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American Morning
Top Political Stories & Scandals of 2008; Reexamining a Presidential Pardon; Monitoring Winter Weather & Travel on Christmas Day
Aired December 25, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: It's 59 minutes after the hour. Here are your Christmas morning top stories.
Today, Pope Benedict XVI began Christmas with a midnight mass at St. Peter's Basilica. But as the Pope was leaving, a bystander jumped the barrier as the pontiff head down the aisle. Security quickly tackled the person.
A scary holiday flight for passengers at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. American Airlines Flight 1544 skidded off the runway while taxiing. It hit an icy patch. The airline says none of the 54 passengers or five crew members was hurt.
Even though it's December 25th, some holiday travelers haven't made it home for Christmas yet. After hundreds of delays and cancellations from Seattle to Chicago there are still some people stuck at O'Hare International Airport. Chicago officials say O'Hare requested about 70 cots for passengers to sleep on last night.
And if you're hitting the road today some ice and snow could mean treacherous conditions.
So now -- is the proper time we're told, by Janelle Rodriguez (ph) to bring in Mr. Rob to talk about --
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Who is that?
JOHNS: You know the guy. Oh, that one, yes.
So I mean, is it going to be bad tonight for a guy who is trying to get on and off of the shuttle?
MARCIANO: On this day of giving, Joe, your selfishness just really (INAUDIBLE) you. Come on now, it's not always about you.
JOHNS: It's not always about me.
MARCIANO: In fairness though, during the commercial break, Carol was actually asking about herself. So as long as --
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: At least I'm honest, it is all about me. After all, I am a news anchor.
MARCIANO: We are high-maintenance TV personalities. By the way, speaking of TV, I was talking to my producers down in Atlanta, helping build the maps and run the show, and apparently the Gremlins or the bad elves have gotten into the weather computer. So this should be fun.
We'll start away from the weather computer and show you this gorgeous shot of New York, as the sun comes up. There's the Empire State building, mid-level clouds. It looks like a news chopper maybe coming into view there. The temps right now in the 40s, will be dropping through the day. Gusty winds, so any time you have gusty winds and you're try to fly out of LaGuardia especially, with the tight runway configuration, things could get a little bit jammed up. So could be travel delays out of LaGuardia.
We're getting reports of not so much delays yet, but certainly de-icing procedures happening in places like Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago Midway and areas like that. So just having to de-ice those planes will create some problems.
All right, there's the radar picture. And the fact that it's not moving tells me it's not working. So some snow across parts of Syracuse, and that's going to be about the only spot right now where we'll see some problems. But it will dip below freezing tonight, so you're right, Joe, any time there's some slush or puddles, I think tomorrow morning and tonight will be a little bit slick so be careful of the black ice.
JOHNS: We could put up stick figures or something. That would make it better.
MARCIANO: I've done that in the past, I don't want to do it again.
COSTELLO: Santa will be here soon to bring you a new weather computer. Yay.
All right. On to politics now, 2008 was an epic year for American politics. Barack Obama's campaign was an amazing ground game. And its ability to generate cash hand over fist was a game changer. And of course, Obama made history by winning the election.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Joining me now, Daniel Libit, who is a reporter for politico.com.
Welcome, Daniel.
DANIEL LIBIT, POLITICO.COM: Thank you, Carol. Good to be with you.
COSTELLO: Thanks for being with us on this holiday. We really appreciate it.
So, we should probably just skip right over Obama, because everybody figures that is the big political story this year. But second on your list would be what? LIBIT: Well I think we could start by talking sort of about drill here, drill now and the energy crisis, which became the giant story that wasn't, at least for, for Republicans. This looked at one point, particularly towards the end of the summer, as a possible paradigm shift in the election. Never came to pass. I don't know if you remember, but not so long ago, gas was really expensive.
COSTELLO: Yes, over $5 a gallon in some states, like California, let's say.
LIBIT: Indeed. And though I don't think anybody personally was particularly pretty happy that, that looked like it was creating a wedge for Republicans where they hadn't found one for John McCain in particular. And then all of a sudden, the issue just dropped, much like the price.
COSTELLO: It's interesting. Do you remember the holiday gas tax during the primary?
LIBIT: Absolutely, absolutely.
COSTELLO: The drill, baby, drill, Sarah Palin mentioned that in the debate with Joe Biden. That's kind of like out of vogue right now. But that doesn't mean that Barack Obama can just skip over the energy crisis here in the United States. Because we still have one, even though gas is at what, $1.66 per gallon.
LIBIT: Oh, absolutely. I think the expectation is that this issue will creep back up, if not, if not mount fairly quickly once the economy improves. Of course this is, this is one of those issues, this is a positive by-product to a pretty negative economic situation.
