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American Morning
"Spiderman" Broadway Musical Plagued by Mishaps; Interview With Cady Coleman in Space; Obama to Sign DADT Repeal; A First Responder's Fate; Living in America; Protecting America's Food Supply
Aired December 22, 2010 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We're just crossing 7:00 on the East Coast on this Wednesday, December 22nd. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. You've only got three days left until the big day.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Santa's very busy.
ROBERTS: He is.
COSTELLO: His elves are busy. He's coming. I'm Carol Costello in for Kiran this morning.
Believe it or not, there is a lot to talk about this morning. So, I guess, we should get to it. Ever since President Obama said he took a shellacking in the midterm election six weeks ago, the president has been on a roll. Tax cut extensions, "don't ask, don't tell," both going its way. And if the START treaty is passed in the Senate today, it will be another huge win. So, is the Obama mojo back?
ROBERTS: "Spiderman" producers insist the show will go on after an on-stage accident that could have been fatal very easily. It is the fourth time someone has been injured in the production. So where does the Broadway mega-musical go from here?
COSTELLO: And astronaut Cady Coleman is finally onboard the space station this week. As you know we've been tracking her mission for months. We're going to talk to Cady live from space in this hour of "AMERICAN MORNING."
ROBERTS: Looking forward to that.
After a November shellacking, it's turning out to be a December to remember for President Obama. You're looking at a live picture of Capitol Hill right now. It'll be a busy place later on this morning after lawmakers passed a spending bill last night to keep the government running through early March.
Here's what to watch for today. At 9:15 eastern, the president is going to sign the "don't ask, don't tell" repeal act into law. That's the military's ban on openly gay soldiers.
COSTELLO: And then on the Senate agenda, a $6.2 billion bill that provides free medical care for 9/11 first responders who are sick. It's not clear how that vote will go or when exactly it might happen. There's also a vote expected on the START Treaty, the president's nuclear arms with the Russians. It looks like it has enough Republican support to pass.
ROBERTS: And if the START makes it across the finish line, it'll be another notch on the president's belt. So does all of this lame duck legislative success mean the Obama moho is back? Dan Lothian live at the White House this morning. This is pretty amazing, Dan. Congress has managed to do more in the past eight days than they did in the past eight months.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's surprising that we're talking about mojo now. When you look back after the midterm elections when the president did take that shellacking and a lot of people thought the president was weakened at that time. He came out of that talking about compromise, how important that was to get both sides to hammer out a lot during this lame-duck session of Congress.
And he came up with what was a very ambitious agenda. Some people had their doubts this could get done. But what we saw was the president roll up his sleeves and getting actively engaged to put together first of all the framework for the tax cut deal. Not working with the Democrats up on the hill but hammering out the deal with the Republicans and presenting it to the Democrats who clearly were not happy about the deal. They thought he should've worked harder to make a better deal. They were not happy that the millionaires and billionaires were being rewarded. But the bottom line is the president did get a deal.
He did have that failure on the dream act which would've provided a pathway for citizenship for those younger illegal immigrants if they went to college and joined the military. So that was something that the president said was disappointing. But now what appears to be another win with the START Treaty. So, yes, a very good session here for the president when it appeared so dark just a few weeks ago, John.
COSTELLO: OK, so this is Carol, Dan. I was just wondering, the president's supposed to go to Hawaii, but there's a no-fly zone going into effect over Oahu. What does that mean?
LOTHIAN: What it means is it's possible the president could leave sometime today. I was talking with White House spokesman Robert Gibbs this morning and he hopes they'll be able to leave today. He also hopes the president will be able to also hold a press conference. We heard that earlier in the week that that was something he wanted to do to talk about all he accomplished.
We'll look forward to the next session, as well, where he'll be dealing with a different make-up in the house at least.
So yes, the president will be signing "don't ask, don't tell" later this morning. Then he hopes to hop on to air force one and go out to Hawaii to join the rest of his family, which by the way, has been out there for the last few days or so.
ROBERTS: Nice when you have your own little jet you can hop on --
LOTHIAN: You don't have to have that reservation, don't worry about cancellations. You can jump on the plane and go.
ROBERTS: Best of all, no security lines either.
LOTHIAN: No pat-downs.
COSTELLO: That whole body naked thing --
LOTHIAN: Nobody touches the president.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Dan.
COSTELLO: Dan mentioned the signing of repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." CNN will bring that to you live scheduled to begin this morning at 9:15 eastern. And I'm sure the president will show up on time so he can get on that private plane.
ROBERTS: I believe so.
