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Judge Orders "Grinch" to Reopen on Broadway; America Takes to the Roads Despite Weather; Crude Oil Nears $100 a Barrel; Dennis Quaid's Newborn Twins Fighting for Lives
Aired November 21, 2007 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon.
This just in. It's coming from Broadway, from Manhattan, a Manhattan judge has allowed, we're being told, the Broadway production of "Dr. Seuss: How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to reopen, despite the stagehand strike.
As you know, the strike has been going on there for a couple of weeks. Theater owners, restaurant owners are afraid of losing millions of dollars every day because of this strike.
Well, again, we're told, according to the Associated Press, a Manhattan judge has allowed the Broadway production of "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to reopen, despite the stagehands' strike there, this coming from Manhattan Supreme Court justice Helen Freedman.
We're going to continue to follow this developing story and bring you the situation throughout the day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. This has repercussions for this holiday season.
Now to the stormy -- the stormy, in some spots, sunny in others, travel season. Whatever the case of travel, the crunch is certainly on, Fred.
WHITFIELD: It is, indeed. Millions of you are on the road or in the air and bracing for a mix of rough weather on this pre- Thanksgiving travel day, one of the busiest travel days of the year. And so, your flight, your drive, we're following the journey by the minute.
Let's go to Chad Myers, who's in the weather center, because boy, your travel is definitely predicated on what's going on weather-wise.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. A New set of wipers wouldn't be a bad idea.
WHITFIELD: Right. Good idea.
MYERS: From Chicago, Detroit all the way down to Springfield. Maybe some of that Rain-X you can spray on your windshield. Then you get back out West, you need Snow-X past Des Moines, also back into Omaha and Iowa. The snow is getting a little bit slick on some of the overpasses and some of the bridges. But right now, the ground is still warm enough that most of it is kind of sloppy.
It is going to be worse tonight here from Omaha through Des Moines, even into Chicago and Milwaukee, as we start to see the sun set. The ground will cool off. You're not going to get any heat from the sun at all. And then you're going to start to see those roadways freeze up.
A little bit of rain across the southeast. Nobody complaining about this. You get rain in Alabama or Tennessee, anything like that, people don't even care if they have to drive in it, because we need that rain so badly. There will be severe weather, St. Louis all the way down to about Texarkana.
It tries to charge to the east tomorrow, but we lose a little energy. We don't have severe thunderstorms tomorrow, but we do get snow. You know, people try -- there's still a lot of traveling going on tomorrow. And this Chicago snow, right through Buffalo, Toronto, maybe even into Detroit, that could cause some problems. People still getting around.
A lot of people just can't get on planes today. They're so full. You just can't get on a plane. So they're taking planes tomorrow. I have a few relatives coming in tomorrow, as well. And the flights were actually a little bit cheaper. But those flights, those 90 percent full or 95 percent full flights are having a few problems today, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, they are. But you know, overall, Chad, we've been doing a lot better today than what we were yesterday.
MYERS: Absolutely.
JERAS: And knock on wood, all of the flight delays thus far have stayed under an hour. So hopefully, we can stay below that magic mark.
And it's really surprising, because there are so many planes in the air right now.
MYERS: What's -- what's the number now?
JERAS: We're like 25 away from 7,000.
MYERS: Wow.
JERAS: Seven thousand in the air. You know, yesterday's peak was about 6,500, and that happened at 5 p.m. And we're expecting the number of flights, unfortunately, to continue to go up throughout the day today. So we might start seeing a little bit more of that congestion.
One of the busiest airports in the world, Atlanta-Hartsfield- Jackson Airport. You're looking at this, courtesy of FDLWeb.com (ph). And this shows you the different -- look at this. These are all the planes that are in the air. Remember, we were looking yesterday, Chad. We were talking about how it looked like they were all bumping into each other?
MYERS: Looks like they're all space shuttles, though.
JERAS: Now we have proof that they are not. Yes, they're all rockets going up, right? That's what it looks like, doesn't it?
We're going to take you over towards the Nashville area now, because look at this line of showers that is pushing in from the west.
MYERS: Yes.
JERAS: This rain caused some flash flooding in the Memphis area a couple of hours ago. So, now that heavy rain is pushing into Nashville. We've not heard any reports of flight delays there just yet. But we'll keep an eye on it.
There, you can see a live picture out of Nashville. Still downtown, the rains not coming down yet. Sixty-eight degrees. Some of the thunderstorms could be severe this afternoon. So be aware of that. Once the front moves through, it is going to be gusty and much colder for tomorrow.
Let's show you some of the official flight delays that we do have. Most of them today have been in the northeast and the Midwest again. The west overall really has been faring pretty good.
