRIEN: Breaking news just in now, a 7.1 earthquake off the southwestern coast of Taiwan -- this on the second anniversary of the tsunami which killed a quarter million people all across the shores of the Indian Ocean.
That terrible tsunami still remembered on this day. And as we remember it, we are tracking what could be a three-foot tsunami which could hit parts of the Pacific region in and around Taiwan.
Chad Myers joining us from the weather center. He's watching this one for us. At this point, Chad, first of all -- this is an area where there are or are not a lot of tsunami warning buoys.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: There are not that many here. But this is a very convoluted area. When you talk about plates, you like to see one plate against another. It might subduct, whatever it might do.
But, this area is almost a confluence of so many other areas. We'll zoom in here, you can actually see some of the topography down in the ocean from this (INAUDIBLE) here. You can see some of the channels and some of the quakes and also some of the big trenches that run through here through the Taiwan straits and the also the Sea of Japan, the China Sea.
The whole area here though as these plates come together can shake one way or the other. Now, the earthquake was just off the shore of Taiwan, in a fairly shallow area here, but as that quake shakes and moves the ground below, you can imagine if the ground shakes a little bit up three or four inches or, for that matter, a couple of feet, like the one that was at Band Aceh, that really moves a lot of water. It can move it east, it can move it west. It just depends on what the forecast looks like. And through this trench all the way down to the northern Philippines is where the Japanese meteorological center is saying now that the wave was generated, coming this way. The waves travel almost 600 miles per hour, so it won't be long if we know that this three- foot wave or maybe larger -- I mean this is just the first forecast, but a 7.2, 7.1 earthquake, it was a 7.2 earlier, they reduced it to a 7.1. That's about what that's going to make, about a three-foot wave. Could be more, could be less -- depends on how its focused.
O'BRIEN: A couple questions for you Chad, first of all -- is it directed toward the Philippines or is it possible Taiwan will be impacted as well?
MYERS: Well, if Taiwan would be impacted, it would be minutes, literally almost no warning whatsoever because you're only talking about 15 miles off the coast here. But you have hundreds of miles before you get down to the Philippines. So, if it was already Taiwan, if there was anybody there they would have already seen it.
O'BRIEN; All right, so that may be a good sign if nobody reported a big wave there. But they can propagate and build up steam as time goes on as I understand it right? Isn't that possible?
MYERS: It depends on the topography of the water and of the ground of absolutely underneath the water. Remember that earthquake we talked about a couple weeks ago and they said it was a 15-foot wave, a 15-inch wave in the northern parts of Japan? No big deal.
Well, by the time that same wave was focused and it got to Crescent City, California, there was a 60-inch tidal surge there. It wrecked a bunch of boats, wrecked a bunch of areas in that harbor. But, it was a harbor wave, and it was the way that harbor brought in the water and it came right up on shore. So, it's all about how the land goes up under the water itself, what the topography looks like, what that wave is going to do.
O'BRIEN: And just to put this in perspective, two years ago Banda Aceh, that earthquake ...
MYERS: To the day.
O'BRIEN: Which is amazing. But that was magnitude nine. And the difference between magnitude nine and magnitude seven , it's worth repeating how much of a difference there is between those two earthquakes.
MYERS: Nearly 20 times the extra power of the one that we had two years ago compared to this one here.
O'BRIEN: Chad Myers, thank you very much. We're watching it closely for you -- Alina.
CHO: Going to turn our attention now to central Florida. Hundreds of people waking up in shelters today, their homes wrecked by tornadoes and powerful storms on Christmas Day. How about that for a present? Dave McDaniel of our affiliate WESH reports from Deland. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVE MCDANIEL, WESH REPORTER (on camera): To give people a reference, we are a little bit north of Orlando, a little west of Daytona Beach. The storm that rolled through here was extremely wicked.
I'm going to step out of the way and show you what we can tell you with the artificial lights set up by the sheriff's office, you can see that almost every home in this mobile home park and there are four of these all in a line along this highway, all damaged in some regard.
Now, in the light of day from yesterday, we can show you the damage in a lot more detail. 200 homes impacted. Some homes destroyed. Some of them turned upside-down. Roofing material all over the place, furniture, all kinds of trouble here at this mobile home park, a series of them along a highway.
