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American Morning
START Treaty Nears Finish Line; Tensions Rise in the Korean Peninsula Over New Military Exercises; Spiderman, The Mishaps; Protecting America's Food Supply; A First Responder's Fate; Healing Service Dogs
Aired December 22, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Wednesday morning to you. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. It is the 22nd of December. I'm John Roberts.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Three more days --
ROBERTS: Until --
COSTELLO: Santa comes.
ROBERTS: Oh, until Santa Claus.
COSTELLO: Oh, that. Yes.
ROBERTS: Oh, yes. Well that.
COSTELLO: I'm Carol Costello in for Kiran Chetry this morning. There's a lot going on, so let's get you caught up.
In just hours, history could be made. The Senate poised to pass the president's new strategic arms deal with Russia. It looks like enough Republicans are now onboard, but no one is going home for the holidays, not yet. Still on the agenda, a highly-charged 9/11 first responders bill that could face a critical vote by tonight.
ROBERTS: Wild weather, powerful storms leading to major floods and several feet of snow accumulation. We'll show you the areas that were hardest hit. We'll also update the travel situation in Europe, which has been at a virtual standstill.
COSTELLO: Yes, so Merry Christmas, huh?
And the Huskies stand alone. The UConn women's basketball team setting a new NCAA record for its consecutive wins. What an amazing game. This is, of course, their 89th straight victory. It breaks the UCLA men's team back in 1974. Maya Moore, 41 points.
ROBERTS: Yes, it's too bad she didn't contribute last night. You know, 41 points.
COSTELLO: A slacker. She's amazing. We're going to hear from UConn's coach who got a special phone call right after the game. ROBERTS: Up first, the president's strategic arms treaty with Russia. It's all but a done deal this morning with 11 Republicans joining Democrats. The Senate voted yesterday to end the debate and bring START to the floor for a final vote. That is expected to happen today. And it looks like it has enough support to pass.
COSTELLO: And guess what? Surprise, surprise, the Senate has been getting a lot done in this lame duck session. It's been anything but lame, actually. It extended the Bush-era tax cuts. It passed the spending bill to keep the government running through March. And, of course, it repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the military's ban on openly gay soldiers. Senators also defeated the Dream Act, an immigration bill designed to provide citizenships to thousands of children of undocumented immigrants. With all of that behind them, there's still some last minute business to get done, like whether or not to fund health benefits for 9/11 first responders and, of course, officially ratify the new START treaty.
ROBERTS: The president got the START agreement done with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev back in April. That turned out to be the easy part.
COSTELLO: Yes, getting enough support for the arms deal here at home proved a lot more challenging and required a lot more arm twisting. More on that from White House correspondent Dan Lothian.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Carol. Well, you know, this whole agreement would not have taken place without the support of Republicans. One of them Senator Lamar Alexander said that Americans are much safer and more secure with the new treaty than without it. The bottom line here, the White House worked very hard to get what now appears to be a very big win.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN (voice-over): The apparent START treaty victory for President Obama didn't come easily. After months of debate and reviews, enough Republicans finally said they'll come onboard.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Senators have gotten the information that they've needed.
LOTHIAN: There were also endorsements by foreign policy heavyweights from both political parties.
(on camera): It was less about providing more information and more about sort of just big names endorsing this?
GIBBS: No, I think this is -- I think whenever you have somebody like Jim Baker or George Shultz, or Henry Kissinger to senators on Capitol Hill about what they see is the benefit of the treaty, I think that helps -- that helps the treaty.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): Helping too, President Obama worked the phones, making what Gibbs characterized as a lot of phone calls to sway skeptical senators. While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was willing to release her phone list, the White House declined to make public the names of specific senators Mr. Obama called, raising questions about possible anonymity for Republicans trying not to look like they were being strong armed by the White House. On that point, Gibbs took a pass.
GIBBS: I -- you'd have to ask them.
LOTHIAN: Even before the president has a chance to celebrate, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who opposes ratifying the START treaty took a swipe.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: Our top concern should be the safety and security of our nation. Not some politician's desire to declare a political victory and host a press conference before the first of the year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: A spokesman for Senator McConnell says that he was referring to the president on that point but was speaking broadly about Democrats who are eager to get attention. Nonetheless, some strong words in this START debate. Again, by our count, it shows enough Republican senators say they'll embrace it -- John and Carol.
COSTELLO: That's right, he was just speaking broadly. Didn't really mean the president.
After the Senate votes today on the START treaty, the next order of business will be the 9/11 first responder health care bill. It would provide free medical care for hundreds of men and women who rushed to the twin towers on that terrible day and are now suffering health problems because of it nine years later.
The first bill's price tag, in case you're wondering, $6.2 billion. And the fast track it's on now has some Republicans balking, like Oklahoma's Republican Senator Tom Coburn. He says he will try to block it claiming it's overly generous, that it fails to consider existing benefits and past payments to first responders. He believes it will create a $3.2 billion health care entitlement while wasting $3 billion on unnecessary or duplicated compensation.