Developing news out of South Korea this morning where live military exercises are underway. More are scheduled. Tensions remain high between the North and South, and tomorrow's drills are expected to be some of the largest of their kind. South Korean leaders say the exercises were planned well in advance, but they come just a couple of weeks after the north's deadly shelling that killed two civilians on that south Korean island of Yeonpyeong.
CHETRY: A horrible travel situation is improving this morning after some extreme weather in Europe. The good news, Heathrow Airport in London now operating at about 70 percent. High-speed rail service is moving, and there's no wet weather expected for the rest of the week.
Now for the bad news -- 400 flights are canceled today, high- speed rail tickets are sold out through Saturday. Winter weather also causing massive delays across parts of Western Europe this week. And some bad weather to report here too.
ROBERTS: Oh, yes, lots of bad weather here. In the United States, the western half of the country still dealing with the powerful and stubborn storm. That pineapple express continues to rage. State of emergency in effect for several counties in California and Nevada.
Flood waters powered through parts of southern Nevada as people began sandbagging areas to protect neighborhoods. Sandbagging in Nevada? The whole place is a desert. There are mudslide worries in places that have seen more than a foot of rain in the past few days.
COSTELLO: And the most intense part of the storm is just now starting to hit that area. Let's head to the extreme weather center, get an update. What can people expect, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: More rain today, but the difference is there's a potential for thunderstorms. There might even be a few rumbles happening right now. The last bit of this, the kicker if you will, is going to be the most intense.
There's some cold air with it, atmospheric energy with it. It's pretty much the mother storm that's been powering this entire week of storms that have been rolling through California.
Radar scope is solid from San Francisco all the way down to San Diego. And again, the bulk of the heaviest rain occurs in southern California. Some of that is snow at the higher elevations, but the bulk is rain and some of this coming down at a rate of one to two inches per hour, and that's not good on top of the already saturated ground and hillsides that want to go with gravity, two to four inches of additional rainfall potentially today.
And again, we may see thunder and lightning and maybe even severe weather this afternoon in the form of hail and potentially rotating thunderstorms, a tornado or two not out of the question. Goodness.
One to three feet of additional snowfall potentially across parts of Utah and up to four feet more in Colorado. Avalanche issues abound and will continue to be that way over the next couple of days. Eastern half of the country remains fairly quiet. Couple of snow showers in some spots, no major accumulation anticipated, and temperatures fairly seasonable and quiet. So if you are traveling today, eastern third of the country, you're OK. Western third, western half, there are still some issues.
John and Carol, back up to you.
COSTELLO: Which means if you live in the middle part of the country or the east coast, go now, get out now.
MARCIANO: Not bad advice.
ROBERTS: Rob, obviously it's going to be a banner Christmas for people heading to the slopes in Colorado and Utah. But are they going to be in Colorado in particular? Are they going to be able to get there?
MARCIANO: You know, it's a tough go. They're getting there now. There are no major interstates that are shut down at least in Colorado and Utah because of the snow. And they're doing a good job of keeping up with the avalanche control. So we certainly hope that trend continues.
The pictures that we're seeing coming out here are unbelievable. We'll share some of those with you later on in the program.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Rob.
COSTELLO: New this morning, American Airlines pulling its flights from the Orbitz travel website. The dispute is over pricing and technology used to access Americans' fares and schedules. The carrier says it will honor tickets that were previously sold through Orbitz. So don't worry about that. But it does add that customers who need to change their travel plans should contact American Airlines directly, do not go through Orbitz.
ROBERTS: So, it's going to be a green Christmas because there's a stock market rally underway. The Dow opening this morning at a two- year high. Why are people feeling good on Wall Street? Christine Romans joins us.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's almost hard to believe that you're back at the levels before Lehman Brothers collapsed in the stock market. It has been a steady climb. What's fueling it? A couple of things here. First of all, signs of a recovery in the economy. You have some companies that were beaten down so badly in the recession that when they started to show any kind of signs of a recovery in the economy and cut costs so much, that helped their stock and those stocks went up.
There have been corporate mergers, companies starting to come together. There's a ton of cash -- cash on the sidelines. Companies have $1 trillion in the bank. I'm going to say that again, they have $1 trillion in the bank and they're starting to use it to buy other companies. That makes their stock up and helps the stock market.
The tax cut package was something Wall Street really liked because it's going to put money in our pockets and it's going to put money into the economy, they think. And again, the economy is starting to improve. It is growing. We have the jobs problem, that's still a big problem holding us back. We have the housing problem, still something holding us back. But it's up 10 percent this year.
COSTELLO: But they have $1 trillion, so why aren't they hiring? And what can get them to hire?
ROMANS: Because they're so afraid of what's happened over the past few years. They want the cash. Cash is king. For the consumers cash is king, and for the companies, cash is king.