200 homes, again, affected. Several people actually had to go to shelters overnight. There are still six people in shelters this morning. The Red Cross says they'll keep the shelters open as long as they are needed. They're serving hot meals there.
Eight people went to the hospital in all. Thankfully only two of those critical. It's amazing that there weren't more people hurt. There was a search and rescue effort for a while because being on the holidays, they weren't sure who was home, who was away from the property going to visit relatives what have you, but they are convinced this morning that they've accounted for everybody. That is the good news.
But, so many people are going to be picking up the piece and quite honestly, a lot of people are going to be starting over after this Christmas Day storm. They've confirmed that the storm that rolled through here created it's own tornado in Daytona Beach.
The National Weather Service plans to be here in the Deland area this morning to try to confirm the same thing. But certainly the people we spoke with, they say they saw it, they know what it was. They say there's no mistaking. The twister, as it rolled through, full of dirt and debris as it rolled through here. Only took a few seconds to turn so many lives upside-down.
Reporting live in the Deland area in Florida, this is Dave McDaniel reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: It's time for us to get out our crystal ball or at least we'll try. We're going to make some predictions. This is day one of a series of predictions we're going to make here on AMERICAN MORNING.
We're going to look at business, we're going to look at medicine, we're going to look at politics and technology. Let's begin with the business world. Eric Schurenberg is managing editor of "Money" magazine. He joins us now. I don't see your crystal ball, but I assume you've consulted with it.
ERIC SCHURENBERG, MANAGING EDITOR, "MONEY" MAGAZINE: I have.
O'BRIEN: All right. Here's, like, the broadest of all questions. What are the big business stories going to be in 2007, you predict?
SCHURENBERG: The economy is going to be the big story. And there, there are two factors you want to keep in mind. The first is, the economy will slow down. Growth will not be what it is, but there will be no recession.
O'BRIEN: Oh, good. That's good to hear.
SCHURENBERG: The other thing -- the two-year battle between the Federal Reserve and inflation is over and the Fed won. So, inflation is not going to be an issue in 2007 either.
O'BRIEN: That sounds like good news for the economy.
SCHURENBERG: It's very good new if you're an owner of financial assets, stocks, bonds, mutual funds. It's not such great news if you're an owner of things, gold, oil, houses.
O'BRIEN: And let's talk about things -- real estate in general. I can't tell you how many times we talked about the bubble bursting this year It really didn't burst, but it certainly lost a lot of steam.
SCHURENBERG: That's right. It's kind of deflating slowly, but that's not going to end in 2007. It's going to continue to be a buyer's market.
O'BRIEN: And then so, you predict buyer's market all throughout the year then?
SCHURENBERG: All through 2007.
O'BRIEN: When is it going to turn around, do you think?
SCHURENBERG Well, I think that you really won't see turn-around in markets like New York and L.A. where things have been strong until the end of 2008 and in places like Las Vegas, Fresno, Sacramento, places where the market really got ahead of its itself, we may not see a turn-around until 2009.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about what to invest in. What are the stocks that in general terms -- categories at least you like.
SCHURENBERG: Remember we said that the economy is going to slow down. So, in that kind of market, the kind of stock that does best is a big blue chip growth stock, the kind of well-run big company that can grow its earnings even in a slow economy. The good news is that kind of stock is also the most undervalued kind of stock in the market today. So, blue chip growth stocks, that's where you ought to put your money.
O'BRIEN: Are there any particular sectors because in blue chip big companies -- there's a lot -- you know, big companies can be hard to define.
SCHURENBERG: You know, that's a good point. One good way to play it is to buy an index fund, a growth index funs, so the Vanguard index growth fund, which gives you a broad, diversified portfolio of growth stocks, that would be a good way to play it without having to make a sector bet. But, if you want to, our editor at large, Michael Sivis (ph), is recommending two technology stocks, General Electric, a broadly diversified technology company, and Texas Instruments.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you for those tips. Break those down. Let's talk and let's move to Washington for just a moment. New Congress, Democrats in control. What can we expect there?
SCHURENBERG: Well, we can expect not much. And if you're an investor, that's probably a good thing. Doesn't like Congress to change the rules on them halfway through the game. If you're a taxpayer, that's not such good news -- you don't want gridlock. There are two big issues that you'd like Congress to take care of.