ROBERTS: 308,708 (ph) million, rather -- let's try that all over again.
COSTELLO: That would be a very tiny population.
ROBERTS: It would be large for some countries. Let's try that again. 308,745,538 and counting. Initial results of the 2010 census show the U.S. population has grown nearly 10 percent over the last decade to nearly 309 million people. The census reveals a continuing shift in population and political power to the south and the west. As a result, eight states are going to gain seats in Congress, and 10 states, including New York, are going to lose them.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about the weather now, shall we? Because there's a state of emergency in effect in parts of southern Nevada this morning. More rain is in the forecast today. And as you look at these pictures, yes, that's a road. Looks more like a river, doesn't it? Emergency crews working to protect vulnerable areas around the Virgin River, which is expected to crest today.
ROBERTS: In Colorado, another two to three feet of snow is expected to hit the central mountains today. That's on top of the two to four feet that fell over the weekend. Skiers are loving it. Obviously, cutting fresh powder through the glades. So far it has snowed 17 days this month.
COSTELLO: Makes it look like so much fun. But in Europe, it's anything but fun. Well, you've heard about all the major delays and cancellations at various transit hubs. The biggest problems, of course, at London's Heathrow airport. But there is some good news this morning. A second runway is now open. Train service is getting back to normal, so your loved ones may be getting home sooner than you thought.
ROBERTS: It took what? About four or five days to open that second runway.
COSTELLO: Yes.
ROBERTS: In Denver, it would have taken four or five hours.
COSTELLO: I know. And it wasn't even that much snow.
ROBERTS: No.
COSTELLO: Wimps.
ROBERTS: Whoa. How about they're just not used to that much snow?
COSTELLO: Oh, wimp.
ROBERTS: How long will these powerful storms continue to hang around? Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center for us today.
COSTELLO: It was three-and-a-half inches of snow, wasn't it?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Carol Costello calling out our friends across the pond there. I see what you're doing.
COSTELLO: Wimps.
MARCIANO: Yes, I hear you. They just don't have the resources. They chose not to spend the money on the resources. It just doesn't happen that often and you're right, they just don't care as much.
COSTELLO: Listen, I can call them wimps because I live in Baltimore, Maryland. And when we get three-and-a-half inches of snow, everything comes to a standstill, as well.
ROBERTS: So are there wimps in Baltimore, as well?
COSTELLO: Yes, they're wimps.
ROBERTS: Oh, my goodness.
MARCIANO: In the end, everybody wants a snow day.
ROBERTS: I'm going to take my leave while this calms down. I'll be back in a couple of minutes.
MARCIANO: Every settle down.
COSTELLO: Hey, baby, I'm from the snow belt.
ROBERTS: I grew up in Canada. Hello. You want to talk snow?
COSTELLO: Then you should understand the wimpy factor.
(CROSSTALK)
MARCIANO: It's the season. Merry Christmas.
Looking at rainfall continuing across California. But today is going to be probably the last day. Unfortunately, it's the strongest day, I think, that we're going to see rainfall.
Look at the radar. It is completely filled in from San Francisco all the way down to San Diego. So that's an indication that the back half, the parent storm of all these storms that have been rolling through is beginning to come through.
The problem today is that there's so much energy and cold air coming with this. We're not only going to see heavier snows in the mountains, but we're going to see the potential for thunderstorms, some of which could be severe. And obviously the brighter colors you're seeing here on the radar scope is indicating the amount of instability and moisture that we'll probably see more in the way of flash flooding. So we've got a hairy 18 hours to go here. And then once we get through it, I think we can breathe a bit of a sigh of relief. But today is going to be nerve wracking to say the least for everybody down, especially in SoCal, emergency responders and the like.
An additional two to four inches potentially. Southern California, southern Nevada in through Arizona, as well. And we showed you the problems they're having in Arizona. Utah had some problems, as well. And, of course, the snow at the higher elevations, avalanche danger very, very high.
Light snow moving across parts of Michigan, moving into Detroit if you're traveling there today. And the snows have moved out of New England. But breezy conditions continue across the northeast and it will be chilly. I don't think we're going to see much in the way of an Indian summer across anywhere in the country for this Christmas. And some folks will see a little bit more in the way of snow for a white Christmas as the storm from the west coast makes its way to the east coast. We'll talk more about those chances, John and Carol, in about 30 minutes. ROBERTS: We assume some of that snow may be dumped in the snow belt of Baltimore, Maryland.
MARCIANO: They may get an inch of snow in Baltimore, Carol.
COSTELLO: We'll never get home.
MARCIANO: We'll see how your people react then.
COSTELLO: I know how my people will react. It won't be good.
Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about the Korean Peninsula because tensions there are rising as the South moves forward with those live military exercises.
ROBERTS: Yes, the exercises were planned last year. Leaders say they're not a response to the North's deadly shelling of the island of Yeonpyeong. Last week's exercise bringing both sides to the brink of war. The South also planning additional drills tomorrow. The army says more than 800 military members are going to join in the exercise along with fighter jets and anti-tank missiles.