But I do know that many, many senior corporate managers are having very high-level meetings in all kinds of industries trying to spend that money -- hiring, building new plants, research and development, will it be in this country, other countries? It's going to be an interesting time next year.
A lot of financial advisers think that next year stocks will continue to rise. I'm still concerned about jobs and housing, but they like what they see in the stock market.
ROBERTS: It would be nice if we saw a rise in employment.
ROMANS: Right. This is part of the two-speed recovery in America. People with money starting to make money again, and people without a job who are wondering when they're going to catch up.
ROBERTS: Christine, thanks.
The stunts are going wrong, actors injured, costs going through the roof, and yet tickets to the Broadway show "Spiderman" are hotter than ever. The show hasn't officially opened yet. Up next, some say it's a curse. Broadway producers are now taking serious safety precautions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 14 minutes after the hour. New safety measures will be in place tonight when "Spiderman, Turn off the Dark" resumes its previews on Broadway.
COSTELLO: Yes. The production has been haunted by a string of mishaps. This is the latest one. You see a stunt double there jumping off what is a bridge. You see him there? And then he falls into -- what is it? It's not the orchestra pit.
ROBERTS: The stage pit.
COSTELLO: But it's 30 feet he fell. He's seriously injured, he's in the hospital in serious condition. Our Alina Cho is here to tell us about this apparent curse that's on this Broadway show.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The curse of Spiderman is right. And you talk about how much money was spent on this production. It's just mind boggling. At $65 million, "Spiderman, Turn off the Dark" is Broadway's most expensive show ever. It certainly is getting a lot of attention these days, but not for the right reasons.
Today's matinee is canceled. Tonight's performance will go on as planned after actor Chris Tierney, as you saw in the video just a moment ago and you will see again now, seriously injured himself when he fell as much as 30 feet into the stage pit. You heard the shriek there. And afterwards, someone said call 911.
Apparently what happened is a cable attached to him snapped during Monday night's show. They're calling it human error. And the reason for that is that many people have said it's like packing your own parachute. The actor is responsible for doing the final check. And apparently something ran amuck.
Tierney is the fourth actor to be injured in the production, which has been fraught with problems, the injuries, the ongoing technical difficulties, the financial problems. And let's not forget, there have also been some problems with the show's story. They've been trying to tweak that. So, you know, a lot of problems, but as you mentioned, John, earlier, it has not affected ticket sales. I mean, it has sold out, the show. It is still in previews, but sold out.
COSTELLO: The tickets go for 250 bucks.
CHO: It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHO: But people are paying it. And think about it, it's the holiday season. A lot of people are coming to New York. Even from the Tri-State Area, they're coming in town. They want to see a Broadway show, put you in the spirit, if you will.
ROBERTS: I was saying to Carol this morning that we should go see the show so that we can talk about it on the air.
COSTELLO: Yes.
ROBERTS: But no tickets.
CHO: No tickets, that's right.
ROBERTS: Or if there are tickets, the premium tickets --
COSTELLO: Oh, yes, 250 bucks.
ROBERTS: $250 (ph).
CHO: That's right.
COSTELLO: I mean, I listened to an interview with the producer of the show, Julie Taymor, right? She said she was trying to make this Broadway production just like an animated movie, like the movie "Spider-Man."
CHO: Well, and the critics will say that that's part of the problem. They'll say, you know, there's no need for the bells and whistles. The story of Peter Parker and "Spider-Man" is great in and of itself.
ROBERTS: Yes, but if "Spider-Man" doesn't fly around the city of New York --
CHO: Well -- yes --
ROBERTS: -- it's missing a huge component.
CHO: And yes, you're absolutely right in that. But I mean, obviously there are some problems that need to be worked out as four actors have been injured. Having said that, as you mentioned, it's still a popular show. The show has been delayed. The premiere has been delayed four times. The latest we're hearing now is opening night will be sometime in early February.
ROBERTS: Right. The 7th I think.
CHO: But that all depends on what happens in the coming weeks.
ROBERTS: There was that one bit of backstage footage that -- or preview footage or whatever it was that you showed there where the actor kind of gets catapulted from the back of the stage to the front, it's like a double flip and then lands. It's the one after this.
CHO: Listen, it's part of what makes --
ROBERTS: This one here -- this one here where he gets catapulted from the back to the front, an actor was practicing that or performing that, actually at a review for people who sell the tickets --
CHO: Right.
ROBERTS: Create a buzz, landed wrong, broke both wrists.
CHO: Let me tell you something. I mean, it is exactly when it goes right what will make the show spectacular, right?