The first is the alternative minimum tax. And you know what that is, it's sort of the tax equivalent of the proverbial alligator in the New York subway system. It was designed to be a tax to keep rich people from weaseling out of taxes. But it's now grown so much that it's eating up people who would not considered rich by any means. Unfortunately Congress is probably not going to get around to it, even though no one supports it. The big question is, how do you replace the $26 billion that that tax raises?
O'BRIEN: Which does raise the question about the deficit. You know, we keep hearing about this red ink in Washington. Those of us doing our personal (INAUDIBLE), we avoid red ink. Is this going to impact us directly in our pocketbook in 2007? Or is this a big long- term issue?
SCHURENBERG: This is a much bigger long-term thing. It affects things like how you're going to handle Social Security, how you've going to handle Medicare, these big expenses that are coming at us at the baby boom retires, but we don't really seem to have any plan for handling it.
O'BRIEN: Eric Schurenberg, managing editor of "Money" magazine. Thanks for taking a break from your vacation to join us.
SCHURENBERG: My pleasure, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Appreciate you're predictions. I'm going to hold you to that. We'll have you back, see how things go.
Tomorrow we'll have predictions for the world of politics in 2007. We'll continue our series all through the week -- Alina.
CHO: All right, ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING, some new research on kids and food allergies. Could eating a little bit of what troubles them actually help them overcome the allergy? The radical new approach is coming up.
And what does a man's face mean to you, Miles? New research on the signals it sends. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
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CHO: Trouble already for the widow of late soul legend James Brown. Tomi Rae Brown tell the "Augusta Chronicle" her late husband's lawyer and accountant locked her out of the home she shared with Brown in South Carolina. We're just getting a new photo in. That's from today's "Chronicle," showing Tomi clutching the gate at the front of the home yesterday. Mrs. Brown acknowledges she is not on the deed to the home, but says she has a legal right to live there. The couple married in 2001 and have a five-year-old son.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: CNN "NEWSROOM" is just minutes away. Rick Sanchez hopefully hearing me loud and clear.
Rick, how are you today?
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, sans gremlins, is that right?
Here's what we've got so far that we're going to be looking at for this morning. Explosions, as you may have heard, ripping Iraq today, dozens killed and wounded. New violence pushing U.S. troop deaths to a grim milestone. We're going to talk a little bit about that.
Also, they're back, shoppers returning to stores today. They're looking for post-Christmas bargains and getting rid of those unwanted gifts.
New year, new job. Our guest that we're going to have on is going to tell us what the trends are. In other words, is it going to be a good year for people thinking about changing jobs? Are you hoping to get, for example, a raise? We're going to get the lowdown on that. And also, who is handing out those raises, in what fields? Betty is going to be here joining me about 10:00 to bring you the very latest on this. We'll see you at the very top right here on CNN.
Mr. Miles, sans gremlin, back to you.
O'BRIEN: Rick, you deserve a raise. Everytime I see you, you're being tossed into the cold, the wind, the rain and the water.
SANCHEZ: Anything to get the story, Miles. You know what it's all about. O'BRIEN: Give that man a raise!
All right, thank you very much, Rick Sanchez.
Coming up, Dr. Sanjay Gupta goes inside autism. Kids are being diagnosed with the disorder in record numbers. No one seems to know why. We'll have an explanation for you ahead.
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(NEWSBREAK)
O'BRIEN: There is an autism epidemic in this country, and no one knows for sure why. That should come as no surprise since doctors aren't even sure what causes the disorder.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us now with the second in his week-long series inside autism. Sanjay, good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles. This has been an absolutely fascinating series to put together. Over the past ten years the number of people with autism or autism spectrum disorder has increased significantly. And you're right, we're not sure why, but we're starting to get clues because there are a lot of researchers as well who are trying to look for a cause.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): It is a true medical mystery, the secrets of an autistic brain.
WENDY STONE, VANDERBILT KENNEDY CTR. RESEARCH: There is no identified single cause of autism that is universal for all children. And there may never be.
GUPTA: As with many mysteries of the mind, doctors point to genetics and environment as culprits. But as the mystery starts to unfold, we learn it can be more complicated than that. The newest research shows there is something that a child is born with that allows outside factors to wreak havoc on their little brains.
More simply, these children are not necessarily born with autism, but they are born with the potential to develop it. And what exactly are the outside factors? Not sure.