And I think the Republicans are ready when the time comes, that gas begins to increase in price to once again reassert their position on, on offshore drilling. There's some questions and curiosities and whatnot. Barack Obama will, will let the offshore drilling moratorium elapse.
COSTELLO: We'll see. Let's head onto the, your, I guess this would be your third biggest political event in the year of 2008. And that would be -- the reverends, Reverend Rick Warren and Jeremiah Wright.
LIBIT: Very timely now, especially with all the controversy surrounding Reverend Warren and the invocation at Barack Obama's inaugural address. It's kind of interesting that the placement of these two reverends, the one hand we had of course all the controversy over Reverend Wright in the primary. This seemed to maybe be the one thing that could sort of off-track Barack Obama.
It wasn't addressed by John McCain. He made the decision that his 11th-hour political cajole was going to be Bill Ayers and he wasn't going to touch the Reverend Wright issue at all at least until towards the end of the election. And then of course Rick Warren, very interesting, he's become sort of the reverend of this election, sort of overtaking from Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson or even Billy Graham from the past. Certainly he's done it in a different way. He's tried to become more of a moderate, bipartisan political figure and now has an invocation to show for it.
COSTELLO: I don't think the gay community would agree with you there. The interesting thing about this to me is it seems like Barack Obama has totally dissociated himself from his old church in Chicago and he's kind of joining a different kind of religious movement.
What might this mean?
LIBIT: Well I think that, I mean he latched on to this notion early on. I think he was trying to reach out to evangelical voters, which Democrats have a hard time attracting in the past, recent elections. And you make a good point, of course, that there is this Rick Warren is hinged with controversy just as Reverend Wright was, although it's coming from a different side now.
COSTELLO: Daniel Libit, thank you for joining us on this Christmas, we appreciate it.
LIBIT: My pleasure. Thank you.
JOHNS: Here's what's new this morning, officials in Maryland say it could take weeks to determine what caused a massive water main to burst on River Road just outside the nation's capital. The road itself remains closed. The break sent a four-foot wall of water at commuters' cars, leaving many trapped on Tuesday.
The former Utah state trooper suspected in a series of roadway shootings is dead. Brian Smith was pronounced dead after apparently shooting himself in the head during a standoff with police. An autopsy has been scheduled. Four people were shot, two of them killed, along a three-mile stretch of road near downtown Dallas earlier this week. Smith was also suspected in an Oxycontin robbery just before the shootings.
Police seize more guns and bullets from the home of suspended New York Giant, Plaxico Burress. A nine-millimeter handgun, a rifle and ammunition were taken, along with the sneakers and blood-stained jeans Burress wore on November 28. That's the night he accidentally shot himself in the leg at a New York nightclub. That incident led to two gun possession charges.
President Bush is ordering one of 19 pardons issued this week to be reexamined. Isaac Toussie pleaded guilty in 2001 to making false statements in the case of a Long Island mortgage fraud scheme that allegedly targeted minorities and sold them substandard housing. Our Kate Bolduan is following the story live from Washington this morning.
Merry Christmas Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Merry Christmas, Joe.
People are calling this an extraordinary step, the president recalling the pardon of New York developer, Isaac Toussie for further review. The official statement from White House spokesperson Dana Perino says, based on information that has subsequently come to light, the president has directed the pardon attorney at the Justice Department not to execute and deliver a grant of clemency to Mr. Toussie. So what happened?
Well, a senior administration official points to two pieces of information that came to light in news reports since the pardons were announced Tuesday. Specifically, the extent of the complaints against Toussie and political contributions made by his father to lead Republicans. The story in the New York "Daily News" laid out this information, reporting how Toussie stands accused of scamming hundreds of minority home buyers into purchasing overpriced homes. He's denied those allegations.
Toussie's attorney released a statement saying Toussie remains confident that a pardon will go through. The original application is now in the hands of the Justice Department, Joe.
JOHNS: All right, good enough, thanks so much.
Kate Bolduan in Washington, appreciate it.
COSTELLO: Making new year's resolutions during a recession is likely to mean some changes in your finances. Our Gerri Willis will be here with some advice on fixing your 401(k).
And a Wall Street scam worth $50 billion blindsides some well- connected investors. The latest victim in the Bernie Madoff scandal, charities now strapped for cash. It's nine minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: No matter how cold it gets outside, it's going to be nice and warm here in our studio. Let's depart central park, shall we? Check this out. We have our own roaring fire, our own yule log if you will. Just listen, can you hear it crackling?
JOHNS: Sure, exactly.
COSTELLO: And look --
JOHNS: Audio and video.
COSTELLO: It's amazingly realistic.
JOHNS: It's not a real thing. It's like holographic image of Christmas.
COSTELLO: Put your shoes back on! Too much eggnog over there.
JOHNS: Oh, man.
COSTELLO: After I-reports, the, we have to talk about our I- reports now. Well I-reports, that's not exactly serious stuff.