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHO: The problem is it has to go right.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHO: So let's hope they get it right.
ROBERTS: And with all of that, can it go right? That's like Cirque du Soleil on steroids.
CHO: But you know, Bono, The Edge, they did the music. You know, Julie Taymor of the "The Lion King" directed it. I mean, it's got a lot of great names attached to it. Let's hope they fix the problem.
ROBERTS: We'll see.
COSTELLO: Let's hope for the actors' sake.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Alina.
COSTELLO: Coming up next, we're going out of this world, and we mean that literally. A very rare live interview from outer space with NASA astronaut Cady Coleman. We'll be right back.
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COSTELLO: You know, I've been doing this for 25 years and I've never interviewed anyone from space before. So I'm pretty excited. We've been tracking this woman for months and now astronaut Cady Coleman, she's finally in space. And we want to find out firsthand what it's like up there.
ROBERTS: Yes. She blasted off last week onboard a Soyuz rocket out of Russia leaving behind her husband and 10-year-old son for six months time. Cady Coleman is joining us this morning, live from the International Space Station high above the earth. There she is with her festive hat on. And John Zarrella who had the enviable task of following Cady for the last year as she prepared for her trip joins us from Miami.
John, I know that you've been anxious to talk to Cady up there in space. She did such great work following her track, her journey to get there. So why don't you go first?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, Carol, you know, there was no way we were going to let that series, that yearlong series just end with her finally getting to space. And we are so privileged to have Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli, the Italian space agency astronaut who was also part of our yearlong special joining us from the International Space Station 220 miles above the earth. And, Cady, to you, are you getting settled in? You've got the toothbrush put away and the socks in the socks drawer?
CADY COLEMAN, ASTRONAUT: You know, I've gotten so I feel actually right at home here. I think it's just like any other place. And then sometimes there's things that remind me that we're in space. Like this.
ZARRELLA: You know, you have --
Oh, it's another one of those bad hair days for Cady up in space. You've always said to me that space is a magical place. You flew twice on the space station and the space shuttle. For you guys, is that living up to the billing? You and Paolo?
COLEMAN: You know, every second of it really is. And I think so few people get to come up here and we feel so lucky. And you know, I've gotten so I actually think it's normal to open up my little cabin and, you know, float down the lab and eat breakfast. And I just -- I think it's an amazing place. Here's Paolo.
PAOLO NESPOLI, ASTRONAUST: Yes, John. Being up here it's really different. It takes quite some time to adjust yourself. But then you get to fly around. I just wonder what I'm going to do when I come back on earth if I'd be able to fly around my room or just fall on the floor.
ROBERTS: Cady, hey, it's John -- it's John Roberts here, Cady. I know that it's not all fun and games up there in space and playing with hair and flying around as Paolo said. You've got a lot of work to do. You -- I know have been working in on the Japanese robot arm there. What other kind of experiments will you be doing up there in space in the six months that you'll be onboard the station?
COLEMAN: Well, just this morning I was getting what we call the clean bench ready for experiments next week. And that's where we're doing some cell biology and even plant experiments and we're able to transfer things in this small glove box. But then, even more interesting is when we want to find out what's the effect of microgravity. We've got a centrifuge to spin things at one g and then we can have the same plants or cells doing the same experiment right next door in microgravity. So there's a lot of exciting experiments up here.
COSTELLO: Carol Costello here, Cady. I'm so excited to be talking. I can't even wrap my mind around that you're in space and I'm down here. It's unbelievable. But I wanted to ask you, I know you left your 10-year-old son, of course, back down on earth. He said he's taking care of dad for you. So that must be going through your mind because you're going to be up there through Christmas. And also, you brought your flute with you, right? I hope you did anyway.
COLEMAN: I did, although I'll say we've actually been so busy settling in, I haven't actually gotten to unpack it yet. I did actually -- you know, I try to bring something that remind, you know, helps me relate to my son what I do every day. And so, of course, his little tiger Hob came up on the supply ship. I keep them on a leash just because, you know, we don't want a tiger to get loose on the space station.
ROBERTS: You know, Cady, six months is an awfully long time. Of course, our men and women in the military experience this all the time with overseas deployments. But six months is a long time to be away from loved ones, family back home. It will be the longest that you've been away from them. How are you going to maintain that connection to them? Can you talk if not on a frequent basis at least from time to time?
COLEMAN: We're quite lucky up here in that we get to talk to folks. We have actually an Internet protocol phone that we can use when the communication satellites have the correct bandwidth. So we can do some talking by phone so to speak. We can call them. And then we have weekly family conferences by video, which is pretty marvelous to see them and vice versa, I think.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's terrific. John Zarrella, can you imagine talking to your mom in space? Just a minute, I've got to go talk to my mom. She's in space.