New York City, we've got ground delays at LaGuardia. Uh-oh, there it is, Chad. This is what we were talking about. It's been about 30 minutes at LaGuardia all morning. And now I see that we're over an hour.
So let's go ahead and check in with our Allan Chernoff, who's live at LaGuardia, to see what's going on.
Looks like things are getting worse, Allan.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jacqui, it's not all that bad. The delays actually are only on the arrivals. We take a look at the board over here. Departures here at the American Airlines terminal, everything is on time.
The problem, as you mentioned, it's with the arrivals. And that's because, right now, we have a little bit of a low ceiling, meaning the clouds are hanging a little bit low. So the pilots, when they're coming in, they don't have the same visual they normally would on a very clear day. So that slows things down a little.
We've got delays on flights coming in from Chicago, Dallas, Washington. But, again, nothing too bad. I don't see anything over a half hour for those cities.
There was one awful delay from Des Moines. A flight was supposed to come in at 9:45 this morning. It's not scheduled until 5 p.m. That's a mechanical problem, for sure. Nothing to do with the weather at all.
But otherwise, in terms of departures, things are just running very smoothly here. A lot of very happy passengers getting here early, expecting delays, and they're just flying right through and sitting at the gate, ready to go -- Jacqui.
JERAS: All right. Sounds good, actually. So we won't worry too much about that one-hour delay.
Also, we just got word, by the way, on our flight tracker here, that it is over 7,000 now in the air.
MYERS: Excellent.
JERAS: So this is more than what we saw all day yesterday, Chad.
MYERS: I bet some of those are private planes, too. Because the end numbers, the tail numbers show up on here, too.
JERAS: Right, everybody.
MYERS: So, people are in their little planes. They're driving all -- probably Miles O'Brien is probably one of these guys flying around here somewhere.
But our Susan Roesgen was at Chicago yesterday. Did you see this?
JERAS: I did.
MYERS: She was looking for lines.
JERAS: Stuffing or dressing, she was asking everybody.
MYERS: Oh, OK. Here you go, Susan. You put dressing on a salad, and you put stuffing in a turkey.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I heard that, too, and that's just -- just you Yankees. You couldn't be a Yankee. It was generally those southerners that said dressing. But I did have one guy say that to me in line and I said, "OK, whatever, bud. Keep moving."
MYERS: I'm from Buffalo.
ROESGEN: The lines are -- yes. The lines are moving pretty well here. I think my story here is pretty much the same as Allan's at LaGuardia. Most of the delays are in the arrivals. Things tend to get stacked up that way. And it's probably the late arrivals here that lead to some late departures here that lead to some late arrivals at LaGuardia and elsewhere.
But I'm here in the security line. You can see that it's moving fairly well. I spoke to some TSA folks, and they said, you know, "We didn't bring in any extra staff here, but things have just been moving very well."
The No. 1 thing that people forget and try to get through the line is ordinary bottled war. People forget that they've got it in a sack or something, and they bring that in. And that's the one thing that has to go. Any kind of liquids, you know, has to be in that small carry-on bag.
So things are looking pretty good here today at O'Hare. Not the big crush that a lot of people were expecting. We may see more delays as the evening comes on, as we start to maybe get some snowy weather or maybe more rainy weather. But right now, things are looking pretty good.
MYERS: You know, a lot of times we don't see delays at O'Hare or LaGuardia, because actually flights are canceled instead. And so all the flights are taking off on time that are leaving.
Have you seen any of the words "canceled" on there or everything's OK?
ROESGEN: Only a couple. Now, yesterday there were 20 cancellations here.
MYERS: Yes.
ROESGEN: And of course, that's the word that nobody wants to see, you know. Delayed is one thing. Absolutely canceled really messes up the getting home in time for Thanksgiving plan.
MYERS: Susan, thank you. Hope you can get home for Thanksgiving plans.
And Don, the problem with cancellations so much, too, is that these flights are so full. You've got 120 people that now don't have a plane. And you've got one seat on that plane and two seats available on that plane. Well, try to get 120 people now to their destination. You have problems, because -- well, on a regular day maybe it's only 80 percent full. Well, not today and not tomorrow, and so on and so on.
So you're going to have to try to get on the plane that is yours rather than trying to stand by. Stand by isn't working very well today.
LEMON: And Chad, cancellation is only a word that you know -- maybe you want to hear it if it's someone coming in town you don't want to see.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my God. That's terrible.
MYERS: Dude, I've got 17 coming in to town. I want to see them all.
WHITFIELD: You want to see all of them. That's good.
LEMON: And it is -- from where I come from, it is dressing, FYI. From down south. It's not...
WHITFIELD: That's interchangeable for me.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much to Chad and everyone there out in the field on this busy travel day.