COSTELLO: Kyung Lah is live in Seoul, South Korea. Have the exercises started yet?
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They haven't. They're scheduled to start tomorrow afternoon. And we're starting to feel the temperature rise here on the Korean Peninsula, Carol. Right after, this region really was breathing a sigh of relief after those naval drills were over.
So what exactly is this? The South Korean army says that this is the single largest land and air live-fire winter drill that this country has ever seen. And the scope of it is quite remarkable. Some 800 military personnel. Some 100 types of weaponry, including anti- air tank missiles and anti-aircraft guns. There are also six fighter jets. And so the concern here now is now that the region is starting to breathe that sigh of relief, what's going to happen? Is North Korea going to use this, John and Carol, as a reason to perhaps respond again?
ROBERTS: Well, Kyung, what is the reason why South Korea is going ahead with these drills given the fact that the tensions are so high there on the Korean Peninsula?
LAH: Well, we did reach out to the office of the president here in South Korea and asked that exact same question. Why would you move ahead when it seems like all the tensions have passed, when things are starting to settle down?
And what the Office of the President is saying is that to cancel now on something that was regularly scheduled, something that they had planned a year ago would look more strange. And they also do not want to be seen as bending to North Korea's will. And when I asked, well, was it ever a discussion? Did you ever have on the table that you might cancel this simply for the sake of the reason to try to keep peace in the peninsula, they said that that was an option that was never on the table.
ROBERTS: Kyung Lah for us this morning in Seoul. Kyung, thanks so much.
A record-setting night in college basketball. The UConn women's basketball team winning its 89th straight game. They beat Florida State 93-62 to break the previous NCAA mark set by the UCLA men's team back in 1974. Following the game, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma got a special call from one of the team's biggest fans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENO AURIEMMA, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT HEAD COACH: Mr. President, I really appreciate that. It's an incredible thing that these kids have done. And we owe you a little bit of gratitude. That lesson you gave them on the White House basketball court really paid off. So I appreciate you doing that for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The Husky star player Maya Moore scored a career-high 41 points in the record-setting win. And in case you're wondering the last time the UConn women lost, April 6th, 2008.
COSTELLO: Some of the women on the team have no idea what losing is like because they've never lost a game.
ROBERTS: Nor do they want to know. Nor to do they want to know.
COSTELLO: What lesson did -- what lesson did President Obama teach them on the court? Because I see him like --
ROBERTS: How to score 41 points in a game, how to jump 21 inches high.
COSTELLO: You think President Obama --
ROBERTS: Two inches shy of the NBA average.
COSTELLO: I think they showed President Obama that, not the other way around.
ROBERTS: You're in enough trouble with people in the U.K. this morning. I'd kind of tone it down a little.
COSTELLO: OK. OK, Merry Christmas. I'm ready.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, the show will go on. Have you heard about the show "Superman" on Broadway? It's insane. Another performer seriously hurt. He was taken to the hospital. Yes, the show will go on, but what safety measures do they have in place so this doesn't happen again? Look at the latest calamity to strike Broadway's most expensive production ever.
ROBERTS: The McRib (ph) pays off big for one man who was down on his luck. We'll tell you why he could now be set for life.
COSTELLO: And as you know, it's one of the busiest travel times of the year. But bad weather is making it difficult to get around this holiday season and that includes in our own country too. So what rights do we have if we get stuck in the airport? We'll tell you after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: You might call it Broadway's high-wire act, but "Spiderman" -- it's actually the most expensive Broadway show ever, $65 million. It's insane. But it -- it seems to be haunted by this string of calamities, and -- and the opening night curtain hasn't even gone up officially yet.
ROBERTS: No, and the calamities go all the way back to 2005, really. This latest incident involving a performer who was seriously injured in a fall during Monday night's preview.
Alina Cho is here this morning and she's following developments for us.
COSTELLO: Now, we just saw it there.
ROBERTS: Terrible to see that guy -- he -- you know, he leaps off the edge of I guess what's supposed to be a bridge --
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right.
ROBERTS: -- there, and everything's supposed to happen properly, but, for some reason, the cable snaps or lets go and --
CHO: That's right and you --
ROBERTS: -- he plunges into a pit.
CHO: Can you imagine if you were in the audience? They heard a scream and then all of a sudden someone yelled, "Call 911." Obviously -- and they knew something was wrong. They thought initially that the show would go on, but they canceled it for the evening -- rightfully so, by the way.
But you're right, Carol, $65 million. "Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark" is Broadway's most expensive show ever. It certainly is getting a lot of attention, but not for the right reasons.
Today's matinee is canceled, but tonight's performance will go on as planned after actor Chris Tierney, as you can see in that video there, seriously injured himself when he fell as much as 30 feet into the stage pit.
COSTELLO: So he fell into the -- the pit of the stage --
CHO: Into the -- into the orchestra pit.
Apparently, as you mentioned, John, a cable attached to him snapped during Monday night's show. The Actors Union says human error is to blame and what they're saying is that it's essentially akin to packing your own parachute that you, as the actor, have to do the final check.