JOHNS: Not this one.
COSTELLO: Anyway, after I-reports of cars wearing big Santa hats and some amazing Christmas decorations, we've picked the winner of our I-report Christmas contest. Here it is. This is from Callahan, Florida.
JOHNS: It's just stunning, I mean literally.
COSTELLO: Tell folks what you said when the microphones were off.
JOHNS: I would say can you imagine having that across the street from your house?
COSTELLO: Or what if you lived there. Honey, turn off the house, will you?
JOHNS: Good grief. It's amazing.
COSTELLO: It's beautiful. And actually people can drive by and they have this FM station and you can tune to the FM station to hear the rock music and enjoy the lighting.
JOHNS: And what's the music, I mean it's some kind of Jimi Hendrix version of "White Christmas" or something.
COSTELLO: I feel like doing the head-banging.
JOHNS: Air guitar. It's probably on your list of new year's resolutions, balancing the checkbook. OK, we're going back to something a little more serious here. But where do you start?
Gerri Willis of course is here, once again Christmas morning, telling us now that we've gone out with our cards and everything and spent up all our money, how are we going to balance the checkbook?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: What can I say, I'm blogging this morning and people are talking about money on Christmas day. We're talking about what to do to protect yourself. I know you're concerned out there.
Let's talk about 401(k)s. So many folks are concerned about retirement. Will they have the money they need when they retire? All right. First things first. I hear from people all the time who are afraid to look at their 401(k) account balance. You've got to look. You absolutely need to have the information. Let's look.
COSTELLO: There's nothing you can do about it.
WILLIS: I'm not saying take action. And down 40 percent is the new normal. So if you look and you see numbers like that, that's absolutely fine. Do not freak out. This is what everybody is experiencing. But I've got to tell you --
JOHNS: Stay calm.
WILLIS: Stay calm. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying you got to take action, but I don't want you to sell everything right now. First off you need to understand what will I need when I retire. You can go to retirement calculators at cnnmoney.com. Fidelity has some great retirement calculators. This will give you an idea, what do I need, how much dough do I need to have on the day I retire so that I'll be comfortable. This will get you started. The bad news here, you're going to have to boost your savings.
Most of us, I have to tell you, it's going to be very tough after the year we've seen this year to retire the way we want to. If you are already in retirement, then it's really difficult. Pad your nest egg. Put some other money away. The 401(k)s are fantastic. Get the employer match if they're giving it. Some of them are not giving it any more. If they're not, also invest outside of a 401(k). You have more flexibility. You may pay lower fees, which is always fantastic. Some of these 401(k) fees are really, really high. This will also allow you to plug holes in your 401(k). Some 401(k)s, they don't have really good international options and everybody's got to invest, not just here in the states, but all around the planet.
JOHNS: I hear some of the companies are actually trimming the 401(k) matches down because of the economy and that's another issue, too, isn't it?
WILLIS: Just yesterday I think it was, Starbucks said we're not going to have a 401(k) match. Some 7 percent of employers have said, we're either trimming it or we're getting rid of it. So it's up to you now to protect yourself in retirement. I know that's not good news, but that's reality. You might as well know the reality this holiday season. So you can get prepared. And the good news is there are great vehicles to invest in. What I do is --
JOHNS: Gold.
WILLIS: Oh? I'll tell you the gold to invest in.
JOHNS: There you go, OK. Christmas is past.
WILLIS: Bah, humbug.
COSTELLO: There's a Grinch there.
JOHNS: All right, Gerri will be online with you all morning.
WILLIS: Keep talking, we're having a great conversation.
JOHNS: You just go to cnn.com/am and talk it up with those new computers you got for Christmas.
WILLIS: That's right and it's great stuff.
COSTELLO: Hey, should Washington politicians get a special treat or a lump of coal this Christmas? We're looking at who was naughty and who was nice this year.
Plus the risks and benefits of turning back the biological clock. In our ongoing series "Baby Quest," we look at older women trying to become mothers. It's 18 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: I know it's a good one, isn't it? Welcome back to the most news this Christmas morning. Call it the domino effect of the Bernard Madoff $50 billion Ponzi scheme. He's accused of ripping off a slew of investors and now those investors can't give generous donations to charities. One scam and so many victims.
Allan Chernoff discovered one community is bearing the financial brunt of all of this and on Christmas day, it's kind of a sad thing to talk about.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: It is, but in way it's appropriate because obviously, Christmas, this is the holiday time, time to be charitable. And the fact is, we've heard so many wealthy American Jews had millions and millions invested with Bernard Madoff. It turns out that many of these people are extremely charitable and they've given generously to organizations that benefit Americans of all backgrounds.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF (voice-over): City Harvest, picking up food donations, one of hundreds of daily collections that help feed one-quarter of a million New Yorkers of all faiths. City Harvest received $150,000 last year from the Picower family foundation, which is now closing its door because nearly all of the family's investments were with Bernard Madoff.
