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High Energy Prices and Holiday Travel; Young Saviors

Aired November 18, 2007 - 16:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT, IN THE NEWSROOM: A quick look at what's happening right now in the news. Thousands are dead and hundreds of thousands homeless as Bangladesh reels from a killer cyclone. Authorities fear those numbers will rise even more as rescuers reach remote areas hard hit by the storm.

And an eye-popping economic warning from Venezuela President Hugo Chavez. He suggested that oil prices could reach $200 a barrel if the U.S. attacked Iran or his country. His comments were part of his opening speech at this weekend's OPEC Summit in Saudi Arabia.

And AAA says near record gas prices will probably not stop drivers from hitting the roads on the holidays. The group expects a record 38.7 million of us to travel 50 miles or more over Thanksgiving. And if perhaps you are planning a trip, check out the conditions in your area at Trafficland.com. These are some of the images that you'll see. The site is free and features real-time highway cams from all over the U.S. and even some foreign countries. All you have to is enter the location that you're interested in.

We'll check in with Jacqui Jeras where air travel is always a nightmare during the holiday season and this one is no different, right?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEROLOGIST: Yeah, we're getting started already, nice and early here on a Sunday. And your poor dad.

WHITFIELD: I know.

JERAS: It's been over an hour and a half already, trying to get from Colorado to Newark, New Jersey. So delays at Newark. These are all arrival delays and it has to do with the light rain that we're seeing here and the low clouds and fog. So the planes can't just get in there with the visual approach, and then you get all the delays. So New York City, the metro's JFK as well as Newark, Philadelphia has delays and delays in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. And those are volume delays and volume delays could be a big deal over the next couple of days too.

Most of what you're seeing coming down is relatively light. It's not a lot more than sprinkles in New York City. In Pennsylvania and the higher elevations, we're going to be seeing some of that snow coming down. Overall it's going to be relatively light here in the Hudson Valley, expecting to see one to three inches by tomorrow morning. That's not too much. And in parts of the south here, some light rain showers pushing into Baton Rouge and New Orleans that will be out there for the evening. So if you have dinner plans, you'll need the umbrella. A little slow along I-10. And in the Pacific Northwest, heavy rain right now along I-5 from Portland towards Eugene and Pacific Northwest has been seeing those lines and lines of storms adding up there. We'll see a change in your weather pattern by the middle of the week.

Some light snow to start changing over to rain in Minneapolis. The moisture should kick out before your temperatures cools down just enough to make it back to snow. Here's the big thing you've all been waiting for, Wednesday, the big travel day, what can you expect? Well, really the worst of the weather is going to be across the Great Lakes, coming down through the middle Mississippi Valley towards the Gulf Coast.

Mostly rain showers, that freezing line will be a little further up to the north. We think you'll see snow in Milwaukee, and Des Moines. I think Kansas City is going to start out as rain. But if the moisture sticks around as that sun goes down, that's going to change to snow. Chicago, rain on Wednesday, but by Wednesday night, could be changing over to snow. If it changes over early, this could be significant event for you. And the Santa Ana wind event, looks like we're going to have very strong winds coming in by Wednesday. This will last into the weekend so critical fire conditions across parts of southern California. Are you traveling, Fred?

WHITFIELD: No. I'm not.

JERAS: Are you making turkey?

WHITFIELD: My husband is. I'll be eating the turkey.

JERAS: There you go.

WHITFIELD: He's the cook this year. Yeah, all right. Thanks so much, Jacqui.

JERAS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Well, rumors are flying over a merger in the skies. It may be just talk, but it has got the business world buzzing this week. Right now, there are five major air carriers, American, Continental, Delta, United and U.S. Airways. But what if the big five were to shrink with two of the top airlines, Delta and United, possibly merging? Well, it leaves you the consumer with fewer choices when you fly to break it all down, I talked to our business guru Ali Velshi.

