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Washington Airports Closed Down, Holiday Travelers Snowed In for the Night; Senate Clinches Votes for Health Reform Bill
Aired December 19, 2009 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Americans routinely living into their 90s? New research suggests that is in our near future. Good news on the surface, but what is it going to mean for the economy? The workforce? The health care system? Our Doctor Sanjay Gupta breaks it down, in "Fit Nation" report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is surely one of those good news/bad news sort of situations. I think most people when they are asked how long they want to live, a lot of people will say, it depends. What will my mind be like, what will my body be like? The good news is we are probably going to live longer. That's according to new data out from the Census Bureau and also the Social Security Administration.
As far as women go they expect that within the next 40 years women are going to start living on average to about 93 years old, where as men, about 86. Those numbers are good, especially if you're someone getting up there in years.
But there is also a cost associated with this. That's where the bad part of the news comes in, about $8 trillion by 2050. That's what it is expected to cost to take care of people who live longer, their health care expenses, population demographic, Social Security, retirement, all the things you might imagine.
As I mentioned it not really just about living longer it is about living healthier. And people think there is a huge health care cost associated with keeping people more functional as they get older. I can tell you as I traveled around the world, and written books on this subject, and followed the work of a guy named Dan Buettner, it doesn't have to be that way. There doesn't have to be huge costs associated with living more functionally.
What you're looking at now are shots of Costa Rica, for example. The reason we point out this place, and Dan Buettner does, is that it has the lowest rate of middle aged mortality anywhere on the planet. If you really go and try to investigate why that is, they say a lot has to do with their diet. A diet that is extremely high in anti-oxidants and extremely high in calcium, as well.
Another place you're looking at right now is Greece. Take a look, there, beautiful pictures. One in three people there live over the age of 90. They have very good life expectancy over there. And almost no one has dementia. Dementia is something we worry about so much. They don't get it. And, again, if you are really try to investigate why, some of it may have to do with the teas they drink, the type of food, again, lots of antioxidants. But also the fact that they walk just about everywhere.
But, again, the headline here, people in this country are going to be living longer. That's coming within the next 40 years. That life span is going to significantly increase. But there are lots of challenges with that that are already starting to be addressed. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Well, a lot of people are aging right now on the East Coast. That's why we're going to stay live this hour. No "SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer tonight, so we can continue coverage on the East Coast snowstorm. And also the health care storm that is raging in Washington, D.C.
I'm Drew Griffin at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Let's start in Washington where Senate Democrats are celebrating somewhat of a deal that apparently ensures passage of their health care reform bill. They say it made history.
Republicans call it a legislative train wreck. Nebraska's Ben Nelson was the holdout. He now says he'll vote yes, giving Democrats the votes they need to overcome a Republican filibuster of their health care reform bill.
In return, Nebraska's going to get some cash. And it is a major win for the party and the president, but there is still a lot of work to do. Our Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash is at the capitol tonight where I guess the senators are trying to scurry on home after they stopped their session this evening, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, temporarily scurry home.
You talked about Ben Nelson. The talks with him started at 9:00 or so yesterday morning. They ended at 11:00 p.m. With the handshake and then a phone call to President Obama who was on Air Force One.
And, you know, one Democratic senator involved in those marathon talks and talks all year long, trying to bridge the Democratic divide in the Senate, called it the hardest thing he's ever done.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice over): The lone Democratic holdout was in. Senate Democrats finally secured enough votes for health care.
SEN. BEN NELSON, (D) NEBRASKA: Change is never easy. But change is what's necessary in America today, and that's why I intend to vote for closure and vote for health care reform.
BASH: Getting moderate Democrat Ben Nelson's support wasn't easy, especially on the issue of abortion. To reassure him no taxpayer dollars would go for abortion, Democratic leaders struck a deal allowing states to opt out of abortion coverage; and requiring people getting government subsidies to pay for abortion insurance with separate funds.
NELSON: Walls off that money in a very effective manner and makes certain that the plans do not -- we use federal dollars -- we do not use federal dollars to fund abortion.
BASH: Abortion was the final sticking point, but Democratic leaders made several other delicate compromises to get both moderate and liberal Democrats on board. Instead of a government-run health care option, conservative Democrats opposed, the measure sets up not-for- profit private plans, overseen by a government agency, the office of personnel management.
To appease liberals angry about no public option to compete with private insurers, Democratic leaders strengthened regulation on insurance companies, requiring them to spend 80 percent to 85 percent of people's premiums on their medical expenses.