HEATHER WALLACE, CITY HARVEST: That's a significant blow for City Harvest. They were one of our top 10 funders. They've been a significant supporter of our work for nearly 10 years now and this is funding that's going to be difficult for us to recoup.
CHERNOFF: Clowns from the big apple circus visit critically-ill children, another program made possible through the Picowers and other Jewish philanthropists.
GARY DUNNING, BIG APPLE CIRCUS: We make about 280,000 bedside visits each year. Their money supported those general operations in 19 hospitals across the country.
CHERNOFF: The Picower Foundation, which has donated more than one-quarter of a billion dollars over the years may have been hit the hardest. But dozens of other Jewish charities and foundations have suffered millions in losses because of Bernard Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme. Like the Carl and Ruth Shapiro family foundation of Boston. It has given millions to improve health care, helping to fund the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, Brigham and Women's hospital and the Dana Farber cancer institute.
The Jewish community foundation of Los Angeles says it invested $18 million with Madoff. Last year it granted $14 million, to groups having no affiliation to Jewish causes, including a new support group for victims of gang violence in Los Angeles. MARK CHARENDOFF, JEWISH FUNDERS NETWORK: Unfortunately, the impact is going to be on the average American not for profit out there. And the fact that the American Jewish community gives disproportionately to their, you know, to their percent of the population, so unfortunately, the impact is going to be disproportionate as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: And the full impact may not be known for months, if not for years, as foundations see if they can recover some money lost from Madoff and his charities, seek new sources of funding.
COSTELLO: I guess the problem is that nobody knows where the money is, if there was any money.
CHERNOFF: There isn't much of any money left. But at least some is covered by insurance, securities investors protection corporation, half a million dollars, which is not a lot for some of these foundations.
COSTELLO: No. Not when they lost millions of dollars, Allan Chernoff, thanks.
JOHNS: Who's been naughty and who's been nice. When it comes to our politicians, does Santa automatically give a lump of coal for Christmas? We've got our own list and we're checking it twice.
Plus in 24 hours, Santa and his reindeer manage to circle the globe. But some airline passengers in Chicago couldn't even get out of the terminal. It's 25 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning on Christmas day.
You can bet plenty of politicians are waking up to a lump of coal in their stocking. So who's been good and who hasn't? Joining me now are two of our political contributors, Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman and Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez.
Thanks so much for you all coming in this morning. Leslie, I see that Christmas tree there, that thing looks great.
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I put it up just 10 minutes ago, Joe, we're ready to go.
JOHNS: Very well done, very well done.
Robert, so I guess I'll start with you, who's been naughty and who's been nice? Why don't you start out with the naughty ones?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: OK. First of all, merry Christmas to you, Joe, Carol and to Leslie. With Leslie, it's Christmas every day. In terms of naughty -- yes! SANCHEZ: Yes it is.
ZIMMERMAN: I'll tell you, there's demonic and there's naughty. Bernie Madoff made my demonic list. And when it comes to naughty though, I'm ranking Christopher Cox as number one, who is the chair of our SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, acknowledged that he and his agency were asleep at the switch during the greatest fiscal crisis since the great depression. Number two is the Tony Soprano of governors, Governor Roy (sic) Blagojevich, number three is Eliot Spitzer, the former governor of New York.
Now this being Christmas morning, I'm not going to get into that one. I'm not going to go there, but you can Goggle him.
JOHNS: That was pretty naughty, you got that right. OK, Leslie, so who gets a lump of coal?
SANCHEZ: Off that ledge, I'll just start with number one, John Edwards and we can basically say for some really -- poor thinking on his part. And it's always the denial, but basically the vice presidential candidate, not even vice presidential candidate, presidential candidate who was caught up in a swirl of publicity. Let's call it.
JOHNS: Why did he run, almost?
SANCHEZ: Why did he run? And it was really interesting, his wife was battling cancer. It was just really a very difficult situation I think that was difficult for a lot of people to accept. Number two on the list would be Bill Clinton. He always seems to make the naughty list. But in this case, I think it's more so for the aggressive tactics and probably the racial undertones that were part of his campaigning for his wife, Hillary Clinton.
So there was a lot of hurt feelings, many hurt feelings in South Carolina. He made this comment about Barack Obama and the fairy tale, trying to say he was claiming it was tied to his position on the Iraq war. But it still caused a lot of anxiety in the community, very bad for her campaign. And the third one I'm going to go a little different here and say the "New York Times" and the bias that it had against overall, all Republicans, but particularly -- John McCain.
JOHNS: Oh, we're going to have to give them equal time now, you know. I'm sure they would disagree very loudly?
SANCHEZ: What about you and your list? Your naughty list.