This may have been just talk, but a lot of folks are wondering how serious are Delta and United might be. How seriously should we be taking it?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Listen, the detail that leaked out about this report that turned out to not be true was so detailed Fred that clearly something had been going on. Both Delta and United in no uncertain terms said there has been no discussion about a merger between these two airlines. Do we think someone has been talking about it? Yeah, we do. And in fact we think all the airlines are in conversation about some sort of consolidation, because it's the next step in saving money. The airlines have not been a fantastic investment over the years for people who have been investing in them. They've got to save money and one of the ways to do that is to combine. If you look at the route maps of these two airlines United and Delta, they make some logical sense.

WHITFIELD: So saving money if you're one of those airlines, but as a consumer, someone who likes to travel, you start to wonder, wait a minute if we have fewer airlines, domestic airlines available, that means that I'm most likely able to get a deal out there.

VELSHI: You want some degree of competition to get your airfares lowered. That said, the way that the U.S. Airlines have worked over the last few years has benefited and been to the disadvantage of the flier for very different reasons. So there are -- most people believe there are too many airlines doing too much of the same thing in the United States. The airlines do not make their money domestically; they make them on the hauls overseas.

So they want to cut services within the U.S. anyway. It would be better if they did it in an organized fashion that didn't leave passengers stranded or paying really expensive fares to go places. So bottom line, you have to be prepared for it. The airlines are going to consolidate over the course of the next few years. Just this particular deal as it was reported this past week isn't going to happen just yet.

WHITFIELD: So if one day we have five major domestic carriers, soon we might have three or maybe two. Let's talk about as we're in the holiday traveling season, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, people have bought their tickets for the holidays. Now they have to worry if they're on United or Delta, whether their ticket is going to be good if indeed this merger does happen overnight somewhere within the next month and a half.

VELSHI: Well let me tell you, not to worry, because first of all, if any airline makes a move for another airline, whether it is a merger or a takeover offer, there's no way that that wouldn't take months to happen. The shareholders have to vote, the board of directors has to talk, and then it has to go to the Federal Transportation Commission. There's no way the two airlines could merge in less than a year. The thing you need to worry about right now is if oil prices continue to go up over the course of the next few weeks, these airlines will be ready to pass fuel surcharges onto you. But no, your tickets are safe for the foreseeable future. I will be sure to tell you when there is anything to worry about.

WHITFIELD: OK, we will check back with you. Ali Velshi thanks so much.

To the rescue. Mom passes out at the wheel. The minivan is still moving. She needs a super hero or two and guess what? She got them. Her own sons. They'll tell us their story. Also ahead, finding a new love after Alzheimer's steals your memory. An amazing love story that you don't want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: When mom slumped over at the wheel, her super heroes spring into action to save the day and her life. The story now, Christine Donnelly she is with Buffalo affiliate WGRZ.

CHRISTINE DONNALLY, WGRZ: Sandy Miranto is alive because of her two boys, 12-year-old Jamie and 7-year-old Jayden.

SANDY MIRANTO: Anybody would have panicked. But they didn't.

DONNALLY: It started out as one of those routine moments in life. The devoted mother grabs her keys and puts her four kids in the car to drive her son Jamie to play street hockey.

JODI HOFFMAN, SANDY MIRANTO'S SISTER: We packed up and he put her hand on her head and he just said ouch, and her head just goes down.

DONNALLY: Sandy slumped over the steering wheel; the car was still backing down the driveway.

JAMIE MIRANTO, HELPED SAVE MOM: I put my hand on the pedal and turned off the car.

DONNALLY: Jamie says he didn't think, he just acted, climbing down and putting his hand on the brake pedal, shutting off the car and telling 7-year-old Jayden to call 911. The boys eventually found a neighbor to get an ambulance and get their mother out of the car. Jayden took care of his 3-year-old twin sisters, still strapped in their car seats in the back.

JAYDEN MIRANTO: I had to get my sisters.

DONNALLY: Paramedics worked on Sandy on the front lawn, shocking her heart that stopped beating. She was rushed to the hospital.

BRIAN MIRANTO, SANDY MIRANTO'S HUSBAND: The first word in the ER was there wasn't any hope.