We want to know how your trip is going on the road or in the air. Send us your I-Reports. Just log onto CNN.com and click on "I- Report."
And if you're hitting the road or flying the skies, make CNN.com your first destination. Check out our special report and get an online travel kit with tips on where to go and how best to get there. That, and more at CNN.com/HolidayTravel -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, a one-time insider speaks out about White House involvement in the Valerie Plame Wilson case.
Former press secretary Scott McClellan says he was misled about the leak of the CIA operative's name. It's in his new book. An early excerpt released by the publisher quotes McClellan -- McClellan as saying that he unknowingly gave false information during a White House briefing.
And, quote, "Five of the highest ranking official in the administration were involved in my doing so: Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff, Andrew Card, and the president himself," unquote.
It's not clear exactly what McClellan means by involved. Valerie Plame Wilson's husband, Joe Wilson, had this to say on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH WILSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR: At a bare minimum, for openers, I think it's incumbent upon the president and the vice president now to release transcripts of their statements with the -- to the special prosecutor so that we now have a fuller understanding of what they knew, when they knew it and what they said to Justice and whether or not they continue to frustrate the efforts of the Justice Department and the efforts of the government to get to the bottom of what is essentially the betrayal of the national security of our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And McClellan tells CNN that he is still writing the book, and the excerpt was released by the publisher to build interest -- Don.
LEMON: And we want to update you, Fredricka, on our breaking story coming out of New York City. We've been telling you about the stagehands' strike since November 10 when they walked out.
Well, a judge has made a ruling in that. A Manhattan judge has allowed the Broadway production of "Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to reopen, despite the stagehands' strike. That is according to the Associated Press.
That ruling coming down this morning from State Supreme Court Justice Helen Freedman a day after she heard arguments from producers of the show and the owners of the theater, housing this $6 million production. It was only supposed to last, this production, until January, a limited production. But since it closed down, not sure how long it's going to last.
But that is, so far, the show will go on when it comes to "The Grinch." We're trying to work our legal sources to see what the repercussions are here and exactly what this all means. We'll update you in the NEWSROOM.
WHITFIELD: OK. So where is Jed Clampett when you need him? You know what I'm talking about.
LEMON: Oh, yes.
WHITFIELD: Black gold, Texas tea.
LEMON: Texas tea.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, crude oil flirts with $100 a barrel. And you don't have to drive a car to feel that pinch.
LEMON: Plus, if you were watching last night, now you see him...
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy.
LEMON: ... and now you don't. It's a King-sized -- and this is a technical term -- kafuffle as a guest leaves Larry King alone at his mike. What happened next? We'll tell you.
WHITFIELD: Man. And the closer we get to the election, the dirtier it gets between the top two Democrats. Here's mud in your eye.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Fifteen past the hour. Three of the stories we're working on for you right here on the CNN NEWSROOM.
In just a few hours, military gives commercial flights the option of using a big chunk of its East Coast air space. And they might need it on this pre-Thanksgiving travel day, especially if winter weather warnings hold true on that.
Setting a big goal, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the U.S. will try to reach a Mideast peace deal before President Bush leaves office. But, she cautions there's no guarantee of success.
Striking workers throwing France's transit system into turmoil. Adding to it, a series of fires along the nation's high-speed rail network. Government blames radical strikers, but the unions are condemning the fires, too.
WHITFIELD: Well, every time you fill up your car or you turn up the heat, you can just feel your wallet getting lighter. And don't you know the price of crude just keeps on inching higher?
Ali Velshi is joining us now.
How close, Ali, are we to that $100 a barrel?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, you know, this morning, overnight, we were less than 70 -- we were 71 cents way from 100. Now we're $97. We're three dollars away. I think it's a good indication of when I show up on a trading floor, things are going to go the other way you expect them to go.
I'm here at NYNEX, which is where oil is traded. And this morning, oil was very close to $100. And we were expecting this report from the government about how much oil there is in stock in the United States.
And that number was actually lower than we expected. And that should have, you know, a lot of people thought that should have sent oil above $100. It didn't. And in fact, now oil has come down to $97, which sounds like a bit of a relief.
But for most people, Fred, that makes no difference whether it's $93 or $97 or $105. The void (ph) is it's expensive, and it works its way into your gas tank.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
VELSHI: Thirty million plus people are getting in their cars today to go somewhere for Thanksgiving, driving more than 50 miles. And they're going to see that at the gas station. They're going to see part of it, not the whole bit, but they're going to see part of that.
And we've seen those increases, Fred, over the past few weeks. What are we looking at: $3.09, $3.10 is the national average for a gallon of self-serve.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
VELSHI: Some places it's above $3.40.