JOHNS: OK. Well let me think I mean, I thought about it long and hard. I figured Bernie Madoff, like Robert said, you know, he goes way up there on the top of the list. And I know I had the CEO, the American CEO in there somewhere. And I can't remember the last one. Does anybody remember who the last one was?
SANCHEZ: Blagojevich?
JOHNS: Ted Stevens. That's it. It was Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. Because he was convicted, for making false statements and such and sort of set off yet another uproar over Alaska politics. OK now so let's talk about who's on the nice list?
Robert, let's start with you.
ZIMMERMAN: Nice? I'm going to lead with Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Because of the humility they showed in victory. By acknowledging that 46 percent of the electorate didn't vote for them, yet they knew and they had to acknowledged they had to respect those voices and they wanted to listen in and include those voices in their new administration. Number two, she defied the pundits, they said she wouldn't do it, but Hillary Clinton stepped up and played the leadership role in uniting the Democratic Party and changing the direction of our nation.
So I think she certainly deserves great credit in terms of that. And that's why I put her at number two.
And for number three, let me just check my notes here? For number three, obviously forgive me I had to refer to my notes, Tina Fey and the cast of "Saturday Night Live," because they helped America laugh at this marathon presidential election. Also laugh at the media and ourselves during this enormous process.
And I have two honorable mentions, Leslie Sanchez and Ed Rollins, they make the nice list.
JOHNS: I got it.
ZIMMERMAN: No matter how hot the political debate gets.
JOHNS: That Tina Fey thing, some people put her on the naughty list.
OK, go ahead, Leslie.
SANCHEZ: No, I think my first choice would be Joseph Gow. He is the new and the first-ever Vietnamese-American to be in Congress. He beat William Jefferson in New Orleans. In a seat that Republicans haven't held since 1890.
JOHNS: Who could go on the naughty list himself, William Jefferson -
SANCHEZ: Well, definitely but it's an exciting effort. And he is an American hero. Second is Facebook. Facebook changed social and media with respect to political campaigns forever. And it opened a dialogue between voters and these candidates. And hopefully, it's something that will continue to see have a strong movement in the future. Republicans will learn to catch up in those efforts.
But third would be General Petraeus. He is somebody who took over a very difficult situation, you saw a decrease in violence in Iraq. It was the Iraqi commander who is now, who has stepped down. But also, you know, more Iraqi leadership in control. And I think overall history will favor him well. He did a very important job. JOHNS: Thank you so much. I'll be looking for you on Facebook, by the way, Leslie.
SANCHEZ: I better get that up today.
JOHNS: OK. And Robert Zimmerman, thanks both for coming in and talking to us on this holiday morning.
Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: That was awesome. It is 33 minutes past the hour on this Christmas morning.
Here are today's top stories. Another scary holiday flight, this one at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. American Airlines flight 1544 skidded off the runway while taxiing. It hit an icy patch apparently. The airline says none of the 54 passengers or five crew members were hurt.
And there are still some very unlucky passengers stuck at airports across the country. Including at least 70 who had to sleep on cots in the terminals of O'Hare in Chicago. What is with O'Hare? Hundreds of delays and cancellations over the past few days, still has air traffic backed up.
And Washington state's governor has declared a state of emergency, on the record snowfalls in that state. That's going to free cash to activate the National Guard to help with all the snow. And unfortunately, more rain and snow is in Seattle's forecast. And just when you thought it was too late to get that last Christmas gift -- FedEx has you covered, got your back. The company's domestic sorting stations are actually open for four hours this Christmas morning. Letting customers pick up packages that were late because of this week's horrible weather.
And speaking of horrible weather --
MARCIANO: Glad you didn't say horrible person.
COSTELLO: No, I didn't, I held off.
MARCIANO: You know, FedEx has quite an elaborate weather department. They've got a team of meteorologists that work feverishly trying to figure out the best route to get the packages there.
COSTELLO: They're doing a terrific job.
JOHNS: So why would you be running off to FedEx on Christmas morning? Aren't the presents supposed to be there? I mean they're like Santa?
MARCIANO: I don't know, this is capitalism and they need to make a profit, I'm sure there's a price to be paid to have it delivered on Christmas morning, right?
JOHNS: You're right. MARCIANO: You don't want to have the kids disappointed, that's for sure. All right. Let's talk weather now. Another disappointing day across the northeastern, a beautiful shot of New York as the sun comes up. That looks very similar to the one an hour ago. Assuming it's live. Yes, things are moving there. We've got the arrows moving and we got the weather computer moving as well.
So some graphic depictions of what weather across the country is going to look like. The blue hours with the line there, that's the cold front. It brought a lot of rain and snow across the northeast yesterday. It is now diving into the Atlantic Ocean. And we've got some wind behind it. So here's where we expect delays to be today. New York Metro airports, Boston, D.C., Philly, and Atlanta, Phoenix and Houston, may be a little bit of low clouds and fog.