Now, as you mentioned, this is not the first time that this has happened. Tierney is actually the fourth actor to be injured in the production, which has been fraught with problems. The injures, the ongoing technical difficulties, financial troubles, and let's not forget there have also been issues with the show's story.
So a lot of problems and, you know --
COSTELLO: Issues with the show's story, in -- in effect it's not a great story either, right? That's the problem.
CHO: Well, I mean, you know, as a friend of mine who recently saw it said, it's -- it's a little like the JV version of Cirque du Soleil, you know, with a lot of technical problems.
Yes, they're working on it. And -- and, you know, all of this has contributed to major, major delays. I mean, there have been four delays in all. The latest we're hearing now is that the show will now premiere in early February. That's one year late.
And the show's continuing troubles have already been the butt of jokes on "Saturday Night Live," as you can see there, on "Conan," as well. I mean, it's really an easy target.
And all of this, guys, is so surprising considering the big names attached to the production -- Bono and The Edge of U2 were the song writers. Tony Award-winning Julie Taymor of "The Lion King" is the director.
Now, Taymor did release a statement last night saying, quote, "Nothing is more important than the safety of our Spiderman family and we will continue to do everything in our power to protect the cast and crew."
COSTELLO: Which is a -- which is a great statement, but four actors have been hurt, and this -- this latest injury is pretty serious. I mean, he's in the hospital.
CHO: He -- he is in the hospital. He's in serious condition.
And -- and, you know, it begs the question -- I mean, where are the safety checks? You know, if -- if you're packing your own parachute, if you will, before you go on to the show, where are those additional safety measures? And, right now, the Actors Union, as you might imagine, is talking to management and even the Labor Department --
ROBERTS: I'm sure.
CHO: -- of -- of putting those extra safety measures in place.
We don't quite know yet what those are, but you can bet that they're working on it.
ROBERTS: You know, this -- this whole thing had an ominous beginning. I was saying that the troubles go all the way back to 2005. That's when Tony Adams, who was the original producer --
CHO: That's right.
ROBERTS: -- had a -- had a stroke over at The Edge's apartment as The Edge was about to sign the contracts, you know, for his and Bono's participation.
CHO: That's right. And -- and the actors who originally signed on are not in the show. I mean --
ROBERTS: And -- and he died -- he dies in the hospital as well.
CHO: Oh, that -- that (INAUDIBLE).
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: He died in the hospital.
CHO: Well, I mean, it's -- it's been, like I said, the curse of -- the curse of "Spiderman," I mean -- and -- and, you know, we're all still waiting, particularly in New York and particularly you think this time of year, a lot of tourists are in town. They want to go see a Broadway show. Nothing is getting more attention than "Spiderman" right now. It is in previews.
When it'll open is still anyone's guess.
ROBERTS: So like the one thing it's got going for it, though, is it's sold out, literally every night.
CHO: You -- I can bet.
ROBERTS: Despite the problems with the technical stuff and the story and all that, people want to see it.
CHO: You can bet it is sold out.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Alina.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Well, jackpot at the end of the Golden Arches? See how a man at McDonald's -- or a meal at McDonald's, rather, turned into $1 million for one man.
COSTELLO: And protecting the nation's food supply. Congress approves sweeping new changes to our food laws. So what the heck does it mean? Christine will serve you up the details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Here's some of the stories that had us talking in the newsroom this morning.
A couple of guys busted after they broke into 50 Cent's Connecticut mansion.
COSTELLO: I know this isn't funny but I love this story.
ROBERTS: The police -- one suspect was found in a closet drinking wine.
COSTELLO: Was it Boudreaux?
ROBERTS: Imagine it was, you know, with his money it was something probably rare and expensive. Securities say they were alerted after an unidentified car was spotted in the driveway. The suspects allegedly entered through an unlocked door. They also had marijuana on them.
COSTELLO: Oh, gosh. You're kidding.
ROBERTS: No.
COSTELLO: The military video game "Call of Duty: Black Ops" has just topped the billion dollar mark in sales. I guess it's pretty popular, huh? It's been out for six weeks, can you imagine?
The manufacturer Activision says users have collectively logged more than 600 million hours playing Black Ops since its release in November, the average player logging on more than once a day and the average player playing for more than one hour per session.
ROBERTS: Wow, they're spending an --
COSTELLO: Honey --
ROBERTS: -- awful lot of time doing it.
COSTELLO: -- can you come to dinner? Oh, I'm, feeling stuffed.
ROBERTS: Or can you come and make dinner? There you are.
Well, fast food speaking of dinner turned into fast cash for a man in Wisconsin. Jonathan Kehoe is now a millionaire after winning McDonald's monopoly contest. Kehoe, who's out of work, says he ordered the McRib, then pulled off the game tab and found the winning board walk and park place pieces. The 29-year-old says he is now set for life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN KEHOE, MCDONALD'S MONOPOLY GRAND PRIZE WINNER: To me, I mean, it's perfect. If I -- if I appropriate my money right, I can be made in shape for the rest of my life, really.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Yes. What would -- what would you buy with a million dollars? Or would you put it away?