HOFFMAN: I grabbed her hand and started talking to her right away. And the nurses looked and said do what you're doing because she's responding. And minutes later she grabbed my hand and started rubbing it. and right then I said, you've got to keep fighting.

DONNALLY: And Sandy kept fighting. Now she's responding to treatment and even talking and joking around, thanks to her quick- thinking sons.

B. MIRANTO: Every time I talk to them, I couldn't help myself but start balling and saying what an adult he acted like and what he did in saving his mother's life.

HOFFMAN: That's right there two brave boys that saved mom's life. And I owe them for saving my best friend.

DONNALLY: But the most important thing, mom is still around.

JAMIE MIRANTO: We love you, we miss you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow, that's a remarkable story. Doctors say a low potassium level sent Sandy Miranto into cardiac arrest. Jamie got an A average on his report card this week. And so Jamie and Jayden and their dad Brian are joining us now from Buffalo, New York, to share more of the story. Good to see you guys.

B. MIRANTO: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And so you visited with mom, Sandy, earlier today. How is she doing?

B. MIRANTO: Good.

She's doing great. 100 percent improvement from yesterday and every day she's getting better and better.

WHITFIELD: That's fantastic. Guys, for you, pretty comforting to see that your mom is recovering. Thanks to your quick thinking and the team work. So Jamie, were you aware of your mom's condition and knew this is something that could happen one day, and so you and Jayden kind of had a system?

JAMIE MIRANTO: No, there was nothing wrong. There were no future signs of this happening, it just happened.

WHITFIELD: Had you ever been behind the wheel before to know exactly how to respond this quickly?

JAMIE MIRANTO: No.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And so Jayden, what were you thinking when you saw mom slumped over, you know, how many seconds took place before you sprung into action?

Jayden?

JAYDEN MIRANTO: Umm --

WHITFIELD: How about Jamie you answer that first.

JAMIE MIRANTO: It just took about ten seconds for me to notice something was wrong.

WHITFIELD: So you reached over, you were in the back seat and you reached over and tried to press the brake?

JAMIE MIRANTO: Well, I was in the front seat.

WHITFIELD: OK. JAMIE MIRANTO: And I reached over and pressed the brake and then I had to turn the car off. And she was still unconscious.

WHITFIELD: And then you told Jayden to call on the cell phone, to call for help?

JAMIE MIRANTO: Yes.

WHITFIELD: OK. So Jayden, when you did that, describe for me what that was like.

JAYDEN MIRANTO: Well, it was scary at first because I couldn't find the phone. And I said Jamie; I can't find the phone, go get a neighbor. And then he went to go get a neighbor.

WHITFIELD: And then Jayden, tell me how difficult it was for you to try to keep your 3-year-old twin sisters calm during all this while help was on the way.

JAYDEN MIRANTO: Well, I was saying OK, she's going to be fine. And then they -- my one sister said, "mommy, mommy." And then they just went in the house.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, you all did a terrific job. So Brian, you know, your wife had kind of a condition right, with -- because of the low potassium, there was always that chance of cardiac arrest. How much of that possibility did you know, how much of -- that was a fear that she was with all the kids?

B. MIRANTO: She doesn't have actual Crohn's disease. There's a history of intestinal problems in her family and some of those problems can lead to losing potassium through your bodily functions. And we -- there had never been an issue before this, besides your basic problems.

WHITFIELD: Tell me how proud you are of your sons to know what to do.

B. MIRANTO: I'm so proud. You can't even explain it. You know, it was -- it's such a tragedy on what happened to my wife. But they're not -- it's really tough to be completely upset about what happened and then be so proud of what the boys did.

WHITFIELD: Well, all of this so extraordinary, Brian, Jamie, Jayden, so glad that your mom and your wife Sandy is on the road to recovery. Thanks so much for your time.