Same with San Francisco and Seattle. Portland included in that. And even Las Vegas might see a little bit of snowfall. So the wacky weather continues out west for sure and places seeing a white Christmas that in some cases haven't seen them in decades.
43 in New York, there's still some snow on the ground, quite a bit last week. So even though temperatures have been well above freezing for the past couple of days, there's enough snow on the ground to keep it a white Christmas. Meanwhile, zero in Chicago. Some lake-effect snows will continue across upstate New York. And another couple of feet of snow expected for the mountains out west.
So if you're lucky enough to be stranded at let's say a ski resort for Christmas, it wouldn't be such a bad thing.
COSTELLO: No, that would be a nice place to be stranded. It would beat Chicago's O'Hare Airport. That's for sure.
MARCIANO: Nothing like a cot at O'Hare for Christmas.
COSTELLO: Yes, this Christmas eve, that would be fun. Thank you, Rob.
Coming up our special series, "Baby Quest" what some women are doing to roll back the clock on infertility. They're trying meditation, acupuncture, a new diet. Does any of it work?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Logs by the fire, we're going to have the whole crew out there. Welcome back and Merry Christmas. For many people starting a family is one of life's biggest blessings.
COSTELLO: I think they're starting to feel it.
JOHNS: I know. I can't read.
One of life's blessings. But sometimes having a baby the old- fashioned way just isn't possible. And infertility affects more than seven million couples here in the U.S. That's about 12 percent of the adults in their reproductive years. So all this week, we're looking at the ways people try to have a child, including using cutting-edge technology. We call it "Baby Quest."
COSTELLO: That's right. "Baby Quest." And today in part four of our series, rolling back the biological clock, herbal remedies, acupuncture and in vitro fertilization are just some of the treatments a lot of women try when they're beyond 40 and they're trying to have a baby.
Alina Cho shows us their chances of success.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe and Carol, it's become a familiar story, more and more women are delaying pregnancy because they're focused on other things, like their careers. Ten years ago, women who waited too long had to give up. But now with advances in reproductive technology and alternative methods, women are pushing the limits. And in many cases, having success.
MEREDITH KOLK, MOTHER OVER 40: Pictures of healthy children.
CHO: A treasure map to a baby? That's just one of the many things that Meredith Kolk tried. At 40, she longed for another child, but knew the odds were against her.
KOLK: You hear about so many of the statistics, that fertility really goes down at 40.
CHO: Did that freak you out?
KOLK: It did. It was very scary.
CHO: So Meredith turned to in vitro fertilization, hoping to increase her odds. She also used alternative approaches, meditation, acupuncture, changes in her diet and that treasure map that kept her focused on her goal. There are those people who think, this is -- a little nuts. A little crazy.
KOLK: They might, but the process itself makes you feel a little crazy.
CHO: What Meredith is going through is increasingly common. As more women, 40 and older, try to get pregnant.
DR. ALICE DOMAR, EXEC. DIR., CENTER FOR MIND BODY HEALTH: When I first got into the field, women over 40 weren't even encouraged to have treatment because they weren't going to get pregnant.
CHO: Dr. Alice Domar says times have changed. She runs the mind-body center in Boston that specializes in women struggling to get pregnant. Her research shows a medical link between stress and infertility.
DOMAR: If you can teach women stress management and relaxation techniques, their pregnancy rates on average double.
CHO: On this day, 39-year-old Sarah Weatherhead undergoes acupuncture. She believes being more relaxed could help her chances of getting pregnant, she's had IVF three times without success. And is waiting to hear whether the fourth time worked.
SARAH WEATHERHEAD, TRYING TO GET PREGNANT: I attempt to be very positive about it, but it's difficult, especially when I've had so many failed cycles.
CHO: Sarah is playing the ultimate game of beat the clock. In fact one study shows 33 percent of women are infertile by age 40. Increasing to 87 percent by age 45. Doctors say the best hope for older women is donor eggs.
DR. JANE RUMAN, INFERTILITY SPECIALIST: A lot of women initially are very reluctant to go down the route of donor eggs. Because they'll lose that genetic connection. The fastest way to get a child into your home is usually with donor eggs.
CHO: So successful, a few weeks ago, a 70-year-old woman in India gave birth. While no age limits are enforced in the U.S., most fertility centers maintain a cutoff between 50 and 55. What do you think you could offer now that you couldn't have offered as a 25-year- old mother?
WEATHERHEAD: I think I'm smarter, I like myself better.
CHO: Sarah is still hoping. And Meredith? At age 41, her family has just increased by two. When you were making that manifestation board, is this exactly what you pictured?