Not all senators who braved blizzard conditions came to celebrate a breakthrough. Republicans accused Democrats of jamming the bill through while Americans are preoccupied with Christmas.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: In playing these kinds of games with the nation's health care, this is an outrage, and needs to be called that.
BASH: To slow things down -
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amendments to Subtitle A.
BASH: Republicans forced the Democrats' compromise to be read.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two of subsection G of 45-R.
BASH: Out loud, all day long.
The congressional budget office estimates the Senate Democrats' new measure would cost $871 billion over ten years, slightly more than the original bill; and extend health coverage to 30 million people in part by dramatically expanding Medicaid. That was another obstacle in getting Ben Nelson's support who worried about the long-term burden that would put on state budgets. So to secure Nelson's vote, Democrats added a sweetener for his home state, the federal government would pay 100 percent of Nebraska's tab for expanding Medicaid, indefinitely. We asked the Senate majority leader and he described it this way.
SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MAJORITY LEADER: It is compromise. It is -- we worked on different things to get a number of people's votes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now how did Democrats pay for the nearly $900-billion price tag for this health care overhaul? Most of it is in - I should say about half of it is in spending cuts. Most of those are from Medicare. And the other about half is for -- from tax hikes. And one of the most notorious taxes that was originally in the Senate Democrats' plan, tax on cosmetic surgery including Botox, that's no longer there, Drew. You'll be interested to know it has been replaced with a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning beds.
GRIFFIN: That swap I didn't quite grasp. I guess the cosmetic surgeons have a lot more clout than the tanning booth people.
BASH: Bingo. You said it.
GRIFFIN: Let me ask you, we haven't talked about this, I want to drill down on this abortion issue.
BASH: Yes.
GRIFFIN: States can opt out and also abortions need to be paid for with private funds. That's the deal that Ben Nelson wanted. But if these additional people who have no health insurance get their health insurance through Medicaid and want an abortion how does this work?
BASH: Effectively how it works is if those people want to have health insurance coverage that includes abortion, then they have to foot the bill with their own money. And the way that this is devised is intended to make sure that money for that coverage is not spent with one dime of taxpayer money. So, if they are getting help from Medicaid or even some other way, tax subsidies, then they're just not going to be able to use that.
Now, I'll tell you, we're already hearing from the National Right to Life and many other anti-abortion groups who simply don't think that this goes far enough. And one of the people who says it doesn't go far enough is the sponsor of the measure in the House, the House restrictions are much stronger. It is one of the many things they have to negotiate between the House and the Senate, Drew.
GRIFFIN: All right, Dana, thank you for keeping track of that whole thing with us today and I guess tomorrow as well.
Let's go to the White House. Actually, Dan Lothian, our White House correspondent telling us not only the president's reaction, but will the president be able to get a bill he's going to be able to sign anytime soon.
Dan.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They're not throwing a big party over here, but certainly they saw what happened today as a big victory. And that's why the president decided to come out and talk about it, saying the bill represents big changes, some fundamental reforms that will not only save money, but save lives.
The president also praising Democratic leadership for pushing through with health care reform, even working around the clock, for making compromises that the president says has made the bill stronger. And then he laid out in clear terms what all of this will mean for Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Under this bill, a family will save on their premiums. Businesses that will see their costs rise if we don't act, will save money now, and in the future. This bill will strengthen Medicare and extend the life of the program. Because it is paid for and gets rid of waste and inefficiency in our health care system, this will be the largest deficit reduction plan in over a decade.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Of course, some Republicans have a much different view, one calling this a legislative train wreck. But the president believes that this was a major step forward, even as he was admitting that there is still a lot of work to be done, Drew.
GRIFFIN: A lot of work indeed. And a lot of selling to do over in the House. Dan Lothian, thanks for that report.
To reinforce what we're reporting, here is what happens next. The first vote on the 383 pages of amendments in the Senate is set for 1:00 a.m. on Monday morning in the Senate. And Democratic leaders are optimistic they can remain on track for a final Senate vote on Christmas Eve. That's their timetable. Once it passes the Senate, it is back to the House to reconcile what the House version that has already been passed, which has some major differences there. That will be something to watch.
The other big story of the day is the weather. Anyone on the East Coast trying to get their last-minute Christmas shopping done or traveling for the holiday are having to contend with one of the biggest snowstorms in decades.
Blizzard warnings are in effect from North Carolina to New England. Motorists stranded on interstates, flights are delayed, airports shut down, probably the worst is yet to come. Certainly heading for New York now, and then up to Boston.