WHITFIELD: Right, Allan. And so I'm wondering now, while you fill up your tank today or maybe even tomorrow, to hit the road to go visit your relatives, on your return Sunday or maybe even Monday, are we talking about gas prices that quickly responding...
VELSHI: Yes.
WHITFIELD: ... to the higher, you know, per barrel rate, that they're going to be paying more for the gallon? VELSHI: Well, first of all, have you ever been able to figure out the logic?
WHITFIELD: No. Forget it.
VELSHI: You and I have discussed it many times.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: The speed with which they go up. Right?
WHITFIELD: Right.
VELSHI: If you ever needed an excuse to raise gas prices, this would be it. Thirty million people on the road.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
VELSHI: They're leaving tonight. You'll see those -- you'll see those gas prices already up today. But you'll see them again on Sunday or Monday. So, you're absolutely going to get hit. This is very tough for Americans.
And Fred, this is why we see rough days on the stock markets these days. Because this is money that you're paying for heating or your car, that you were buying the same stuff last year, and it's costing you that much more money. Well, that money is coming out of something.
Are you not going to spend it on the holiday shopping season? That's what people are worried about.
WHITFIELD: Well, and with Christmas right around the corner, too, you better believe that air tickets are going to go up, too. So while you hit the road because it's cheaper than flying, I don't know if that's the case anymore, with these kind of prices.
VELSHI: I don't know if that's the case anymore. Yes.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
VELSHI: That's a decision a lot of people have to make.
WHITFIELD: All right. Ali, thanks so much. Even thanks for the bad news.
LEMON: All right. A very serious story to tell you about. Dennis Quaid's newborns are victims of a preventable error at a Los Angeles hospital. On Sunday, Cedar-Sinai Hospital reported three patients were mistakenly given huge overdoses of Heparin, a blood thinner that's used to keep IV lines from clogging.
Now TMZ.com is reporting that two of the patients are twins born November 8 to Quaid and his wife, Kimberly. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains how this kind of dosing mistake can happen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They literally stuck the wrong dosage of Heparin. In a place where they had the ten units, they put the 10,000-unit bottles. It's supposed to be checked twice. Some people say you should have electronic scanning before you give the medication.
But I'll tell you, you know, one thing that happens a lot -- not a lot, but does happen is something known as death by decimal point, Kiran. It's where they actually get the decimal point wrong. They think ten, but it was really 10,000 or vice versa. That happens. And a lot of people say that makes the case for having some sort of electronic system before giving medications.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Here's some background for you. Last year, six infants at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis got similar Heparin overdoses. Three of them died.
Cedar-Sinai hasn't named the patients in this case but says tests show no adverse effects. A statement from Quaid's publicist doesn't specifically address the incident either but says, "Dennis and Kimberly appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers and hope they can maintain their privacy during this difficult time."
Coming up in just a few minutes, we'll get more on the story from CNN's Elizabeth Cohen.
WHITFIELD: Well, coming up, live from New York, the Grinch will light up the Great White Way after all this Christmas.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. CNN has confirmed that "The Grinch Stole Christmas," that Dr. Seuss play on Broadway, will reopen. The Grinch may have stole Christmas, but not the last part of Thanksgiving.
We're going to go to the ground now. Standing in front of New York State Supreme Court, Stephanie Simon from our affiliate, New York One, there.
Give us the very latest, Stephanie.
STEPHANIE SIMON, CORRESPONDENT: All right, Don. Well, yes, this show will go on, because the judge has ruled today that, while she did not want to be the judge -- she did not want to be the person who stole Christmas and so the show would go on.
That's after producers of how "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" went to court to force the St. James Theater to open and let the show go on, saying they had a separate agreement with the union, with Local One, the stagehands' union, and should not be affected by the larger Broadway strike. They filed that injunction yesterday here at state Supreme Court. The producer said this was a lease agreement, not a labor disagreement. And that they were being used in a larger dispute between the league and the union.
They also argued there would be irreparable harm if the show did not start soon, because after all, it is a holiday show.
They also said that the union was willing to come back to work and that the union had rescinded the strike and the pickets around that show.
Now, the theater said the court could not supercede their collective bargaining, and they should not interfere with the ongoing labor dispute. They also said they should not be forced to let Local One into the theater during the strike, because that could be dangerous. And it also splits the league during the strike. And also that there would be no assurance Local One would not go back on strike.
But in the end, the judge said it was going in favor of the producers. The show would go on. It should go on as soon as possible. And then both sides agreed that that would be this Friday at 11 a.m.
There was absolute elation in the courtroom. The child actors screamed with joy. And then they came out here to the steps of the courthouse and did a little song and dance. So a lot of excitement on their end.
And that is the very latest from the state Supreme Courthouse.
Back to you.