B. MIRANTO: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And have a great holiday.

B. MIRANTO: You, too.

WHITFIELD: Well, in sickness and in health, it's a love triangle that will tug at your heart. This is CNN, the most trusted name in news. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Could there be a holiday miracle for Broadway? Broadway stage hands and producers are in intense negotiations. The two sides talked for more than 12 hours yesterday. The strike has shut down 27 Broadway plays and musicals. The lucrative Thanksgiving weekend is usually one of Broadway's best. Negotiations meantime in Hollywood involving the writer's strike there set to resume a week from tomorrow. Late night talk shows and several sitcoms have gone into reruns since the strike began nearly two weeks ago.

Still a lot of questions surrounding the death of Donda West, the mother of hip-hop star Kanye West. She died last weekend after undergoing cosmetic surgery; a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon says he performed a tummy tuck and a breast reduction on West. An autopsy report indicates that she may have died from surgical complications. Well Dr. Jan Adams is the doctor who performed the operation, so what does he have to say about the Donda West's death? Find out when he sits down for an exclusive interview with our Larry King, you don't want to miss this, Tuesday night, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific only on CNN.

She promised to love and honor him. But what about his new girlfriend?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Do you see him with this other woman, they're holding hands. I would think, you know, it must be hard to see that. Is it hard?

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): In a way, but not totally because I understand his condition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow, this is incredible Alzheimer's love story next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's a strange situation, but not uncommon. Alzheimer's patients finding new love and their families are often happy for them. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is a living witness. Here now is CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Thomas Schnyder and Josephine Scalzo are both in advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease. They live in an Alzheimer's group home in Los Vegas and they like each other a lot. My name is Gary. You're Josephine. Hi Josephine.

JOSEPHINE SCALZO: OK.

TUCHMAN: And you're Thomas.

Eighty -year-old Josephine does most of the talking. We asked the owner of the group home about Thomas.

CHRIS TAM, LAS VEGAS ALZHEMERS & MEMORY CARE: He says goodbye and he likes to be -- he likes to joke with other people but he cannot even speak.

TUCHMAN: Josephine is his girlfriend, right?

TAM: Oh, Josephine right here, yeah.

TUCHMAN: But there's another woman in Thomas' life.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Hi.

TUCHMAN: His bride of 54 years, the woman who takes care of him, is devoted to him and still loves him. Her name is June and she regularly visits her husband, who no longer knows who she is. You see him with this other woman, they're holding hands. I would think, you know, it must be hard to see that. Is it hard?

JUNE SCHNYDER, THOMAS' WIFE: In a way, but not totally because I understand his condition and if he can find someone to make him laugh or talk to, that's fine.

TUCHMAN: This is the husband of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He too is an Alzheimer's patient who is romancing a fellow patient.

DR. GAIL SALTZ, WEILL CORNELL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Because Alzheimer's affects one's judgment and memory, finding someone else isn't the same as actually betraying or stepping out on your spouse whom you know, who you remember and who you've made a commitment to.

TUCHMAN: Do you talk, Thomas?

SCALZO: Yes.

TUCHMAN: Oh, there you go. It's nice talking to you. Do you like living here? And do you like being with Josephine?

T. SCHNYDER: Yes.

TUCHMAN: June gets nostalgic. What was your wedding like?

J. SCHNYDER: Beautiful.

TUCHMAN: She's not forgotten the words she uttered in 1953, to take her husband in sickness and in health. I think you're very generous, very unselfish. Isn't that what love is all about?

J. SCHNYDER: Oh, yes, yes.

TUCHMAN: They have had a good life and raised two healthy children. But now Thomas has two ladies in his life. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Sad and uplifting at the same time. The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Getting worse by the day, the cyclone death toll still climbing in Bangladesh.

And a powerful message to Saudi woman, a rape victim sentenced to 200 lashes for being alone with a man in the first place.

And our top story, it is just talk so far, but the idea of $200 a barrel oil, well; it's now apparently on the table.