What we do know is the storm has killed three people in Virginia. The state is urging everybody to stay home and stay off the roads. In Washington, Reagan National Airport is closed until at least tomorrow morning. The city's declared a snow emergency. And that means all vehicles must be removed from designated streets so they can be plowed. A collision between a bus and a snowplow sent nine people to the hospital with minor injuries.
Karen Maginnis tracking this all in the Weather Center. We heard from Susan Candiotti, she is comparing this or talking about the storm in 1922, the great -- they called it the Knickerbocker storm.
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That was the name of a theater. They had an intermission, and the folks came back from the intermission, and the roof of the Knickerbocker theater opened up. And 98 people were killed and others were injured.
GRIFIFN: Wow.
MAGINNIS: On the roof, they had gotten in the D.C. area about 28 inches of snowfall. And in some places 33 inches. Is this the kind of storm that is going to produce that amount of snowfall? It is going to rival it. It may not be that kind of a record. We may not shatter that record, but we'll come really close.
So this is going to shut a lot of things down. We already know that it has. For instance, the airports have suffered all across that Northeastern quarter. New York, not so much, not right now, but later on this evening, and in tomorrow, definitely. You're expecting people in or out, you really need to check with the airline. This is the big picture, all the way from Richmond, up towards Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston.
Boston, you're just now starting to pick up some of that snowfall. I want to show you a couple of these graphics in rapid succession. Where you see this red, all the way from the Appalachians, extending through much of Virginia, through most of Baltimore, into New York, Pennsylvania, and into New Jersey, portions of Massachusetts, all of these are winter storm warnings.
But there are some areas that have blizzard warnings, that includes all of Long Island, and the Cape Cod area, meaning you could see 60- mile-an-hour gusts, so you got the reduced visibility, you could see power outages, widespread power outages. And you could see up to 16 inches of snowfall.
Here are the temperatures, mostly in the 20s. You get that volume of cold air and moisture bumping into those temperatures. And you're going to see massive amounts of snowfall. Take a look at the snow we have seen so far.
Alexandria, Virginia, 14.5 inches of snow; 15 inches at Fredericksburg. And that's where Reynolds Wolf has been all day. He had this much this morning, Drew, and now 15 inches of snow. It is amazing.
GRIFFIN: Karen, thanks.
On the phone with us now is Sheila Dixon, the mayor of Baltimore. We have been watching pictures of Baltimore all day, people actually skiing down some streets there.
Mayor, thanks for joining us. I want to ask you how your city is doing particularly in keeping, or trying to keep the major thorough fares open.
MAYOR SHEILA DIXON, BALTIMOPRE: Well, we have been around the clock since 10:00 o'clock last night. We are in our second shift of people. We have 100 percent cooperation from the public transportation, public works, recs department, fire, police. We have all of our vehicles out. We have been mainly focused on the main corridors, as well as where we could secondary. We now -- earlier today the governor had declared the state of emergency within the state, so we have been around the clock. We will be doing this until the snow stops and then we will be able to focus on secondary streets.
We are in phase two, which means no cars are allowed on any of the emergency snow routes. And so -- we have all of our agencies are really collaborating to make sure we reach our most vulnerable population of seniors, our elderly, and folk have really stepped up and focused on getting through this.
GRIFFIN: The snow is a real pain and it makes for getting around difficult. But are you having any more serious problems with power outages, or homeless people not being able to get to a shelter?
DIXON: Well, we -- we're out. We have at our 24-hour shelter rooms available. We have outreach teams that are on the street to make sure that people have a place to go. We have had minimum outage. We have had one neighborhood about 400 houses that were out, but they had guaranteed by this evening to be back online.
As you know, earlier this week we had a huge water main break. That in two days has been phenomenal getting that back in place. We still have some people who are out of gas. But it is a small number of people. So, I mean, it is phenomenal how people have just stepped up as a team and working forth on this effort.
GRIFFIN: Mayor, one last question, not as serious, but certainly of interest is this football game tomorrow. At 4:15, 70,000 fans are supposed to go there and watch the Ravens play the Bears. I got to ask you right now, Mayor, is that going to happen?
Well, we haven't gotten word. We are making sure we have that area cleared away. We understand the Bears are having a hard time getting here. So we're still on stand-by if the game is going to go forth. We're going to have those streets, where the stadium is located, cleared away, so we can be prepared if it still happens.
GRIFFIN: Mayor, thank you so much. Mayor Sheila Dixon, battling the storm in Baltimore, Maryland, trying to keep the roads clear and telling everybody to stay off the roads while they do it.