ZARRELLA: Yes, I know. Before we lose Cady, we'll wrap it up real quick here. Cady, one last thing. I know how important it is. The message is to young people, particularly women. You've got a message out there for the young folks who may be watching this this morning?
COLEMAN: I'd just like to say that, you know, this was my dream. And it's not everybody's, but it certainly was mine. And you never think that an ordinary person could get to come and live on the International Space Station and call it their home and have a lot of really interesting work to do that I think will make a difference for all people. And in the way that happens is just to do your best. And if you get to a day where you haven't done your best, you just kind of have to wake up the next day and try harder to do your best and try your hardest. And that real people do have their dreams come true when they work for them.
ROBERTS: That's a great, great thing to think about, a great thing to hang on to. I know that we're about to lose the satellite window. Cady Coleman, Paolo Nespoli, thanks so much for being with us.
And, John, you've managed through your work over the past year to bring a thrill to both Carol and myself. We've never talked to anybody in space.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, by the way, Cady and Paolo.
COSTELLO: They're floating around now. They can't hear us.
COLEMAN: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
ROBERTS: All right.
NESPOLI: Buon Natale e felice anno nuovo (ph).
ROBERTS: Bene, bene (ph). Thank you.
And, John, thanks very much. Really appreciate it.
ZARRELLA: Yes. We're not going to end it here. You know, we'll follow her periodically certainly through the next six months up there. We'll keep catching up with her now and then. And she's going to continue to blog for CNN AMERICAN MORNING, so that's a good thing, as well -- John and Carol.
ROBERTS: We look forward to it. Thanks so much, John.
COSTELLO: Evacuations underway. Rescue crews on standby. After days of relentless rain, southern California bracing for the most intense storm system yet. A live report from waterlogged California. That's coming your way next.
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ROBERTS: Crossing the half hour now. And it's time for your top stories this Wednesday morning. And 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 just yet. Still on the Senate agenda, highly charged 9/11 first responders bill that could face a critical vote by tonight.
COSTELLO: South Korea moving forward with live military exercises despite rising tensions with the north. 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. Last week's exercises brought both sides to the brink of war. The south also planning additional drills tomorrow.
ROBERTS: And the military video game "Call of Duty: Black Ops" has just topped $1 billion mark in sales and it's only been out for six weeks. The manufacturer Activision says users have collectively logged more than 600 million hours playing Black Ops since its release back in November. The average player logging on more than once a day and playing for more than one hour during each session.
COSTELLO: I don't know what that says about Americans. But you like to kill things.
ROBERTS: It would be nice if they were hitting the books with the same enthusiasm that they're hitting Black Ops.
COSTELLO: Parts of southern Nevada under a state of emergency this morning. And guess what more rain in the forecast today. Take a look, some roads look more like rivers this morning. Communities now working with emergency crews to protect vulnerable areas around the Virgin River. And by the way, that river is expected to crest today.
ROBERTS: Meanwhile, conditions in California may actually be getting worse. Paul Vercammen is in La Canada Flintridge right now where the anxiety is growing. Paul, how bad is it up there?
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, right now at this moment, we feel that the storm is delivering a glancing blow, might just be a little bit to the south of us. But the big problem, John, is these hills in La Canada are so saturated already that they say that any water that hits will just run straight off downstream. And of course, these areas are very vulnerable because they're right below where the station fire just basically stripped the hillside of vegetation that was more than a year ago. So you see behind me, they got the sandbags in place.
And the idea is, they're just going to funnel any torrent of water that comes through here and move it on down the hillside into debris basins and that sort of thing obviously sparing homeowners even more misery than they've already had to endure for the last few days.
Also, I should note, John and carol, I heard you talking earlier about all sorts of skiing in Utah and Colorado and what not. And here in California, things are going pretty well. They say that Mammoth has 15 feet of snow right now. So there's a lot of different permutations to all of these storms, but definitely everyone here is bracing for the worst just in case.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, Paul, thanks very much for that report. And we'll see how folks in La Canada handle it over the next couple of days with this.
Rob Marciano has been telling us the worse coming in the next 24 hours.
COSTELLO: At least the skiers are happy though, right? Someone's happy.
New this morning, the Federal Communications Commission approved a new policy meant to provide all users equal access to the internet. The measure's known as net neutrality. It's designed to stop companies that all the internet's infrastructure from slowing down some types of web sites that say belong to a competitor. Many Republicans oppose the rules, claiming the Obama administration has no right to interfere with business practices online.