COSTELLO: Oh, gosh. That's such a hard question. I would buy a Black Ops game and join the rest of the country.
ROBERTS: And then take the rest of your life off playing.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
ROBERTS: From the farms to your kitchen table. A new bill gives the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented oversight over the safety of your food. So what's changing? We're going to break it all down this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Christine Romans joins us now. She's "Minding Your Business" this morning and we're talking about food, glorious food.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Food, glorious food, and the first overhaul of how safe your food is, how the government controls and regulates your food since 1938, and think how much the delivery of food has changed -- the globalization of the food industry has changed since 1938.
Heading to the president's desk is an FDA overhaul that will mean maybe 2,000 more FDA inspectors to take a look at the food that lands on your plate every day to make sure you're not one of the 3,000 people who die every year because of food-borne illnesses. One in six people -- do you know that one in six people each year will have some sort of a food borne illness. That's a pretty big number and something that the FDA has no control over, quite frankly.
As it stands right now, the FDA can't even tell a company to recall tainted peanut butter or tainted spinach. They don't have that authority. The companies have to do that voluntarily. So instead of negotiating with companies, now the FDA will have the authority to do that. They will require companies to establish new food safety plans and -- and so that the government can see what they're doing. They'll be able to look into their records, establish a system to trace the origins of food. And the authority, for the first time, to order product recalls.
Also, importers, for the very first time will have to certify that what they're bringing through U.S. ports and on to U.S. tables is safe.
The globalization of the food industry is something that I've been covering for years. It's fascinating to me. You can look at one of those energy bars. And they can have ingredients from 30 or 40 different countries. It's amazing.
And it's very difficult to trace where all that comes in. This will be the first attempt to do that since the 1930s. It's amazing.
COSTELLO: So, these global companies have to guarantee that the food is safe before it comes here, but if it's -- I mean, how do you do that? And what if it's not?
ROMANS: That's going to be the big question for next year, and how the FDA's going to make sure these inspectors are able to do that. Two thousand inspectors and you look at the volume of food that we have in this country is pretty -- it's still a long way to go.
Also remember, they're going to be able to look into the records of companies. So, the FDA has not been able to do that before. They'll be able to look into the records and see where things came from, the records of farms as well.
I will say that the food that you buy at your local farm stand is exempt from this. There were some concerns from the local food movement that this would hurt them because they're so much smaller. So they have been exempted from this.
But this will be the first time your food will be actually in the crosshairs of the FDA in a very long time. Meat and poultry, by the way, though, is regulated by the USDA.
ROBERTS: Right. Well, we'll see if it makes a difference.
Christine, good to see you this morning. Thanks.
ROMANS: OK.
ROBERTS: Crossing the half hour, it's time for this morning's top stories on this Wednesday.
More rain falling in Nevada where floods are forcing people out of their homes. Several counties remain under a state of emergency. Rain totals have topped 10 inches in many areas. The Virgin River is forecast to crest today.
COSTELLO: And developing news for you on the Korean Peninsula as the South moves ahead with another live military exercise. South Korea's navy opened a four-day exercise in the East Sea this morning. It's also planning some massive drills to begin tomorrow.
The exercises were planned last year. And leaders say they are not a response to the North's deadly shelling of the island of Yeonpyeong.
ROBERTS: And by tonight, the Senate is expected to vote on a $6.2 billion measure that would provide free medical care to 9/11 first responders who were sick. Democrats think they have enough votes to pass the bill after trimming $1.2 billion off the cost.
COSTELLO: Yes, for the hundreds of heroes who rushed to the Twin Towers on that terrible day, only to be sickened by toxins, there's a lot riding on today's Senate vote.
ROBERTS: Yes. Our Deb Feyerick is with us this morning. She's got the story of one New York City firefighter who is fighting for his life nine years after the terrorist attack.
And there's him and there were so many others like him.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely, because nobody really knew exactly what they were going to encounter when they got down to Ground Zero, the exposure to all of those toxins.
You remember New York City firefighter Randy Wiebicke. We introduced you to him just this past 9/11. His fire house was right near Ground Zero, and he spent months inhaling all that burning debris from the fallen towers. Well, a year ago, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and that's thought by some doctors to be caused by toxins in the environment.
We spoke with Senator Gillibrand's office, we were told that cancers like those would be covered under the 9/11 health bill. Here's a clip of that interview and a face on what all this means.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): What happened to Randy Wiebicke this summer? In August, he chose to have an experimental type of stem cell transplant using his brother's healthy stem cells to replace his immune system. Wife Madeline captured some of it on camera.
MADELINE WIEBICKE, RANDY'S WIFE: Hi, Ran. How you feeling?
RANDY WIEBICKE, NYC FIREFIGHTER: Not so good.
FEYERICK: The chemo, three different kinds every six hours, eight days straight killed Randy's bone marrow and residual cancer cells.