We also have on the phone with us now Tara Hamilton, Reagan -- I'm sorry, we don't have her. We're going to go to Elaine Quijano who is just outside Reagan National Airport, which, by the way, is closed.
Oh, look, you went back inside.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I did. I did. The blood is thinned here in Northern Virginia. I'm from Chicago, originally, but I have to tell you it has been brutal all day long, drew. Outside the winds and the snow really have not let up since our first live shot around noon today. They actually, early on, because of the poor visibility, they decided they were going to stop accepting flights.
Now we're at the point where they have completely said, look, no flights in or out of Reagan National Airport until 6:00 a.m., at least 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. The runways here at Reagan National are shut down.
What does that mean? Well, folks here at the airport who thought perhaps they could catch that last flight out and beat this storm, they're out of luck. A lot of stranded passengers are basically bedding down for the night at Reagan National, trying their best to get comfortable.
And a short time ago, Drew, we caught up with one of those passengers, 19-year-old Georgetown University freshman who is trying to get home to New Hampshire. She seemed to be taking everything in stride. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is like the third time that I've even traveled in the airport by myself. So it will be interesting.
QUIJANO: Well, you seem to be in a pretty good mood, though, considering all the hassle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've gotten through the freaking out point and just kind of going with the flow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Going with the flow. That's what folks all up and down the East Coast are being forced to do. I can tell you nearby at Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia, it is a similar story, likely, where passengers are just not getting out. There is at last word there still was one runway that was operating at Dulles International. But, Drew, as you know, in these kinds of situations, it is going to be some time before airport operations really get back to normal. We're told at least another day or so before they can get all these folks finally to their destinations, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Elaine, thanks. We have Tara Hamilton on the phone with us now from Reagan National Airport, on exactly what Elaine was talking about, the what's next? If the airport is closed until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow, Tara, what happens when the airport opens?
TARA HAMILTON, SPOKESWOMAN, REAGAN NAT'L. AIRPORT: Actually we're closed at least until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow here at Reagan. And for your viewers, we just, after being open all day, out at Dulles International, we have just now closed the runways at Dulles as well for very similar reasons for our decision over here at Reagan National.
The storm continues, the snow is accumulating at just a very fast pace, so since we had so few flights already scheduled, we thought it was wise also to close at Dulles. We'll be treating the runways and working all night out there as well.
But to your question about what happens next, our challenge from the airport side is to make sure that we can get snow literally hauled off of the parking area, where the planes park at the gates. So when we are able to resume operations, the planes have somewhere to park once they land. We will, also of course be treating the runways and the taxi ways. We have a lot of work throughout the night to make sure we can open if not by 6:00, as soon afterwards as possible tomorrow morning.
But then the airlines, their job is then to get their aircraft repositioned and back to the Washington region. As you know, airlines made a very wise decision to get their aircraft away before the storm hits. So they wouldn't be stranded here in terms of their aircraft. Now they need to get them back.
GRIFFIN: And based on your history, once the airport opens and you're saying if it opens at 6:00 a.m., I guess that will be judgment call made as the storm moves through, but how long will it take to clear up the backlog, especially during this extremely busy Christmas season?
HAMILTON: Well, that's a challenge that our partners at the airlines are facing. We know that they have spent today rebooking passengers. They have been urging their customers to go to the airline website to see if they can get updated information about flights, if they were not able to fly out today. They're asking them just to go to the website to see if they have been rebooked by the airline, or if they can get information to do that themselves.
But you've noted a very good point. This is a busy week. We know the airlines have had very heavy bookings for the flights starting really yesterday through the week. So it is going to be a challenge all around.
GRIFFIN: All right, Tara Hamilton with the Reagan National Airport, there telling us that Dulles has closed for the night as well. So both airports that serve D.C. are closed. BWI, I've been checking, looks like almost every flight I can pull up has been canceled there. The entire area, really air traffic right now seems impossible. We'll keep you posted on all that.
It is not just the Eastern U.S. suffering through the bitter cold today. We're going to show you some stranded passengers in London. Eurostar service was shut down because of severe weather in northern France. It won't fully be restored until Monday at the earliest. Five trains making the run from Britain to France got stuck in the tunnel, that channel tunnel. More than 2,000 passengers were stranded. Some up to 16 hours, without heat or lights, until they were finally evacuated.