KOLK: If there was one baby in the original thought. But we were lucky enough to have had two. But yes, this is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Infertility experts say pregnant women over 40 do carry some health risks, like gestational diabetes, hypertension and in some cases, premature babies. But they also point out that the vast majority of older pregnant women deliver safely. And with life expectancy increasing some believe that the cutoff age at fertility clinics will only go up. So if 40 is the new 30 for pregnant women, soon 50 could be the new 40 -- Joe and Carol.
COSTELLO: You never know. While many people are turning to science to have babies, right now thousands of kids are in foster care in the United States and they're hoping to be adopted. Some agencies are turning to the web to help find families for children, including the Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange. They post videos of kids hoping for a new family.
Here's 14-year-old Steven from Michigan, telling his own story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN, AGE 14: I'm Steven, my favorite color, blue. My favorite food to eat is pizza, macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, hamburgers. I want a family, so I guess -- see what the world were of stuff and just, can have lots of company around me right now. And talk to them. And see what it's like having a mom and dad again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Now Steven is a great kid. I mean, he's laid back, he's -
JOHNS: Yes. He looks like a really good athlete, too. You get a little touch football in there.
COSTELLO: He's an excellent football player.
JOHNS: Probably organized football. This might be a scholarship athlete in the works.
COSTELLO: I think so. He's very comfortable around adults, and comfortable around children, too. And he's looking for a family with some structure. He'd prefer an African-American family. But look at him, what a handsome guy.
JOHNS: Yes. And he's in Michigan, so we've got get him playing for Ohio state.
COSTELLO: Because Michigan was not good this year.
(LAUGHER)
COSTELLO: If you're interested in adopting Steven, it's simple. All you have to do is go to this Web site, mare.org. You can learn more about Steven and you can also find a link at cnn.com/am. So Steven, there you go. Good luck, buddy. What a great kid.
Coming up tomorrow on our "Baby Quest" series, how hard or easy is it to adopt? A health survey shows thousands of couples are willing to adopt a kid over the age of 13. So what stands in their way? That's tomorrow right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Technology has brought more medical breakthroughs that you can count, but the latest has nothing to do with the cutting-edge surgery or latest medication. In the future, will doctor's house calls be just a mouse-click away?
Plus, too many parties, too many gifts to buy. Were the holidays just too much for you? Well, you're not alone. We'll tell you how you can beat those holiday blues.
It's 45 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Welcome back and Merry Christmas.
We're following some interesting medical news this morning, that could put you and your family a mouse-click away from a doctor. Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen is live with us in Atlanta this morning.
Elizabeth, you saw this technology firsthand. Give us an idea what it does, how it works?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Joe, I was actually a patient who used this technology, as you'll see in the piece. And I got to say it was a little freaky talking to a doctor on a video screen and having pictures of my tonsils beamed out. But we should all get used to it. Because this kind of medicine may be the wave of the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. So what are you here for?
COHEN (voice-over): Ashley Hall woke up sick this morning, so she went to see the doctor, but the doctor's not here, he's here, miles away from Ashley.
DR. BALDWIN, SEES PATIENTS VIA VIDEO SCREEN: Hi. I'm Dr. Baldwin. Can you hear me, OK?
COHEN: And he's being beamed into Ashley's examining room in the middle of a Wal-mart.
BALDWIN: Let's take a look at the path to the ears and throat.
COHEN: Welcome to modern medicine. It's cheap, it's quick, and some would say it's kind of impersonal. Ashley didn't have to wait even a minute.
DR. GLEEN HAMMACK, NU PHYSICS: We think it's going to have an important impact on how health care is delivered in this country.
COHEN: This is how it works. Joe Caranza (ph), a paramedic acts as the doctor's hand.
When Joe gets the tongue depressor in place, say ah for us.
COHEN: The images of Ashley's throat are sent to Dr. Boltinghouse (ph) who is across town in a high-tech studio.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it was pretty red.
COHEN: Total cost of the visit, $59, which is much less than a traditional office visit. But is it good medicine? Call me old- fashioned, but I want my doctor to be touching me and seeing me and talking to me face to face not someone on a monitor.
HAMMACK: Well, OK, since this may be the way medicine is heading. I decided to try it out.
COHEN: Where's the doctor. Oh, there he is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, good morning.
COHEN: Good morning.
A telemedicine doctor gave me a physical. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ah, stuck you tongue way out for me please.
Very good.
Listen to here lungs.
COHEN: It's a little weird. You're not right here.
The American Medical Association has standards on how to do telemedicine right, but no matter how it's done, it's a far cry from Norman Rockwell's illustration of the good old days of doctoring.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Now, most of the people who came to that virtual clinic they have coughs, and colds, or sore throats. And a lot of people also come in for school physicals. Joe.
JOHNS: It sort of adds new meaning to the notion of the house call, doesn't it?
COHEN: Absolutely.
JOHNS: But the most important thing here is, do they take insurance? I mean, do they?