R. WIEBICKE: It's pretty rough. They've got to beat you down to build you up.
FEYERICK: Days before the 9th anniversary of 9/11, Randy leaves the hospital, but he and Madeline are not thinking about the past, only about the year of healing ahead.
M. WIEBICKE: He made it through, and I think he's going to be well. I think that -- I think he's going to be cured.
FEYERICK (on camera): And I see your lip quivering a little. It's hard to talk about.
R. WIEBICKE: Sure. I guess, you know, you do what you have to do.
FEYERICK: Right. And you'll dance at your children's weddings.
M. WIEBICKE: And hold your grandchildren.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Grandchildren who may one day hear the story of that day from a firefighter who lived through it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Now, I spoke to Madeline Wiebicke yesterday, Randy's cancer, believe it or not, is actually gone, it's cured. However, he was hit with life-threatening complications. At one point, they thought he wasn't going to make it.
So, this is one of the things. And it just caused so much money. They have a $75 cap on the amount that they can spend on medication. After that, it's all out of pocket.
He gets insurance through the fire department, but there's so many others who don't. And that's what this bill -- that's who these people would help. It's quite confusing, actually.
COSTELLO: It is confusing because one of Senator Coburn's big criticisms about this bill is that there is help out there for 9/11 responders, already existing help, and people just don't know how to tap into it.
FEYERICK: Well, that's exactly right. And even when we went to the CDC Web site to find out exactly what was covered and what wasn't covered, it didn't even mention cancers. It mentioned airborne illnesses, if you have problems with your back or lungs, things like that. But it never mentioned cancers.
So, for somebody who's going through this, it's so overwhelming to begin with. You know, somebody who is so sick -- and you look at Randy, this was a man who was 225 pounds, his wife tells us now that he is down to 158 pounds. And it's the complications, ironically, this experimental treatment worked, but it didn't do anything with the complications.
ROBERTS: And, you know, whenever we talk about this, too, we remind people that the EPA, the government, came out and very forcefully said we've tested the air at Ground Zero, it's safe for people to work there. It's safe for people to come back in their homes.
COSTELLO: Nobody was wearing masks, nothing.
FEYERICK: Well, that's exactly -- and when you think about all the debris, when you think about how these buildings were built, you know, the siding, the things that were simply burning, common sense would dictate that, in fact, maybe it ain't that safe. So, it's unfortunate.
But these people went down pure intentions, trying to save people, trying to clean it up, trying to get the country back on track. So, now, they're just basically saying, look, we need something. We need your help. We did it because it was the right thing to do. Now, do the right thing back in return.
ROBERTS: Deb Feyerick this morning with that story -- Deb, thanks.
Well, you can expect delays if you're traveling this week. But there may be some ways for you to avoid the worst delays. Travel experts going to give us some inside information, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Oh, you know it, extreme weather disrupting travel around the world. Not the kind of news you want to hear if you're traveling this holiday season, and you probably are. So, we are here to help. We are going to tell you how to avoid a nightmare.
Joining me now, Genevieve Shaw Brown, who's the senior editor at Travelocity.
And, Genevieve, we're all listening very attentively because, what, Thursday's going to be nightmare day? The ultimate nightmare?
GENEVIEVE SHAW BROWN, SENIOR EDITOR AT TRAVELOCITY.COM: It's a big, big travel day. So, fingers crossed that not too many major cities that are big hubs for major airlines see bad weather, because even one big snowstorm in Chicago can shut down the system nationwide. So --
COSTELLO: So, there's kind of nasty weather coming. So, we're going to go through this to ease people's anxiety about holiday travel. So, first of all, let's talk about passenger rights. I mean, if there's -- if your flight is delayed, what right do you have as a passenger to say, get me on the next -- get me on the next plane, get me to where I'm going quickly?
BROWN: It's your right to get on the next available flight. But that might not be as simple as it sounds. Because it's the holidays, because planes are flying already very, very full, throw in a few flight cancellations and, all of a sudden, you've got a lot of people competing for very, very few available seats.
So, getting on the next flight may not be that simple as it sounds. You've got to be very, very aggregate, you've got to be very, very persistent with the airlines. And don't accept something that's simply unacceptable.
COSTELLO: So, do you normally pay more to get on the next plane or should that be free?
BROWN: That is definitely going to be free. And, in fact, in the case of mass weather disruptions, the airlines will generally issue flexible travel policies that will even allow you to postpone your trip to a much later date, usually up to a year if you want for no charge. Now, if you decide to change your destination, say, you were going to New York but now you want to go to Cancun, that's going to cost you a little bit more money.
(LAUGHTER)
BROWN: But the flexible travel policies can really be a great thing for people who have the flexibility to use them.
COSTELLO: OK. So, let's say you're stuck and you have to stay overnight, are the airlines required to pay for your hotel stay?
BROWN: They are not. And that's a common misconception. In the European Union, they are. But here in the U.S., unfortunately, that's not a requirement. Now, that's not to say that they won't. Sometimes, the airlines will go above and beyond to issue food vouchers and maybe help you out finding a hotel room, but that's really at their discretion.