LEMON: All right. Stephanie Simon reporting from the New York State Supreme Court. Thank you very much.
"The Grinch who Stole Christmas" will go on, 11 a.m., as she said, Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. A little bit of good news there on Broadway.
Not so good news on Wall Street. Just head a little south there in New York. And that's because of the oil prices.
Well, the oil prices now in retreat. I don't know if it's retreat or -- I don't know. Maybe they're kind of sprinting.
Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with the latest.
I'd say not retreat when the numbers keep going up and up. But I guess they did fall by, what, a few pennies or maybe a couple of dollars? SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's really just a matter of semantics, Fredricka. Because oil prices are still above $97 a barrel. They're sky-rocketing...
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LISOVICZ: ... when you consider that crude was below $50 a barrel this year, earlier this year. So you can see what kind of spike we've seen in oil prices.
But that was one of the reasons why stocks sank at the open, because oil prices had climbed over $99 a barrel overnight.
(STOCK REPORT)
LISOVICZ: Fred, in the next hour, we'll be talking about the delay of some very important data on prescription drugs. And that's something, obviously, that most of us should pay attention to. And I'll have that story in the next hour.
Back to you.
WHITFIELD: Right. Well -- OK, well, the economic picture has been so, so busy. I hope tomorrow you get a chance to rest your voice, because I love that Lauren Bacall. Who doesn't love Lauren Bacall? But something tells me you're working a little too hard there, Susan.
LISOVICZ: I have got to take a vow of silence. It's very difficult in this job, Fred.
WHITFIELD: I know. It's been busy. Maybe tomorrow you can do that.
LEMON: Lots of chicken soup, right?
WHITFIELD: Right.
LISOVICZ: I'm going to grow feathers pretty soon I've had so much of it.
LEMON: Or turkey soup.
WHITFIELD: It's going to be turkey soup, but don't grow any feathers.
LEMON: All right. Susan, we'll see you in just a little bit.
And speaking of that...
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEMON: ... who is up there, Fred, and when...
WHITFIELD: Up where?
LEMON: ... will we reach our destination?
WHITFIELD: Oh, up there.
LEMON: I'm talking about the friendly skies.
WHITFIELD: Woo! A lot of people.
LEMON: A look at America's crowded skies -- look at that -- on this very busy holiday travel day.
You're watching CNN, of course, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Hello, everyone. Happy Thanksgiving. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Kyra Phillips. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: In the air, on the road, CNN is tracking your holiday travel. Let's go straight to Chad Myers in the weather center. Chad, what do you have for us?
MYERS: Rain, wet roadways ...
LEMON: OK.
MYERS: ...and then, some turning white, actually. And the white ones are the problem, out there by Des Moines and you've got I-80. That's kind of a problem. And then, up and down north and south through Des Moines as well.
Now, I am become a huge fan in the past two days of a Web site called traffic.com. It's amazing. Click on it. Any -- there's like 70 towns in there. It'll tell you how long the delays are, on what roadways, what the jam factor is. If you're traveling today and you haven't left the house yet, that wouldn't be a bad thing to check out before you head out. I don't want to crash their Web site with all those hits. But it is a really nice site.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: And so far, our Jacqui Jeras over here, so far, Atlanta doing pretty well.
JERAS: Yes.
MYERS: Other airports doing very well. This is not -- well, remember, sometimes we see these days where people are stuck in planes for seven hours ...
JERAS: Right.
MYERS: ...there's no gates, there's no bathroom.
JERAS: Or sleeping there.
MYERS: There's no water, there's, you know -- I haven't heard that yet.
JERAS: No, not at all. In fact, especially in the airports have been really, really good. The roadways haven't been quite as good, but they certainly haven't been terrible.
We do have some accidents and some construction that we want to tell you about that's been going on in the Philadelphia area. We've got that here on our Google Earth animation. And this just happened in the last hour or so. PENNDOT has closed two left lanes on Interstate 95 southbound. And this is between Cotton Avenue and Bridge Street. They're doing emergency construction due to a deteriorating overpass. So there, you can see where we've got the big exclamation mark where that is going on.
Now, there's also an accident outside of Philadelphia on Interstate 78 eastbound. And there, you can see -- oops, got a little computer glitch. There, you can see them all along this area where all the congestion is. The accident itself is near the Easton area. A tractor trailer has overturned. They're suggesting that you use 33 north to U.S. 22 east to get around that accident.
Let's take you in to New York City. It has been congested here all day long. There, you can see Manhattan Island. We're going to check in on the Brooklyn Bridge here and check traffic. It has been very steady with pedestrians and the cars all day long. So, it has been ...
MYERS: With that picture, the pedestrians are going the same speed as the cars.