COHEN: They don't take insurance. They don't take insurance. And actually most of the people who go here, they have insurance, but they choose to pay the $60 to go see the doctor rather than do like a $20 co-pay at their own doctor, they're willing to pay the premium for the convenience. Because with this clinic you just walk right in. No appointments, no nothing.
JOHNS: Right, is it less expensive?
COHEN: It depends what kind of insurance you have. For example, if your insurance is a $20 co-pay, then, yes, you're going to be better off financially than going to your own doctor. And it really depends on what kind of insurance you have, but it's about $60 to go see someone at this clinic.
JOHNS: Got it, great. Thanks so much. Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta. And Merry Christmas.
COHEN: Merry Christmas to you.
COSTELLO: All right. The holidays leaving you stressed out and maybe you're actually a little depressed. Well, how to beat those holiday blues. That's just ahead. It's 52 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED DUCK, CARTOON CHARACTER: It's just another workday, and anyone who thinks else should be boiled in his own pudding. DONALD DUCK, CARTOON CHARACTER: But sir, Christmas is a time for giving. A time to be with one's family.
UNIDENTIFIED DUCK, CARTOON CHARACTER: I say bah humbug.
DUCK: I say merry Christmas, merry Christmas.
MICKEY MOUSE, CARTOON CHARACTER: Well said, master Fred.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Truly the best rendition of a Christmas carol, don't you think?
You know, as you're opening your gifts. I know you're having a wonderful time this morning, at least I hope so. But some people are a little blue this time of year. They can't get past you know the memories of lost loved ones and such.
Dr. Jeff Gardere is a clinical psychologist here in New York. And he joins us this morning.
JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Good morning.
COSTELLO: For a positive take on the holidays.
GARDERE: Oh, absolutely.
COSTELLO: You can get over the holiday blues.
GARDERE: That's right, and it has to be positive because it is a time of celebration of life and spirit and it's too easy in these economic times to let it get you down. And a lot of folks are down about it, but you really can build yourself up and have a great time. That's what it's all about.
COSTELLO: And you know, it's really weird but you know as you drive through neighborhoods, you do notice less Christmas decorations.
GARDERE: Less Christmas decorations and if you go into people's homes, they're waiting until the last minute to buy the Christmas tree. And if they do buy it, it's one of the shorties. So you know that there are some other things going on for them emotionally right now. They are stressed financially too.
COSTELLO: Why at this time of year? You know, I seem to dwell on my brother who died many years ago -
GARDERE: Sorry.
COSTELLO: But I always think him this time of year and I miss him terribly, but I try to think of the happy things we did together and the better place he might be.
GARDERE: Yes. COSTELLO: Is that the secret?
GARDERE: And the secret is out. You put it out there. Absolutely. It is a time to celebrate those people who are no longer with us. We have to celebrate their memory, what it is that they were to us, and the fact that we had them on this planet, on this earth with us for the limited amount of time. That's what we look at as far as counting your blessings and I know we'll talk a little bit about that.
COSTELLO: Yes, let's count our blessings. Because you know if you're in economic stage (ph) your 401(k) is now a 201-k or worse.
GARDERE: Yes.
COSTELLO: Maybe your house has been foreclosed on. You've been laid off. I mean, you know it's just oh, my god. It's Christmas now.
So how do count your blessings? How do you find it within yourself to really do that?
GARDERE: Well, I think one of the things you have to do is get away from the materialistic stuff. And too often we've done that. We look at all the gloom and doom. Instead we should look at those things that are so special to us, that don't cost us anything. That is basic in our lives.
So one of the things I ask people to do at my dinner table and I've suggested it to a lot of my clients is at the holiday table, each person stand up and make a toast to what is important to you. And then what you do end up hearing, the theme is the importance of family and friends and health. And those things you don't have to pay a penny for.
COSTELLO: You know, it's wonderful to hear you say that. Because I worry a lot about the certain, the gifts that I get people. Will they like it? I mean, am I going to please them? Will my gift be like presentable to everybody assembled you know wherever I'm celebrating Christmas.
GARDERE: Yes, I'm sure.
COSTELLO: And truly that isn't really good for you.
GARDERE: Well, you know, the point that you're making here, it becomes more of our issue, the people giving the gifts. Are we good enough? Are we showing our love through the gifts? When the bottom line is, it's the thought that counts. And a lot of people these days now in this holiday season especially are happy to get the cards, taking the time to write things out. So whatever gifts you gave, I'm sure they're absolutely fine, because we know that you have a great heart.
COSTELLO: I do, and Joe, that Christmas sweater that I knitted for you. It's beautiful and it has a big reindeer on it.
JOHNS: Right. I'll wear it on TV.
GARDERE: He can dance on it actually.
JOHNS: We're on TV, I'm never going to live that down.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Dr. Gardere.
GARDERE: It's a pleasure.