Hello again, I'm Fredricka Whitfield and you are in the NEWSROOM. We begin with something that's hitting all of us, gas prices. You see how they've soared with the cost of crude oil inching closer to $100 a barrel, so what would happen if oil jumped to $200 a barrel? As floated by Venezuela's president at this weekends OPEC Summit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT, IN THE NEWSROOM: A quick look at what's happening right now in the news. Thousands are dead and hundreds of thousands homeless as Bangladesh reels from a killer cyclone. Authorities fear those numbers will rise even more as rescuers reach remote areas hard hit by the storm.

And an eye-popping economic warning from Venezuela President Hugo Chavez. He suggested that oil prices could reach $200 a barrel if the U.S. attacked Iran or his country. His comments were part of his opening speech at this weekend's OPEC Summit in Saudi Arabia.

And AAA says near record gas prices will probably not stop drivers from hitting the roads on the holidays. The group expects a record 38.7 million of us to travel 50 miles or more over Thanksgiving. And if perhaps you are planning a trip, check out the conditions in your area at Trafficland.com. These are some of the images that you'll see. The site is free and features real-time highway cams from all over the U.S. and even some foreign countries. All you have to is enter the location that you're interested in.

We'll check in with Jacqui Jeras where air travel is always a nightmare during the holiday season and this one is no different, right?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEROLOGIST: Yeah, we're getting started already, nice and early here on a Sunday. And your poor dad.

WHITFIELD: I know.

JERAS: It's been over an hour and a half already, trying to get from Colorado to Newark, New Jersey. So delays at Newark. These are all arrival delays and it has to do with the light rain that we're seeing here and the low clouds and fog. So the planes can't just get in there with the visual approach, and then you get all the delays. So New York City, the metro's JFK as well as Newark, Philadelphia has delays and delays in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. And those are volume delays and volume delays could be a big deal over the next couple of days too.

Most of what you're seeing coming down is relatively light. It's not a lot more than sprinkles in New York City. In Pennsylvania and the higher elevations, we're going to be seeing some of that snow coming down. Overall it's going to be relatively light here in the Hudson Valley, expecting to see one to three inches by tomorrow morning. That's not too much.

And in parts of the south here, some light rain showers pushing into Baton Rouge and New Orleans that will be out there for the evening. So if you have dinner plans, you'll need the umbrella. A little slow along I-10. And in the Pacific Northwest, heavy rain right now along I-5 from Portland towards Eugene and Pacific Northwest has been seeing those lines and lines of storms adding up there. We'll see a change in your weather pattern by the middle of the week.

Some light snow to start changing over to rain in Minneapolis. The moisture should kick out before your temperatures cools down just enough to make it back to snow. Here's the big thing you've all been waiting for, Wednesday, the big travel day, what can you expect? Well, really the worst of the weather is going to be across the Great Lakes, coming down through the middle Mississippi Valley towards the Gulf Coast.

Mostly rain showers, that freezing line will be a little further up to the north. We think you'll see snow in Milwaukee, and Des Moines. I think Kansas City is going to start out as rain. But if the moisture sticks around as that sun goes down, that's going to change to snow. Chicago, rain on Wednesday, but by Wednesday night, could be changing over to snow. If it changes over early, this could be significant event for you. And the Santa Ana wind event, looks like we're going to have very strong winds coming in by Wednesday. This will last into the weekend so critical fire conditions across parts of southern California. Are you traveling, Fred?

WHITFIELD: No. I'm not.

JERAS: Are you making turkey?

WHITFIELD: My husband is. I'll be eating the turkey.

JERAS: There you go.

WHITFIELD: He's the cook this year. Yeah, all right. Thanks so much, Jacqui.

JERAS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Well, rumors are flying over a merger in the skies. It may be just talk, but it has got the business world buzzing this week. Right now, there are five major air carriers, American, Continental, Delta, United and U.S. Airways. But what if the big five were to shrink with two of the top airlines, Delta and United, possibly merging? Well, it leaves you the consumer with fewer choices when you fly to break it all down, I talked to our business guru Ali Velshi.