COSTELLO: OK. So, there are a couple of things you can do before you go to the airport, even a few days before you go to the airport in preparation for that extreme weather that's supposed to be coming to your city. So, the first thing you should do is --
BROWN: You should try to get out ahead of the bad weather if you can. We just touched on the flexible travel policies a moment ago. You may be able two actually book an earlier flight to get out ahead of the bad weather and get to your destination a little bit faster. That's definitely an option in some cases.
COSTELLO: OK. That's one option. So, you don't wait for the bad weather, you should try to leave before your scheduled flight. Reserve a seat?
BROWN: Yes. So, check in online at your carrier's Web site up to 24 hours before your flight and reserve your seat assignment. Here's why -- if there's going to be a lot of cancellations, there's going to be a lot of people trying to get their heiney in your seat. So, you want to make sure that you have that locked and squared away so you don't get stranded.
COSTELLO: OK. And, of course, don't checked luggage.
BROWN: Don't luggage because, you know, it's a lot easier for the airlines to reroute you, maybe even put you on a different airline if you have checked luggage and you don't have to run around tracking down your bags.
COSTELLO: So, leave the presents behind. Who cares?
BROWN: Right.
COSTELLO: Don't give them away.
BROWN: Ship them ahead maybe.
COSTELLO: And also, you suggest, don't check medication or phone chargers or stuff like that.
BROWN: That's right. Because once you get separated from your checked luggage, you're not going to see it again until you get to your destination. And if your flight is delayed severely or even canceled, that could be several days. So, you want to make sure that anything you absolutely need like medication is on your person or in your carry-on luggage so you have easy access to it at all times.
COSTELLO: OK. So, you're in the airport. Your flight is delayed. What is the first thing you should do?
BROWN: The first thing you need to do is get online to talk to a live person, but simultaneously get on your cell phone and call the airline's 1-800 number. Sometimes, you'll get through faster on the phone, sometimes you'll get through faster in person. The point is, you want to get to the front of the line as fast as possible.
COSTELLO: And if you're traveling with someone, you can put them to work too, right?
BROWN: Absolutely. There's power in numbers here. You want to have your traveling companion checking out the airport hotel situation. See if there's any available rooms.
If your flight's going to get canceled, you know, that's awful, but what's even more awful is being stranded sleeping on the floor. And, finally, download a mobile travel application so you can book a hotel room right from your phone. Do it very quickly.
COSTELLO: OK. All of that is in my mind and stored away. And thank you so much. And I hope I don't need to use any of these tips.
BROWN: I hope so, too.
COSTELLO: Genevieve, thank you so much.
John?
ROBERTS: Carol -- still to come this morning, Rob's got the travel forecast. That's coming up right after the break.
And deck the malls with flash mobs? Jeannie Moos offers her take on those sudden, unexpected holiday sing-alongs. One of them so big it disrupted traffic at the mall to the point where they had to evacuate it.
It's 44 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Forty-six minutes after the hour. Let's get a quick check of the morning weather headlines. Rob Marciano in the Extreme Weather Center for us. How bad is it going to be in California today, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is going to be the worst of it, unfortunately. And we're looking at the potential, also, for severe weather to roll through this area. Check out of these rainfall tallies that we're seeing here. Twenty inches in Crestline, California, Bass Lake, officially (ph) good there, 18 inches, in Utah seeing similar amount as well and Mt. Charleston seeing over a foot of snow, and Santa Barbara seeing over a foot of snow, as well.
So, when you're looking at these kind of umbers and you're talking about it really not letting up all that much over the past few days, that's when you get the problems. But, today, we're going to see a little bit less steady once we get through the afternoon. But right now, it's steady. And it's filled in from San Francisco all the way down to San Diego. We are getting a little bit of snow at the higher elevations, but with this colder air that's dropping that snow, we also get instability, we're also going to look for the potential of seeing some severe weather.
Two to four inches of additional rainfall expected with severe thunderstorms potentially the flash flood issues are going to be the main problem or fear going forward. Avalanche warnings are high across Utah and parts of Colorado within another 1 to 4 feet on top of what they've already seen. Some unofficial totals across parts of the sierras seeing close to 200 inches of snow.
Not so much across parts of Michigan with certainly a little bit of snow working its way across the lower hand. Baltimore to Washington, a little sliver of snow here, but that is about it. Travel delays today, Los Angeles to San Francisco, of course, New York metros continue to get a blustery conditions. It's cold enough for snow, but you folks haven't seen a whole lot. And the system that's coming out from the west will probably stay south of New York as we get towards Christmas. John and Carol back up to you.
ROBERTS: That would be a good thing, but if it hammers Baltimore --
MARCIANO: I know.
ROBERTS: Carol's not going to be happy.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Doesn't even have to hammer Baltimore. It just says the snow maybe a half inch.
MARCIANO: If that. That's all you'd get at this point.
COSTELLO: Oh, good. Well, yes. Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Rob.
Coming up next, we're going to take you to a state of the art facility where they care for the dogs who serve alongside our men and women overseas.