STONE: Before we're born, it's the mother's womb and placenta. After we're born, it's what we eat, it's what we breathe, it's what we drink. There are so many different things out there that it's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is.
GUPTA: Still, any parents of an autistic child will have theories. When Zach Couch's parents learned he had autism, his mother began to change his diet, worried he was eating something that was causing him to get worse. Some families believe that a preservative in some childhood vaccine called thumeresol (ph) is causing autism in their children. The CDC says no scientific link.
DR. ROBERT DAVIS, CDC: Now that we have the data coming in, there's no data to suggest that the thumeresol (ph) or the mercury in vaccines is linked to autism.
GUPTA: And what about the genetic link? Doctors at Vanderbilt are studying siblings of autistic children.
STONE: They are at elevated risk of developing autism. Even from birth, we can start following these children and we can identify the very earliest signs.
GUPTA: Catching those early signs may help doctors get one step closer to solving the mystery. So, what exactly is happening in an autistic brain?
At the University of Pittsburgh, doctors are seeing what's happening inside the autistic brain. The picture here shows a normal brain on the left, an autistic brain on the right with dramatically fewer connections lighting up. And it turns out we may soon be able to diagnose autism before the child is even born.
DR. FRED VOLKMAR, YALE DEVELOPMENT DISABILITIES CLINIC: The placentas of the babies with autism had higher rates of what were called trophoblasts (ph), which are usually is a sign that something had gone wrong genetically in the pregnancy.
GUPTA: No, we still don't know what exactly causes it or even how to explain the rising rates across the United States. But everyday we're getting closer to solving the mystery of autism.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: Now, without a specific cause, it's difficult, obviously, to come up with a cure. But as you can see there Miles, being able to look inside the brain gives you a chance to compare autistic brains versus non-autistic brains and that starts to give you more clues. It's a process. We're not there yet, but we're getting closer, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Makes it hard for parents. You've got no cause, you've got no cure. If you have a child that you think might be not learning at the rate they should, how can you separate just plain old normal development from autism?
GUPTA: Yes, you've got no test. So, no cure, no cause, no test specifically. So a lot of it is sort of these milestones that you'll hear from pediatricians talking about if your child is not making meaningful gestures by one, not putting together at least two words by 16 months or going backwards in language skills.
Those are just milestones. There's a lot of parents watching who say my kid is not autistic, but has not met all those milestones and that happens a lot of the times as well. It's not perfect by any means. But most parents say that they have a sense something is not quite right and they take their child to the doctor. And it's that early intervention that is key as well Miles. That is one thing that people seem to agree on, and that's going to be our focus tomorrow.
O'BRIEN: Early intervention, OK.
GUPTA: Early intervention.
O'BRIEN: All right. We'll see you tomorrow. Fascinating series, Sanjay Gupta.
Here's a quick look at what is happening in CNN's "NEWSROOM" beginning the top of the hour.
SANCHEZ: These stories in the NEWSROOM. Florida cleaning up from tornadoes, dozens of families lose everything on Christmas Day.
Bargain hunters prowling stores today for after-Christmas deals.
Saudi Arabia gearing up for the Hague -- the Muslim pilgrimage begins Thursday.
Cars gone wild. One Dutch town does away with traffic lights. We navigate the chaos. You're in the NEWSROOM. 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.
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CHO: In New York a holiday landmark is celebrating a big birthday. The Rockefeller Center skating rink turned 70 years old on Christmas Day. How about that? Nearly a quarter million people visit the rink every year which, by the way, is open from October to April.
You know, every year I say I'm going to go skating in that rink and every year I don't. Never been skating. Always wanted to go.
O'BRIEN: You have never skated in all the years of your short life?
CHO: In my life, I never have.
O'BRIEN: Wow.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: You know, I think it's really cool because what they're doing, they're not doing anything special today, but next month they're going to have dinner for two and skating there for 70 bucks.
CHO: Oh, cool.
O'BRIEN: All included.
CHO: That's a good deal.
O'BRIEN: There is your opportunity. You, John, go for a romantic evening and you end up flat on your face and he'll pick you up and you'll get cozy later and have hot chocolate.
CHO: Great idea.
O'BRIEN: Got it all set. I'll make the reservations.
CHO: Please do.
O'BRIEN: That's all the time we have for this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHO: CNN "NEWSROOM" with Rich Sanchez begins right now.
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