This may have been just talk, but a lot of folks are wondering how serious are Delta and United might be. How seriously should we be taking it?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Listen, the detail that leaked out about this report that turned out to not be true was so detailed Fred that clearly something had been going on. Both Delta and United in no uncertain terms said there has been no discussion about a merger between these two airlines. Do we think someone has been talking about it? Yeah, we do. And in fact we think all the airlines are in conversation about some sort of consolidation, because it's the next step in saving money. The airlines have not been a fantastic investment over the years for people who have been investing in them. They've got to save money and one of the ways to do that is to combine. If you look at the route maps of these two airlines United and Delta, they make some logical sense.

WHITFIELD: So saving money if you're one of those airlines, but as a consumer, someone who likes to travel, you start to wonder, wait a minute if we have fewer airlines, domestic airlines available, that means that I'm most likely able to get a deal out there.

VELSHI: You want some degree of competition to get your airfares lowered. That said, the way that the U.S. Airlines have worked over the last few years has benefited and been to the disadvantage of the flier for very different reasons. So there are -- most people believe there are too many airlines doing too much of the same thing in the United States. The airlines do not make their money domestically; they make them on the hauls overseas.

So they want to cut services within the U.S. anyway. It would be better if they did it in an organized fashion that didn't leave passengers stranded or paying really expensive fares to go places. So bottom line, you have to be prepared for it. The airlines are going to consolidate over the course of the next few years. Just this particular deal as it was reported this past week isn't going to happen just yet.

WHITFIELD: So if one day we have five major domestic carriers, soon we might have three or maybe two. Let's talk about as we're in the holiday traveling season, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, people have bought their tickets for the holidays. Now they have to worry if they're on United or Delta, whether their ticket is going to be good if indeed this merger does happen overnight somewhere within the next month and a half.

VELSHI: Well let me tell you, not to worry, because first of all, if any airline makes a move for another airline, whether it is a merger or a takeover offer, there's no way that that wouldn't take months to happen. The shareholders have to vote, the board of directors has to talk, and then it has to go to the Federal Transportation Commission. There's no way the two airlines could merge in less than a year. The thing you need to worry about right now is if oil prices continue to go up over the course of the next few weeks, these airlines will be ready to pass fuel surcharges onto you. But no, your tickets are safe for the foreseeable future. I will be sure to tell you when there is anything to worry about.

WHITFIELD: OK, we will check back with you. Ali Velshi thanks so much.

To the rescue. Mom passes out at the wheel. The minivan is still moving. She needs a super hero or two and guess what? She got them. Her own sons. They'll tell us their story.

Also ahead, finding a new love after Alzheimer's steals your memory. An amazing love story that you don't want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: When mom slumped over at the wheel, her super heroes spring into action to save the day and her life. The story now, Christine Donnelly she is with Buffalo affiliate WGRZ.

CHRISTINE DONNALLY, WGRZ: Sandy Miranto is alive because of her two boys, 12-year-old Jamie and 7-year-old Jayden.

SANDY MIRANTO: Anybody would have panicked. But they didn't.

DONNALLY: It started out as one of those routine moments in life. The devoted mother grabs her keys and puts her four kids in the car to drive her son Jamie to play street hockey.

JODI HOFFMAN, SANDY MIRANTO'S SISTER: We packed up and he put her hand on her head and he just said ouch, and her head just goes down.

DONNALLY: Sandy slumped over the steering wheel; the car was still backing down the driveway.

JAMIE MIRANTO, HELPED SAVE MOM: I put my hand on the pedal and turned off the car.

DONNALLY: Jamie says he didn't think, he just acted, climbing down and putting his hand on the brake pedal, shutting off the car and telling 7-year-old Jayden to call 911. The boys eventually found a neighbor to get an ambulance and get their mother out of the car. Jayden took care of his 3-year-old twin sisters, still strapped in their car seats in the back.

JAYDEN MIRANTO: I had to get my sisters.

DONNALLY: Paramedics worked on Sandy on the front lawn, shocking her heart that stopped beating. She was rushed to the hospital.