Shopping the weekend before Christmas is a little like being a mail carrier. Neither snow, nor sleet, nor hail is keeping most shoppers from the appointed rounds, but the blizzard is still a worry for retailers looking for any kind of spending surge. As we go to break, we're going to keep all that information for you on weather conditions around the country on the bottom of the screen. We're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)' GRIFFIN: That's Baltimore, Maryland, today. They're trying to clear the streets there, trying to have a Bears game there tomorrow, with the Ravens, and, man, the snow just keeps coming down. Next in the path is New York and New Jersey. Susan Candiotti is trying to track the beat of the shoppers. She's in Harold's Square in front of Macy's, I should say, in New York.
And John Bathke is in Hamilton, New Jersey, freezing, I'm told, John. We'll get to you in a second. But first let's go to Susan.
Susan, what is the last minute shopping situation in New York and are there worries that this snowstorm, especially on the heavily populated East Coast, could just throw a rock on the sales?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are worried, but nevertheless there have been a lot of people out throughout the day as we have seen. The snow now picking up. Temperature about 25, 27 degrees, and the snow, as I said, is starting to get a little bit stronger than it was before. But not sticking too, too much.
We're in Midtown Manhattan, as you said, in front of Macy's and a slew of other stores, talking to shoppers. I also want to tell you about a group that came by, a group of merchants, last year at this time, on this very corner, and they did it again today between 7:00 in the morning and noon time, and they held little clickers and they count the number of people coming out of this store, Macy's, on the corner here, how many shopping bags they have. Last year they said more than 12,000. This year, today, same time, same place, about 5,000, so half as many. They think it is because of the weather forecast. It might be scaring some people off.
But it didn't scare off these shoppers. We gathered a few people together. What is your first name?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Renee.
CANDIOTTI: Hi, Renee.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
CANDIOTTI: Did you find any bargains today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes, indeed. Filene's Basement, H&M, one of my favorites.
CANDIOTTI: Show us what you got. Or something, come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god. I'm going to show my party dress.
CANDIOTTI: You don't want to pull that out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something fabulous.
CANDIOTTI: Oh, you don't want to pull that out. We can't see that there. Here, what's this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A gift, a perfume set.
CANDIOTTI: There you go. OK. You're getting good buys. The weather, did it turn you off from coming out today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not at all. We're New Yorkers. This is what we love.
CANDIOTTI: You're used to it.
OK, well, you guys are out-of-towners.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CANDIOTTI: And love the hats, by the way. Very nice. The weather didn't slow you down any?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Didn't dampen our experience a bit. We're used to it. We're from western New York, Orian (ph), New York, south of Buffalo, and we love the snow. Bring it on, baby. We love it.
CANDIOTTI: OK. Did you bring on any bargains?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
CANDIOTTI: What did you get?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Popcorn.
CANDIOTTI: Popcorn? What kind of Christmas present is --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that's --you got to have it when you come here.
CANDIOTTI: OK. What about you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scarves.
CANDIOTTI: Scarves?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
CANDIOTTI: It look like you're all set for the season. We have one more here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just walked up. I'm from Gulf Port, Mississippi.
CANDIOTTI: You're not used to this weather for sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No no, no.
CANDIOTTI: How did you do? It didn't slow you down at all?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No way. We're here for the snow. Love it.
CANDIOTTI: Did you get any good bargains today? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We haven't bought anything. We're just walking. Eating, having fun.
CANDIOTTI: Uh-ho, this is not what the retailers want to hear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, sorry.
CANDIOTTI: As you know, Drew, this is a important weekend for retailers.
But look at, oh, boy. These guys are double-fisted shopper and a sleeping shopper, too. He made up, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She just fell asleep.
CANDIOTTI: You're out in the weather. Good for you. Happy shopping. Happy shopping.
We'll see how the rest of the evening goes. A lot of these stores are open very, very late. And retailers are saying even if they get plowed in tomorrow, at least the storm will stop in the next day or two, and there will still be time for people to get out to those malls. Back to you, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Susan, so right now it doesn't look like it is sticking too badly at all. Maybe that will help in --
CANDIOTTI: Not yet. Not yet. That could change overnight.
GRIFFIN: Speaking of night and day, let's go to John Bathke, he is in Hamilton, New Jersey.
John, what are the conditions out there right now?
JOHN BATHKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right here on I-95, we are freezing, Drew, to be honest with you. It is a very cold night.
You can see there say lot of snow. Of course, I-95 is the corridor for the Northeast and today we have met people who have been driving all the way from Florida on up to Maine. And they have been driving through this entire storm that is how determined they are to get to the holiday destinations.
As for I-95 right behind me, the speed limit has been reduced to about 45 miles an hour. The roads are in pretty good condition. The plows are going but you got to take it slow.