ROBERTS: In just over 90 minute's time, President Obama is scheduled to sign the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." The military's ban on openly gay soldiers.
COSTELLO: And long after that, he'll be headed to Hawaii to join his wife and kids for a little R&R. Ed Henry is already there and he paid a visit to Pearl Harbor where he found two gay veterans who say they've been waiting a long time for this day to come.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Carol, we came here to Pearl Harbor to gauge reaction to the president's historic signing of the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." And we found two gay veterans living in this state who say there are gay veterans buried in military cemeteries all around the world, maybe even some entombed in the wreckage of the USS "Arizona" there behind me who are finally getting some recognition.
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HENRY (voice-over): Jeff Cadavona and Dale Head served in the U.S. military long before "don't ask, don't tell." Back then, gay people were simply banned from serving, and Jeff who was in the Air Force and not open about his sexuality says it was like being hunted.
JEFF CADAVONA, RET. U.S. AIR FORCE: When I was in the military in the '60s, that - that hammer over you for being openly gay. If they found you out, they'll kick you right out.
HENRY: Dale who was in the Army simply gave up and did not re- enlist.
DALE HEAD, RET. U.S. ARMY: The reason I got out down in Hawaii is I had to make a decision whether to live a double life as so many do in the military or be honest about it and just get out.
HENRY: Most of the straight veterans we spoke to at Pearl Harbor were sympathetic to the plight of their gay comrades. Lee Hall, a veteran of the Korean war said there were some in his unit who did not like serving with gays. But he says it never affected operations.
(on camera): And you think that will be justice served for people who have been kind of having to keep their sexuality a secret?
LEE HALL, U.S. VETERAN: I think so. I think so.
You know, those people are - they're soldiers, they're sailors, they're Marines, or whatever first, you know. They do what they're told just like the rest of us did.
HENRY (voice-over): A long time coming for Jeff and Dale.
HEAD: Thought it'd come sooner, but it's here now.
CADAVONA: We're happy.
HEAD: It's very pleasing to live long enough to see it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: I came here to Pearl Harbor expecting to find more people opposed to the repeal. We spoke to veterans and non-veterans of all ages and they largely said this was a long time coming and would've happened sooner except for politics. John, Carol?
COSTELLO: Times have changed.
President Obama is scheduled to sign that repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" at 9:15 Eastern this morning. So many people are expected to witness the signing, they had to like rent out an auditorium in the Interior Department to accommodate them.
ROBERTS: It's going to be a big signing day for the president. We'll bring you that live here on CNN. It's also decision day in the Senate. A health care bill meant to provide free medical treatment to 9/11 rescue workers may come up for a Senate vote later on today.
Coming up next, the personal stories behind all of this political wrangling. What happened to our firefighter heroes?
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COSTELLO: The Senate has that long to do list today, including a possible vote on a $6.2 billion bill that would provide free medical care to 9/11 first responders who are now sick.
ROBERTS: And there's an awful lot riding on this bill. Deb Feyerick is with us this morning. She's got the story of one New York City firefighter who is still fighting for his life nine years after the terrorist attack. You got an update in the fellow that you follow.
DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. For so many first responders, it's a slap in the face that they're not getting what they believe they're entitled to. Not in a bad way, but because they did the right thing. People have to remember, these are the guys who raced to find survivors, then excavate the dead, and now they're extremely sick or dying.
And we introduced you to 51-year-old New York City firefight Randy () back in September. His fire house was right near ground zero, he spent months inhaling all that burning debris. Last year he was diagnosed with a type of cancer that doctors believe is caused by environmental toxins. And this bill would likely cover that and other 9/11-related illnesses including lung disease, PTSD. Here's a clip of Randy from our original interview.
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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, WIFE OF RANDY WIEBICKE: Hey, how are you feeling?
RANDY WIEBICKE, NEW YORK CITY 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was 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 hearing ahead.
MADELINE WIEBICKE: He made it through. And I think he's going to be well. I think that he's going to be cured.
FEYERICK (on camera): And I see your lip quivering a little. It's hard to talk about.
RANDY WIEBICKE: Well, sure. I guess, you know, you do what you have to do.
FEYERICK: And you'll dance at your children's weddings.
MADELINE 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.
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FEYERICK: Now, that procedure did help Randy's cancer. It's effectively gone, but three weeks ago he was hit with life-threatening complications. And this is what so many first responders are facing. And they're simply asking Congress to do what they did and that is step up, do the right thing.
ROBERTS: What was the complications?
FEYERICK: He came down, his entire immune system has weakened. It can't fight common things and he just began to get sicker and sicker and sicker and they really thought they were going to lose him.
ROBERTS: Wow.