JERAS: I know. Isn't that what everybody has always dreamed about, right, being able to do that? So, we've had a lot of action going on on the roadways and airways have been pretty good. Everybody around an hour or less. And of course, we'll update you on that again around the top of the hour.
MYERS: Sounds good. Thank you, Jacqui. Back to you guys at the desk.
LEMON: All right, guys. You're all done over there, you're sure, right?
MYERS: We're done.
LEMON: OK, good.
JERAS: We could do more.
MYERS: See you in 30 minutes.
LEMON: And we'll see you, probably a little bit sooner than that. Thanks to both of you. He is a man on a mission. We're talking about CNN's Ed Lavendera, he is flying across country to show us what it's like for travelers this busy holiday. He's hoping to make it from L.A. to New York with stops in between. And we're hearing that he may be on his next stop. But we're going to check and see. But for now, he's going to see if he can make it from L.A. to New York by tomorrow for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
His first stop is Denver. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Denver International Airport is expecting some 950,000 people to pass through this airport on this day before Thanksgiving. And officials here at the airport are taking great steps to move people through all the checkpoints as quickly as possible.
Denver International has one of the dubious distinctions of having some of the slowest security checkpoint lines in the country. And in September, two months ago, there were reports that some people were taking longer than 45 minutes to get through the security checkpoints. So, officials here saying they're taking great pains to make sure that doesn't happen here on this long holiday weekend. In fact, the goal is to try to get as many people through as possible and in under 20 minutes.
So far here this morning, we've been seeing people get through the security checkpoint lines in about 10 minutes, and officials here at the airport talk a little bit about what they're going to do to get people moving through here as quickly as possible.
CHUCK CANNON, DENVER INTL. AIRPORT SPOKESMAN: Even with all the lanes open, these are travelers who are not your savvy business travelers. These are families going home to see grandma. And they're taking Christmas packages and backpacks and all the rest of it, strollers and so, it takes a little time to screen all those people.
LAVANDERA: Of course, weather could be an issue here in Denver as the day moves along as well. Overnight, several inches of snow have fallen. And there's light flurries falling at this point here in Denver. But it doesn't seem to be slowing the flights down. All the flight boards here showing that most of the flights are taking off on time. And officials here at the airport say that if it rains like this, they will be able to handle those kind of weather issues and get people on their flights on time.
Of course, it's very precarious. And if harder snow falls, that could cause a problem later on in the day.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Denver, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, and hopefully, we haven't seen the last of Ed. He left LAX about 9:00-ish Eastern this morning, trying to make his way to New York for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We're hearing he's landing in Dallas.
So, if you're watching on CNN airport, give us a call. We want to know how your trip, as well, is going on the road or in the air. Send us your i-Reports. Just log on to CNN.com and click on i-Report. And if you're hitting the road or flying the skies, make CNN.com your first destination. Check out our Special Report and get an online travel kit with tips on where to go and how best to get there. That, and more at CNN.com/holidaytravel.
WHITFIELD: Well, coming up, a hospital's preventable error reportedly puts three newborns in serious danger, including twins born to actor Dennis Quaid, the kind of accident that has happened before. So, why hasn't somebody figured out a way to fix it?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Dennis Quaid's newborn twins are reportedly the victims of a preventable error. Is it a mistake that may be just too easy to make? CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has more on a hospital's accidental overdose. Accidental overdose at a hospital. How in the world does that happen?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what, it seems to have happened in this case because they're not saying at Cedars-Sinai. But the experts I talked to said what they think happened is that these babies needed heparin, which newborn babies need to flush out their IV lines. It's a great drug. They got to have it. But what happened was that the nurse turned to reach for a vial of 10 unit heparin and instead grabbed 10,000 units of heparin.
We don't know if that's what happened because Cedars-Sinai isn't saying, but the experts who I talked to who have investigated just these kind of cases say usually that's what happens.
WHITFIELD: OK, so if it happened like that, maybe a careless, innocent mistake. But then, how often does something like that happen?
COHEN: You know ...
WHITFIELD: Aren't you supposed to be (ph) pretty meticulous about quantities?
COHEN: It happens, the experts say, more than you might think.
WHITFIELD: Really?
COHEN: For example, last year -- just last year, three babies in Indiana died because of heparin, the exact same dosage mistake.
WHITFIELD: Oh man.
COHEN: Now, we heard about that because three babies died. And we're hearing about the Quaid situation because it's Dennis Quaid. But you know what, this probably happens and we don't hear about it, because no hospital has to come out and say oh, my gosh, we goofed. WHITFIELD: So, if it happened once, you'd think there would be some sort of safety net in place so it doesn't happen again, prevention, so it doesn't happen again.
COHEN: Right, prevention, so important. And Cedars-Sinai said that they have procedures in place and they weren't followed in this instance.