As for being out in this, well, now, that is another story. It ranges from rain to snow to sleet. And sleet, we've discovered, is the worst because it feels like about a thousand shards of glass pummeling your face, and that's not a good thing, Drew.
(LAUGHTER)
GRIFFIN: And is it sticking on the roadway yet, John?
BATHKE: Come again, Drew?
GRIFFIN: Is it sticking on I-95 there in New Jersey yet?
BATHKE: Sticking on the roadway? Yes. The trucks are out quite a bit salting and sanding, and that's helping it. But again, that speed limit's been lowered.
It's very interesting how the traffic also comes (INAUDIBLE) shifts. We sort of see almost nothing behind us for a while, and then all of a sudden, there's a lot of cars. And I'm starting to wonder if, with so many airports having canceled flights and some airports shut down altogether, if some people have decided, Well, we'll chance it and we'll just drive to where we want to go. And maybe that's why we're starting to see some more cars again coming through. I don't know if that's true, but I'm just wondering about that.
GRIFFIN: Yes, that was my question, too, John. We'll continue to follow that. But with all the airports closed, you've got to wonder if people are just going to try to make a run for it on these roadways, and that could be real trouble if this storm gets (INAUDIBLE)
BATHKE: It's certainly risky.
GRIFFIN: Yes. Thanks. John Bathke in Hamilton, New Jersey, thanks for that. Susan Candiotti in Herald Square in New York.
Well, Pope John Paul II lived an extraordinary life, but could it lead to sainthood? We're tell you what he still needs to do to join the exalted company.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Karen Maginnis, we just heard that Dulles airport in the D.C. area is closed now.
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Wow.
GRIFFIN: That makes two there. BWI I guess is still open, but I can't see any flights going in there.
MAGINNIS: You know, I was looking at that, too. This is Flight Explorer, and I was checking all of these flights. And for Reagan National, I saw zero flights anticipated for that being a destination. For Dulles, it looked like there were six flights. One of them -- or maybe two of them, one was Canadian -- looked like they were going to be these international flights that were expected to land there within the next hour.
Now having said that, and knowing that they have closed those runways, at least said there aren't going to be any more flights for tonight, I wonder where they are going to land. BWI, they're looking at snow. Visibility has actually come up a little bit. They were looking at an eighth of a mile, a quarter of a mile. Now it's about a half a mile visibility. But most of these flights are headed towards Atlanta. We've got Newark, JFK, Islip, also LaGuardia and even into Philadelphia. Philadelphia's OK for now, but later on, that weather really deteriorates. New York is fine for now, as well. And so we'll continue to monitor that.
Want to show you what's expected in the next 48 hours. Where you see this dark purple area, generally speaking, from just to the north of Philadelphia to near Boston, this is where we're expecting in excess of 20 inches of snowfall. Will New York City see in excess of 20 inches of snowfall?
Right around 15 inches. Look at this beautiful shot. I don't know what street this is. It'd be lovely if it were Park or 5th because those are wonderful places to go shopping in New York. But they are really going to be picking up the snowfall here within the next few hours or so, and it looks like 10 to 15 inches when it's all said and done.
It's going to be very blustery. JFK, LaGuardia already looking at kind of playing catch-up by tomorrow evening as far as flights are concerned. It's really going to be backed up for the rest of this evening and for tomorrow. This is a busy weekend. This is just terrible timing as far as these big nor'easters are concerned. And look at these snowfall totals -- Alexandria, Virginia, almost 15 inches of snowfall. We'll have to continue to monitor it, as we will. Drew, back to you.
GRIFFIN: All right, thanks a lot. You know, pictures are pouring in to us from our viewers on this blizzard of '09. We ought to give this thing a name pretty soon. Maybe some of you can help us with that. The whiteouts shutting down airports and roads all over the East Coast, but we're still receiving video from our iReporters. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: In the midst of this storm, a lot of you are sending in your iReports. Our Josh Levs has been getting them all, looking them over and giving us the best of, right, Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN: Pretty much, yes. But you know, only when it's safe to take these pictures, obviously. But a lot of people are (INAUDIBLE) people stuck in place. And what I like about these is it kind of helps paint a portrait of what's going on in a huge portion of our country today, people seeing these massive amounts of snow. Where are you stuck?
Let's take a look at some of the photos. We're going to start off with this iReport that came to us from Faizan Mazhar (ph). These photos were taken at Old Dominion Drive in Arlington, Virginia, just off of Lee Highway. Apparently, Faizan saw a lot of people sharing (ph) and warning other people and decided to join in on that action in that part of the city. And as we now, the weather in that area getting worse and worse. Look at those pictures! Man! It's been a long time since we've seen snow like that.