FEYERICK: So they put him on steroids just the day before yesterday and he seemed to be rebounding a little bit. But there are complications from steroids. So you know, it's not over for these people. And that's the thing we have to remember as we kind of go on about our daily lives. Their lives -
COSTELLO: And as far as the cost. It must have been enormous. He exhausted his insurance, right?
FEYERICK: He's got good insurance through the fire department. But many others don't. Thousands of others don't and that's what this bill is for. There's also compensation. There's also money so that they can track certain illnesses because they don't know what the long-term ramifications are going to be. And god forbid, there's something else like this, the question is, what are people going to do then? And we don't want, for example, an agency to say, hey, all clear, everything's fine, you can go down there, don't worry about the masks.
ROBERTS: Yes, remember the EPA's pronouncement.
FEYERICK: Yes. ROBERTS: The air at Ground Zero is safe.
FEYERICK: Hindsight's 20/20, but you know, still, that's a tricky one.
ROBERTS: Randy's a real fighter.
FEYERICK: Yes, really is.
ROBERTS: Deb, thanks for bringing us this story.
FEYERICK: Of course.
ROBERTS: Serious thunderstorms are still pummeling the West Coast. When is it all going to end? And a White Christmas looking more likely here in parts of the northeast and mid-Atlantic. Rob Marciano who is watching it all and he's up next with the forecast.
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ROBERTS: Live picture of Los Angeles this morning where right now they got a little bit of light rain, 57 degrees later on today.
Heavy, heavy thunderstorms, could be the worst of the weather brought in by the "Pineapple Express." And so a lot of people, you know, as we heard from Paul Buchan up there, they'll be crossing their fingers and hoping that those hillsides hold.
COSTELLO: That's true. Hoping the rain goes away.
For those of you dreaming of a White Christmas in the northeast, stop it because you just might get your wish. Let's head to the Extreme Weather Center and Rob Marciano.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You're going to have to start wishing harder, I think.
COSTELLO: Good.
MARCIANO: Yes. I think White Christmas in the northeast at this point -- I tell you what -- the problem with these storms making their way over to the east coast is they hit the mountains and a lot of times they don't even get over the rocky mountains and when they do, they reform and transform into something different.
So the computer models have a hard time figuring out what something like this is going to do once it gets east of the rockies. So we've seen all solutions from going north into the northeast, creating a White Christmas to going south and bringing snow down into the Carolinas.
So we'll have to see over the next couple of days how that pans out, but right now models are shying away from any sort of White Christmas in the northeast or significantly, at least.
All right, significant rainfall. Here's your "Pineapple Express" right there. That's already gone. Now, we're getting the back end of the system. This is the strongest part. This is where all the atmospheric energy is. This is where a lot of the cold air is, as well and more in the way of rain.
Check this out, 20 inches of rain in Crestline, California, Bass Lake seeing almost that, and little grassy Utah seeing 14-1/2 inches of rainfall. It's unbelievable stuff there and more coming in the next 12 hours and then we'll turn it off.
San Diego towards Los Angeles, looks like Sand Diego -- extreme southern California getting the heart of the most intense rainfall right now. You saw the live report from La Canada, they're in a bit of a hole, but as that back edge comes through, not only an increase in the rain, but we're probably going to see some thunderstorms too, 2 to 4 inches of rainfall across parts of Socal, 2 to 4 feet potentially across parts of Colorado.
Unofficially on an automated weather station in Pascos, California, 204 inches of snowfall, officially at Mammoth Mountain 186 inches of snow. You require not only a snorkel. You require stilts, and something to get you above that snow. That's unbelievable stuff. Going to be a great Christmas with that stuff. John and Kiran back up to you.
ROBERTS: Powder's a great thing as long as you don't take a tumble in it.
MARCIANO: Exactly and tough to find your stuff, that's for sure.
ROBERTS: I took a tumble in 2 feet of powder at snow bird once. Literally, I lost everything and couldn't get back up again.
COSTELLO: No, it's much worse to go snowing in the northeast when it's just like ice and you fall.
ROBERTS: That hurts.
COSTELLO: That does hurt.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Rob.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Rob.
Little girls love playing with Barbie and guess what? It looks like little girl chimpanzees enjoy playing with dolls too. A scientist has been examining chimps in Uganda for 23 years and they've made a rather remarkable discovery.
Young female chimps often play with sticks and logs as they're baby dolls. They were seen stroking and cradling the sticks, apparently, maybe I don't know, rehearsing for mother hood.
ROBERTS: Wow, that's fascinating. When you don't have a Barbie, you'll make do with whatever you've got, right?