What I really want to know, and I asked them and they wouldn't tell me, is do they have a bar code system? Because there is a bar code system where you go to the baby's bracelet and you scan that and then you scan the drug. So, if the baby is supposed to be getting 10 units and the drug is 10,000 units, it will go beep, beep, beep so that you know not to give the baby the drug.
Now, all the folks I talked to said these are great systems ...
WHITFIELD: Yes.
COHEN: ...but that not everyone uses them because they cost money.
WHITFIELD: That would be a great thing. You know, it would be a great thing, too, because I mean, you just think of the nurse or any medical caregiver.
COHEN: Right.
WHITFIELD: They've got a lot going on.
COHEN: They do.
WHITFIELD: They've got a lot of patients. So, it's -- everyone could use a little reminder or prodding on here's the right thing to do.
COHEN: Of course. I mean, no matter what your profession is ...
WHITFIELD: Yes.
COHEN: ...you know that mistakes get made in your workplace.
WHITFIELD: Oh absolutely.
COHEN: They get made everywhere.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
COHEN: So, of course they're going to be made in hospitals. And the thing is to put up systems so they don't happen.
WHITFIELD: Right, you're talking life or death in this case.
COHEN: Exactly, exactly.
WHITFIELD: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much. COHEN: Thanks.
LEMON: Devastated by the storm, Bangladesh's landscape dotted with the destruction. Villagers are still living among the rubble, waiting for help.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: These pictures are really almost unbelievable to see. It's been nearly a week since a monster cyclone ripped through Bangladesh. And the full extent of the damage still isn't known. CNN's Cal Perry is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Perhaps one of the most remote places in the world. Close to Bangladesh's border with India, we travel by boat. Even from the water, it's obvious, the main city of Patrakhata (ph) has been largely washed away.
400,000 people live in this city. The government says that 140 people died here. But the locals insist that well over 1,000 perished. And nobody knows how many have died in the outlying areas. Neither the government nor aid organizations have reached the more isolated places.
We're the first to come here. The only way in is on motor bikes until the jungle becomes too thick. From there, we walk. The closer we get, the ominous stench of death becomes overwhelming.
(on camera): The villagers are telling us that as we move deeper into the jungle, they're still finding bodies and still burying them some five days after the storm. We're going to go try to find that and verify it for ourselves.
(voice-over): And as we get deeper into the jungle, where the farming village of Poda used to be, we encounter overwhelming grief. Mujabar Param (ph) wails in agony while fellow villagers bury his six- year-old daughter Lima (ph). His story is gut wrenching.
"My daughter, wife and I were clinging to a tree," he says. "We were all holding hands. But a gust of wind came and swept my daughter from my arms. We are now helpless. There is no communication. Nobody has come here. Nobody has come."
A simple farmer, burying his six-year-old daughter in his own field, waiting for any help that simply has not arrived.
Cal Perry, CNN, Poda, in southern Bangladesh.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, this, too, is pretty sad and pretty disturbing. The husband of a brutalized woman in Saudi Arabia describes his wife as, "a crushed human being." She survived a kidnapping, a gang rape and now, incredibly, she has been sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison. The charge? Being seen in public with an unrelated man, a crime in the strict Muslim kingdom.
We're not leaving this outrageous story alone. Coming up shortly, our guest is the founder of an international women's rights group. Stay with the NEWSROOM for that.
LEMON: I think I hear -- do you hear the phone ringing? I think it's Ed Lavandera on the line at Dallas DFW Airport there. Ed, you're in the terminal. You just landed from Los Angeles. What time do you leave Eastern -- 9:00-ish some time?
LAVANDERA: Hold on, maybe -- I didn't realize you were going to make me do math so quickly. Let's see, it's 1:45 your time, roughly?
LEMON: Yes, it's 1:50.
LAVANDERA: We left about an hour and a half ago.
LEMON: OK.
LAVANDERA: Yes, we actually left Denver about an hour late. We left the gate on time. But I don't know if you had seen the live shot that we had done from inside the plane. I pointed out through the window ...
LEMON: We saw that.
LAVANDERA: ...that the window was covered in ice. All right, well, we had to go through the de-icing process. And that took about an hour. So, that's why we're backed up here a little bit today. But fortunately, you know, DFW is one of those airports that a lot of people complain about connecting through. But our plane came in ten gates away from where we needed to catch our flight to New York. So, things are looking good for me today.
LEMON: So, what's the mission here? You left -- I was trying to figure out what time you left LAX, right. You left LAX this morning and you went from LAX, correct, then to Denver?
LAVANDERA: Yes, we left -- no. We left LAX yesterday.
LEMON: OK.