All right, let's look at these now. This (INAUDIBLE) coming from West Virginia, I believe. These are coming from -- yes, that's right, from Sherri Ellis. She's in Daniels, West Virginia. She took some pictures around her home. She says she was amazed by how much snow they got there. She could not believe it. Look at that Jeep. That Jeep is her mother's vehicle. All that snow is just outside their house.
She actually put a ruler in, in the next picture, just to show that it was at a foot-and-a-half when she was taking it. And as we know, a lot more expected after that.
All right, next one, Sophia Chumpitoz (ph) sent us these iReport photos. She's in Alexandria, Virginia. This photo's from right near her house. Now, when we look at it, it looks like a bunch of cars on the side of the road. But what says happened there is those cars were abandoned. They got stuck. There's actually a cab in there that someone just had to leave altogether, let alone whoever the passenger was in the first place. So they picked up and left.
Next one is probably the most beautiful one we've gotten all day, from Ian Bradshaw.
GRIFFIN: Oh, yes. I saw this one earlier. This is gorgeous.
LEVS: It's amazing, isn't it? These little -- they're called dales. Have you ever -- are you familiar with dales?
GRIFFIN: No.
LEVS: Dale ponies?
GRIFFIN: Chip and Dale, little gophers or whatever.
(LAUGHTER)
LEVS: That's right. The little chipmunks, whatever they are. We both have kids, can you tell? These are really pretty. These are a rare breed. And he says that these actually were brought over from England. This family brought them in 1999, and they're kind of used to some weather. They originally used them to take lead down from mines to the docks. They would carry a 200-pound man and hay bales through lots of snow. So given their background, apparently, ponies, they can take it.
And finally this, because I love it, Erica Anderson snapped these shots in D.C., a mailman trying to do his job. So look at the next picture. Someone comes along and helps push it, since it got stuck. You got a little dual action going on there to help us all get our mail just in time for Christmas. Got to love that beauty.
And you know what? I'm going to take a few more seconds here because this is where we're getting a lot of pictures at iReport.com. And since we have the time, take a look at this one. I think you're going to like this a lot. This comes to us from Javier Garcia (INAUDIBLE) dog meets the snow. He went out for a walk in the Washington, D.C., area and he saw this dachshund having a great time.
So you know what? A lot of great photos here. I also want to tell everyone, since I'm up there, that throughout the day, we've had links posted to help you, and they're up at my page. You can see here. This is CNN.com/josh, FaceBook and Twitter. What we've gotten for you -- it's at Joshlevscnn for FaceBook or Twitter -- we have links to all these Web sites that give you the absolute latest on flights all over the country, road conditions all over the country, and also how you can send in your stories safely. So if you want to get involved and you want to use those links for your own benefit, even if you're stuck in the airport right now, pull out the little handheld Web, whatever you got, should be some help to you in planning out your trip -- or not.
In the meantime, you know, let us know where you're stuck this holiday and we' will continue to share them right here with you, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Thanks, Josh. I'm always amazed at how good the quality and the composure of these pictures is. Our iReporters are really good.
LEVS: Yes, they are, the ones we show you, anyway.
(LAUGHTER)
GRIFFIN: Oh!
LEVS: I'm just kidding! We get a lot of good ones.
GRIFFIN: Appreciate it. Thanks.
Well, all this snow keeping a lot of people indoors this weekend, but you know, there's a lot of people on the job, trying to make it possible for us to go where we need to go. We're going to take you along for the ride next.
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GRIFFIN: You know that white stuff falling out of the sky, sticking on roads? Well, somebody's got to plow them so you don't get stuck in it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this is a profession that you like, I would like to do it. I've been doing this since I'm 21. I am now 30 years old. I hope to retire doing this at 54.
Basically, what I -- I'm the lead truck. I take the fast lane or the shoulder to the fast lane. My next truck will break off of my right tire, and he'll pick up what I carry over, and then everybody will pick up after everybody. And eventually, we will push all the snow over to the right.
See? See that? See the wipeout?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I just did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he was going too fast. He hit a spot that wasn't really plowed that good. And we see that a lot. That's the ones that think you still can do the speed limit or above. They have that four-wheel drive, they think they're invincible. I mean, he'll get back out of there, but you can see after that, it scared him because he slowed down. Now, if that was ice, he'd have been still over there. You would have had to get the tow truck to get him out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Every 8-year-old boy's dream to plow with one of them big daddies.