Well, this morning's top stories just minutes away now including tensions escalating on Korean peninsula this morning. South Korea holding more live fire military drills while the North retaliates on paper. We'll explain.
COSTELLO: And the University Of Connecticut's women basketball team unbelievable. They set a new record for consecutive victories, 89 in a row. We're going to talk to a former member of that team, Renee Montgomery.
ROBERTS: A battle of the sexes when it comes to recovering from the recession. Who is expected to earn more once the economy rebounds? Those stories and more beginning at the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: It's 7 minutes now to the top of the hour. So just how many people are living in America today? Initial results of the 2010 census showed the U.S. population has grown nearly 10 percent over the past decade to roughly 308.7 million people.
The census also reveals a continuing shift in population in political power to the south and west as a result, eight states including Texas and Florida are going to gain seats in Congress and 10 states including New York and all-important Ohio are going to lose them.
COSTELLO: Food and Drug Administration about to get a lot more muscle, a bill giving the agency sweeping new powers is now on its way to President Obama's desk. So what does it mean for the safety of your food? Christine Romans is minding your business now. What does it mean?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It means for those 308 million people who are now living under a food safety regime from the 1930s, they're going to get a 21st Century food safety regime and quite frankly, many consumers groups are saying this is a victory for everyone.
One in six people sick in this country every year because of food-borne illness and this is the first major change in food safety laws since after the great depression meant to keep up with changes in the food business.
It would require companies to establish food safety plans. It would allow the FDA, the government, to go into farms and big companies and see into their books where their food came from and try to track down better what happened, trace the origins of food if there is an E-coli outbreak or if there's some sort of tainted egg, tainted peanut butter, tainted spinach, tainted tomatoes.
We have seen all of these cases over the past few years. It also gives the government the authority to order product recalls. Can you believe this? The United States government can't tell a company you've got to get your toxic spinach off the shelves.
They have to negotiate with the food companies, this is the way the law is now. Negotiate with the food companies for a recall. That's something that's happened in a lot of different industries as consumer protection many would say was gutted over the past 20 or 30 years and now the government will have the authority to be able to say you have to get that off the shelves out of stores.
ROBERTS: Critics would say the FDA hasn't done a terrific job in protecting us when it comes to drugs so why should we trust them with our food?
ROMANS: Yes and critics are saying that. Critics are saying that how are you going to pay for the 2,000 new inspectors? They have to make sure it's funded in the new budgets and that the Congress funds all of this.
Also, is 2,000 enough? And the globalized food system, it's far flung. You look at processed foods. There could be 20 or 30 different countries of origin for the products that are coming in.
So it's a very big, monumental task there. We have to see how the FDA does it. Also, meat and eggs -- meat and poultry products are the Agriculture Department, USDA. So the 80 percent of your food will now fall into FDA.
COSTELLO: But it's better, right? It's a positive step forward --
ROMANS: Absolutely. Absolutely. Consumer groups say this is a victory for any of us who put our fork on to a plate.
ROBERTS: We'll see if it works. Devil's in the details, right? Thanks, Christine.
COSTELLO: Fast food turned into fast cash for a man in Wisconsin. Jonathan Kehoe, he's now a millionaire after he win McDonald's monopoly contest. Kehoe who's out of work said he went into McDonald's, he ordered a McRib and he pulled off the game tab and found the winning board walk and park place pieces and he now said he is set for life.
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JONATHAN KEHOE, MCDONALDS MONOPOLY GRAND PRIZE WINNER: To me, I mean, it is perfect. If I have appropriate my money right and I can be made in the shade for the rest of my life, really.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: He has to live frugally though because that's before taxes, right?
ROBERTS: We made the mistake of just a second ago asking Christine Romans if you can be set for a life on a million dollars and she said --
ROMANS: Well, you need $250,000 just in keep of the out of pocket medical expenses and retirement.
ROBERTS: Looks like we're going to nickname her buzz kill.
ROMANS: No, I just - you know, boring but important. These are numbers that are boring, but very important.
COSTELLO: Exactly. I agree with you, but I hope he lives his life in a way that a million dollars will lasts -- he is only 29 years old.
ROMANS: If he invest it wisely and does the right thing, he can live on a million dollars.
ROBERTS: But Apple stock 10 years ago at $7 a share, he could be set for his life, mine, yours, Carol --
COSTELLO: He bought a McRib and he won a million bucks.
ROMANS: A kid today lives to 125. None of the retirement calculators go to 125. That's what I get worried about. How am I going to pay to live to a 125?
ROBERTS: By that time, retirement age will be 86.
ROMANS: There you go.
ROBERTS: Thanks. Top stories coming your way right after the break. Stay with us.
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