COSTELLO: It's often called the Walter Reed for dogs. Gary Tuchman has more on today's "Edge of Discovery."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been called the Walter Reed for dogs, a high-tech hospital in San Antonio where the four-legged troops that serve our country get treated.
COL. KELLY MANN, HOSPITAL DIRECTOR: Medicine has changed over the years. We want to do what's best for the dog, and also, if possible, return the dog to work.
TUCHMAN: The $15 million facility is top veterinary specialists on staff and state-of-the-art tools and rehab equipment.
KELLEY MEYER, CERTIFIED REHABILITATION THERAPIST: My role at the hospital is to provide rehab therapy to all of our military working dogs.
Here we go. Good boy.
Each one's individualized. It's not a cookie cutter where everybody gets the same treatment.
TUCHMAN: Some dogs are treated on-site in war zones, but those that need more therapy come here. And dogs can also show signs of PTSD, just like people.
WALT BURGHARDT, CHIEF, BEHAVIOR MEDICINE: They're great dogs and work hard, but they have a really hard time conveying what's going on inside their heads. So, we really have to rely on what they show us with their behavior.
TUCHMAN: Most dogs are rehabilitated and returned to their posts. Like service members, dogs can have multiple deployments. The ones that can't go back to work get adopted.
MEYER: Our four-legged soldiers mean the world to us here, and we think they deserve everything we can possibly get them. They're kind of the unsung heroes. They really inspire me every day.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: They work hard. No question about that.
COSTELLO: They do. They do.
ROBERTS: The winds are adding up for President Obama. The ink barely dry on the tax cut compromise before "don't ask, don't tell" and nuclear arms treaty with Russia went his way. So, is President Obama the new comeback kid?
COSTELLO: Ooh. You can call it a Santa Claus rally. Big gains for your investments. In fact, the Dow this morning opens at a two- year high. We'll break down what's fueling the surge.
Plus, new information on which companies had the best year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: You're going to love this. Time now for the Most News in the Morning. It is the latest holiday trend. I am sure you've heard about it. Flash mob. Suddenly belting out songs for the season in public somewhere. ROBERTS: It's like flash caroling at your doorstep except it's in the mall. There's supposed to be a surprise, but the crowd was so big at one California mall this week that it had to be evacuated. The flash mob is going to happen anywhere really in a mall, an airport, even in a newsroom. Here's Jeannie Moos with that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Forget the halls. Deck the malls with flash mobs.
(SINGING) hallelujah.
MOOS: This was one of the best. But the hallelujah chorus sprung on the food court of unsuspecting shoppers in Welland, Ontario is now springing up everywhere. From the Nordstrom's in California --
(SINGING)
MOOS: To a food court in Albany, New York. The trend may have peaked when a flash mob caused such overcrowding that a mall in Rosedale, California had to be evacuated. And that was even before the singing started.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the floors just went --
MOOS: Engineers later declared the mall structurally sound, but would be flash mobsters learned something.
MOOS (on-camera): The secret to flash-mob success is secrecy. Sshh.
MOOS (voice-over): Don't let too many people know whether you're going bananas dancing in a New Jersey grocery store or university library in Spain.
(SINGING) Make my wish come true.
MOOS: Or at the Vancouver airport.
(SINGING) Santa Claus is coming to town.
MOOS: The Canadian flash mob that set the standard --
(SINGING) Hallelujah.
MOOS: Was organized by a company called alphabet photography. They meant to send it out to their customers as an electronic holiday greeting. Jennifer Blakely dreamed it up.
VOICE OF JENNIFER BLAKELEY, PRES., ALPHABET PHOTOGRAPHY: This is the vision I had in my head when I was having a shower one day, singing in the shower. So, to see it, I was actually in tears almost.
MOOS: They got permission from mall management, but only security knew what was going on when a community chorus and some music students started singing.
(SINGING) Hallelujah.
MOOS (on-camera): I love the guy holding up the wet floor sign.
BLAKELEY: He is my favorite. Like, OK, which one of you wants to be the janitor? And he was like, oh, oh, I do.
MOOS (voice-over): Twenty-five million YouTube views later, they've created a monster. The hallelujah chorus has even breached the newsroom.
(SINGING) hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
MOOS: And over at ABC, they threw Diane Sawyer a birthday flash mob to celebrate her 65th. Is it still a flash-mob when everyone is in on it? Diane summed up with a perfect flash-mob should be.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for this hallucination.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: Jeannie Moos, CNN.
(SINGING)
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And as far as the flash-mob goes at CNN, is a flash-mob of one really a mob?
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: One person singing the song is just not the same.
ROBERTS: I still don't understand why they had to evacuate the mall.
COSTELLO: Too many people with -- because that mall had gone through a serious fire not long before that. And it was damaged. So, they didn't want -- there was so many people in the mall. It must have been against fire code violations and had to get them out of there.
ROBERTS: All they were doing was singing.
COSTELLO: It just goes to show how much people value free entertainment.
ROBERTS: Top stories coming your way right after the break. Stay with us this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