Well, hey, the only heat at the global warming summit in Copenhagen happened on the inside because outside, it was freezing there. And there was a lot of heat. Let me set this up for you. There was a meeting going on and the U.S. press wanted to get a picture of that meeting but were refereed away or shooed away by some officials there until Robert Gibbs steps in -- he's the president's press secretary -- and tried to get in the U.S. press. Take a look at what happened.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Here's a look at our top stories. Brutal winter storm blasting parts of the East Coast, up to 20 inches predicted from the mid-Atlantic states to New York, strong winds creating near whiteout conditions in many areas, authorities asking drivers to stay off the roads, if possible, because it's almost impossible to travel on them.
Check your medicine cabinet. Procter & Gamble is recalling some Vicks Dayquil cold medicine. The recall affects about 700,000 packages of Vicks Dayquil Cold and Flu 24 count liquid caps. It's not because of the medication, it's because the government says the packaging is not childproof. So if you don't have a child, it's OK.
President Obama calls the climate agreement reached in Copenhagen a breakthrough for action, but he says more must be done. President Obama brokered a deal with China and other key nations that requires more transparency in climate change actions. Remember that, transparency, because while he was in Copenhagen, President Obama met twice with Chinese leaders. China has been criticized for holding up the talks.
Just before their private meeting began, there was a chaotic scene. U.S. reporters were blocked from entering the room by a crush of Chinese media and Chinese security. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs tried to get them in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I got to get my American guys in. I got to get my American guys in because everybody else got in.
(CROSSTALK)
GIBBS: No, no, those guys didn't get in. They didn't get in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no. GIBBS: All right? My guys get in, just like your guys got in. This is a joint meeting. My guys get in, or we're leaving the meeting. These guys get in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But there's already American press in the room already.
GIBBS: Huh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No, I did not get in. I did not get in.
(CROSSTALK)
GIBBS: This guy didn't get in. Come on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Remember, transparency is what we're after with China here. Only one American photographer was allowed in the room. No U.S. reporters were given any access.
Well, spend less and give more, part of a growing movement this year. We'll tell you about that ahead.
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GRIFFIN: Christmas is less than a week away. If you haven't finished your shopping, consider this. Thousands have joined a growing movement that encourages people to spend less and give more. Here's Christine Romans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Ken and Joanne Hawkins and their four kids, the family that prays together shops together.
JOANNE HAWKINS, ADVENT CONSPIRACY PARTICIPANT: Christmas has always been very chaotic, a lot of shopping, a lot of wrapping and craziness. And then January would come around, and it would be this whole letdown.
ROMANS: But that's changing this year. The Hawkins family has joined a growing Christian movement that calls itself the Advent Conspiracy, a conspiracy that boils down to this: Conspire to give fewer, more thoughtful gifts and put the savings to a good cause. This recession has made the message resonate. This clip promoting the true meaning of Christmas has gone viral, more than a million views on YouTube.
Here in St. Louis, pastors gather for a briefing on how to join the Advent Conspiracy and get a pep talk from professional baseball player and devotee Albert Pujols (ph). More than a thousand churches have signed on.
GREG HOLDER, CO-FOUNDER, ADVENT CONSPIRACY: We're seeing a variety of different church types -- mega-churches, house churches, mainline established churches. It's crossing a variety of lines because we're remembering what we have in common, and that's the story of Jesus and this longing that each of us has to make a difference.
ROMANS: The Hawkinses' pastor is hoping his parishioners will think before they buy.
REV. JONATHAN MITCHICAN, CHURCH OF THE HOLY COMFORTER: We're not saying, you know, Don't buy anything. But spend less. Buy one less gift. Don't go into debt. Buy less, worship more.
ROMANS: The church has held seminars and make-your-own-gift workshops, raised money through its annual bazaar. Sermons have focused on the movement's four tenets: worship fully, spend less, give more, love all. The Hawkins family is trying to do just that.
HAWKINS: It's not about things and the commercialism of Christmas. It's not saying that we're not going to get any gifts. Of course, we're going to get gifts. But we're going to spend less. We're going to really look at what -- how we spend our money.
ROMANS: Of course, devout Christians every year decry the commercialism of their holiday. The question is, does the Advent Conspiracy still resonate once the recession is finally over? Christine Romans, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Balancing faith and finances, Christine Romans explores how we worship and how we spend "In God We Trust: Faith and Money in America." That airs tonight here at 8:00 PM Eastern, only on CNN.