BRIAN MIRANTO, SANDY MIRANTO'S HUSBAND: The first word in the ER was there wasn't any hope. HOFFMAN: I grabbed her hand and started talking to her right away. And the nurses looked and said do what you're doing because she's responding. And minutes later she grabbed my hand and started rubbing it. and right then I said, you've got to keep fighting.

DONNALLY: And Sandy kept fighting. Now she's responding to treatment and even talking and joking around, thanks to her quick- thinking sons.

B. MIRANTO: Every time I talk to them, I couldn't help myself but start balling and saying what an adult he acted like and what he did in saving his mother's life.

HOFFMAN: That's right there two brave boys that saved mom's life. And I owe them for saving my best friend.

DONNALLY: But the most important thing, mom is still around.

JAMIE MIRANTO: We love you, we miss you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow, that's a remarkable story. Doctors say a low potassium level sent Sandy Miranto into cardiac arrest. Jamie got an A average on his report card this week. And so Jamie and Jayden and their dad Brian are joining us now from Buffalo, New York, to share more of the story. Good to see you guys.

B. MIRANTO: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And so you visited with mom, Sandy, earlier today. How is she doing?

B. MIRANTO: Good.

She's doing great. 100 percent improvement from yesterday and every day she's getting better and better.

WHITFIELD: That's fantastic. Guys, for you, pretty comforting to see that your mom is recovering. Thanks to your quick thinking and the team work. So Jamie, were you aware of your mom's condition and knew this is something that could happen one day, and so you and Jayden kind of had a system?

JAMIE MIRANTO: No, there was nothing wrong. There were no future signs of this happening, it just happened.

WHITFIELD: Had you ever been behind the wheel before to know exactly how to respond this quickly?

JAMIE MIRANTO: No.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And so Jayden, what were you thinking when you saw mom slumped over, you know, how many seconds took place before you sprung into action?

Jayden?

JAYDEN MIRANTO: Umm --

WHITFIELD: How about Jamie you answer that first.

JAMIE MIRANTO: It just took about ten seconds for me to notice something was wrong.

WHITFIELD: So you reached over, you were in the back seat and you reached over and tried to press the brake?

JAMIE MIRANTO: Well, I was in the front seat.

WHITFIELD: OK.

JAMIE MIRANTO: And I reached over and pressed the brake and then I had to turn the car off. And she was still unconscious.

WHITFIELD: And then you told Jayden to call on the cell phone, to call for help?

JAMIE MIRANTO: Yes.

WHITFIELD: OK. So Jayden, when you did that, describe for me what that was like.

JAYDEN MIRANTO: Well, it was scary at first because I couldn't find the phone. And I said Jamie; I can't find the phone, go get a neighbor. And then he went to go get a neighbor.

WHITFIELD: And then Jayden, tell me how difficult it was for you to try to keep your 3-year-old twin sisters calm during all this while help was on the way.

JAYDEN MIRANTO: Well, I was saying OK, she's going to be fine. And then they -- my one sister said, "mommy, mommy." And then they just went in the house.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, you all did a terrific job. So Brian, you know, your wife had kind of a condition right, with -- because of the low potassium, there was always that chance of cardiac arrest. How much of that possibility did you know, how much of -- that was a fear that she was with all the kids?

B. MIRANTO: She doesn't have actual Crohn's disease. There's a history of intestinal problems in her family and some of those problems can lead to losing potassium through your bodily functions. And we -- there had never been an issue before this, besides your basic problems.

WHITFIELD: Tell me how proud you are of your sons to know what to do.

B. MIRANTO: I'm so proud. You can't even explain it. You know, it was -- it's such a tragedy on what happened to my wife. But they're not -- it's really tough to be completely upset about what happened and then be so proud of what the boys did.

WHITFIELD: Well, all of this so extraordinary, Brian, Jamie, Jayden, so glad that your mom and your wife Sandy is on the road to recovery. Thanks so much for your time.