LAVANDERA: We flew from L.A. to Denver yesterday.
LEMON: OK.
LAVANDERA: And put together our piece for this morning.
LEMON: OK.
LAVANDERA: What we had a 2:00 a.m. wake-up call in Denver and then we had -- the flight was at 8:50 Mountain time. So here we go, I can do the math now. So about 10:50 Eastern time is when we took off from -- we were supposed to have taken off from Denver. We're supposed to have about a two-hour layover in Dallas-Ft. Worth, but now we're cut down to about 45 minutes. So, but fortunately, they have the gate to Newark LaGuardia is right behind me. And it's showing -- actually, you know what -- this flight is showing that it's an hour delayed, so.
LEMON: Oh, no.
LAVANDERA: Here we go, here begins the domino quest (ph). I haven't even had a chance to check in at the gate, so.
LEMON: That's your gate right there, C-27, Ed?
LAVANDERA: Yes, that's the one (ph), it's supposed to depart at 1:20. Yes, C-27.
LEMON: C-27.
LAVANDERA: It's supposed to take off at 1:20. And now it's -- right. And now it says we're taking off at 2:20 Central time. So, it's going to be another long night. And hopefully, around 7:00 Eastern time, we'll make it into New York LaGuardia.
LEMON: Hey, Ed, can you talk to us just real quick, because we've got to run, but about this technology, folks are wondering. Obviously, broad band. But you went live from an airplane today. I mean, this is -- this is some pretty new stuff here that your doing.
LAVANDERA: You know, it really is kind of fascinating. And I never imagined that we could be able to do it this quickly. We literally walked on to the plane and within five minutes, we had a live signal up. So it's essentially a laptop computer, one cable and a smaller version of a camera that we normally travel with. So, that's all it's taken.
So, we've left all the bells and whistles. In fact, I think our cameraman is getting used to kind of traveling like this. He normally travels with ten cases that weigh about 60 pounds each. And this week, we're traveling with three or four backpacks and a small little tripod case.
LEMON: Nice.
LAVANDERA: So, if we keep this up, he might trade all that stuff in for this kind of lifestyle.
LEMON: Yes, it is just amazing. And you're providing us with some fantastic slice of life stories coming. You can see folks walking out of the gate, walking out of the terminal right behind you, Ed. We really appreciate your reporting. Can you check back with us, let us know what's going on? Maybe you can go somewhere further into the airport, maybe where folks are eating or gathering, waiting on flights, a coffee shop or something and give us a live shot. We'd love it.
LAVANDERA: Well you know what, I thought we only had like ten minutes to play around here. But it looks like, you know, if this keeps up, we're going to have all afternoon to chat with each other.
LEMON: Yes, go do it. All right, Ed Lavandera in Dallas at the airport. Ed, thank you so much.
And we want to know how your trip is going on, on the road and also in the air. Send us your i-Reports. Just log on to CNN.com and click on i-Report.
WHITFIELD: And among the scores of troops rehabbing at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he stands out. A four-year-old amputee inspiring even war heroes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. I didn't even know he was an amputee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: They are vastly different circumstances, but a common challenge. Some of our troops who have lost limbs in battle are rehabbing alongside a very special patient. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has more on a boy among them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Walter Reed Army Medical Center, amputees undergo hours of painful rehabilitation. Many struggling to walk again. But not all the patients are casualties of war. Meet John Yetmar, a four-year-old amputee, who is inspiring these wounded warriors.
CPL. CHAD WATSON, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Oh, yes. Yes, I didn't even know he was an amputee. That is awesome, that's awesome because I've been at it now for almost a year since my injury. So, I got some catching up to do to that little guy.
STARR: John was born without all the bones in one leg. Doctors thought a prosthetic leg would give him the best quality of life. Because his dad's in the military, John is treated at Walter Reed and gets the same care as the troops. The staff has a special touch with this tiny patient.
JOHN YETMAR: What happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just turning your foot in a little bit. Nice and new and shiny. See that?
J. YETMAR: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Isn't that nice?
J. YETMAR: It's nice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
STARR: John's dad, Paul, says a bond has developed between his son and the troops.
PAUL YETMAR, JOHN'S FATHER: He comes here and he sees double, triple amputees, folks that are really going to have a challenging time.
J. YETMAR: Put me down. I want to go and see.
P. YETMAR: Yes. And I think in the long run it's going to keep him from developing any self pity.
I think the soldiers kind of like having him around because a lot of what they do is so stressful and just painful. And he kind of brings a cheery demeanor with him wherever he goes.
STARR: What does John think? He tells you he is as fast as a train.
J. YETMAR: (INAUDIBLE), right here.
STARR: And then, this little four-year-old boy does exactly what all little boys do: he takes off once again.
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