B. MIRANTO: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And have a great holiday.

B. MIRANTO: You, too.

WHITFIELD: Well, in sickness and in health, it's a love triangle that will tug at your heart. This is CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Could there be a holiday miracle for Broadway? Broadway stage hands and producers are in intense negotiations. The two sides talked for more than 12 hours yesterday. The strike has shut down 27 Broadway plays and musicals. The lucrative Thanksgiving weekend is usually one of Broadway's best. Negotiations meantime in Hollywood involving the writer's strike there set to resume a week from tomorrow. Late night talk shows and several sitcoms have gone into reruns since the strike began nearly two weeks ago.

Still a lot of questions surrounding the death of Donda West, the mother of hip-hop star Kanye West. She died last weekend after undergoing cosmetic surgery; a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon says he performed a tummy tuck and a breast reduction on West. An autopsy report indicates that she may have died from surgical complications. Well Dr. Jan Adams is the doctor who performed the operation, so what does he have to say about the Donda West's death? Find out when he sits down for an exclusive interview with our Larry King, you don't want to miss this, Tuesday night, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific only on CNN.

She promised to love and honor him. But what about his new girlfriend?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Do you see him with this other woman, they're holding hands. I would think, you know, it must be hard to see that. Is it hard?

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): In a way, but not totally because I understand his condition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow, this is incredible Alzheimer's love story next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: It's a strange situation, but not uncommon. Alzheimer's patients finding new love and their families are often happy for them. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is a living witness. Here now is CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Thomas Schnyder and Josephine Scalzo are both in advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease. They live in an Alzheimer's group home in Los Vegas and they like each other a lot. My name is Gary. You're Josephine. Hi Josephine.

JOSEPHINE SCALZO: OK.

TUCHMAN: And you're Thomas.

Eighty -year-old Josephine does most of the talking. We asked the owner of the group home about Thomas.

CHRIS TAM, LAS VEGAS ALZHEMERS & MEMORY CARE: He says goodbye and he likes to be -- he likes to joke with other people but he cannot even speak.

TUCHMAN: Josephine is his girlfriend, right?

TAM: Oh, Josephine right here, yeah.

TUCHMAN: But there's another woman in Thomas' life.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Hi.

TUCHMAN: His bride of 54 years, the woman who takes care of him, is devoted to him and still loves him. Her name is June and she regularly visits her husband, who no longer knows who she is. You see him with this other woman, they're holding hands. I would think, you know, it must be hard to see that. Is it hard?

JUNE SCHNYDER, THOMAS' WIFE: In a way, but not totally because I understand his condition and if he can find someone to make him laugh or talk to, that's fine.

TUCHMAN: This is the husband of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He too is an Alzheimer's patient who is romancing a fellow patient.

DR. GAIL SALTZ, WEILL CORNELL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Because Alzheimer's affects one's judgment and memory, finding someone else isn't the same as actually betraying or stepping out on your spouse whom you know, who you remember and who you've made a commitment to.

TUCHMAN: Do you talk, Thomas?

SCALZO: Yes.

TUCHMAN: Oh, there you go. It's nice talking to you. Do you like living here? And do you like being with Josephine?

T. SCHNYDER: Yes.

TUCHMAN: June gets nostalgic. What was your wedding like?

J. SCHNYDER: Beautiful.

TUCHMAN: She's not forgotten the words she uttered in 1953, to take her husband in sickness and in health. I think you're very generous, very unselfish. Isn't that what love is all about?

J. SCHNYDER: Oh, yes, yes.

TUCHMAN: They have had a good life and raised two healthy children. But now Thomas has two ladies in his life.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Sad and uplifting at the same time. The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Getting worse by the day, the cyclone death toll still climbing in Bangladesh.

And a powerful message to Saudi woman, a rape victim sentenced to 200 lashes for being alone with a man in the first place.

And our top story, it is just talk so far, but the idea of $200 a barrel oil, well; it's now apparently on the table.

Hello again, I'm Fredricka Whitfield and you are in the NEWSROOM. We begin with something that's hitting all of us, gas prices. You see how they've soared with the cost of crude oil inching closer to $100 a barrel, so what would happen if oil jumped to $200 a barrel? As floated by Venezuela's president at this weekends OPEC Summit.

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