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American Morning
Bieber Gives Back; A Christmas Gift; Helping Military Families; White Christmas?; TSA's Beverage Container Alert; Storm Cleanup
Aired December 24, 2010 - 06:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning on this Christmas Eve. It's Friday, the 24th of December. Thanks so much for joining us on this American Morning. I'm John Roberts.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello. Kiran has the morning off. We have a lot to talk about this morning, so let's get right to it.
A new alert as millions of you head to the airports. The TSA warning passengers to avoid carrying those insulated thermoses for your coffee or tea. They say the containers could be used by terrorists. We'll explain.
ROBERTS: A pilot who exposed a potentially dangerous gap in airport security in San Francisco says he's the one being punished. The pilot, who wants to remain anonymous, took these cell phone pictures of the security checkpoint for San Francisco airport ground crew. It consists of just a swipe of an I.D. card. The pilot posted the videos online, and within just days, was ordered to remove the videos.
He was also suspended from the program which essentially allows him to act as an air marshal in the sky, and he had his federally issued handgun taken away. The TSA says the pilot may have engaged in conduct that, quote, "impairs the efficiency of the TSA."
COSTELLO: Close to 100 people sick, and health officials say the trail leads to one restaurant. The CDC warnings alfalfa sprouts from the national sandwich chain Jimmy Johns are linked to a salmonella outbreak in 15 states and D.C. We'll have a live report on what you should avoid.
ROBERTS: But first this hour, for the estimated 90 million of you who are traveling this Christmas, a massive, sprawling snowstorm could paralyze your trip home. Here's a live look at radar this morning. Snow and ice expected to wallop the Midwest today, dumping several inches in some of the major cities.
And that same system will eventually make its way into the southeast, where if the forecast holds, places like Atlanta, which you're looking at this morning, could have their first measurable snow on Christmas in more than 100 years.
COSTELLO: In southern California, there's still plenty of mopping up and cleaning up to do. Take a look at these residential streets near Los Angeles. Cars buried up to their doors in mud. The acting governor, who is filling in while Governor Schwarzenegger is out of state, declaring a state of emergency in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Kings County.
ROBERTS: A real mess there in California this morning.
(WEATHER BREAK)
COSTELLO: It was simply chaos at a mall in Texas when some 500 people decided what they didn't want -- they didn't want to wait for their new Air Jordans. That's why that chaos broke out. The crowd lunged for the doors in the wee hours. The police sprayed everyone with pepper spray to try to break it up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chaos. Everybody everywhere fighting to get in, trying to -- it was decent, but it just was a struggle to get the shoes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People got pushed down the stairs. It's crazy, man! I saw it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're running in, pushing everybody out of the way, trying to get in line to be the first to get them, even get a chance to get them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All that over sneakers that cost $175. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt and the lines were much more subdued this morning.
ROBERTS: You would think that if there was going to be a rush for anything, it would be sneakers for 10 bucks, not $175.
Well, if you're headed to the mall today, you better brace yourself for the crowds. According to the international council of shopping centers, more than 23 million people are expected to pack stores to wrap up their Christmas shopping. A lot of people have left it until the end here, 23 million of them.
Our Sandra Endo is in the middle of it all, live in Norcross, Georgia, for us this morning. What's it looking like there so far today?
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Carol, merry Christmas Eve. I don't know if it's going to be so merry here when all the shoppers flood this area, but already we've seen shoppers come out here in the wee hours of the morning to get those last-minute holiday gifts.
The reason is, this old Navy has been open around the clock. They opened up at 7:00 yesterday morning. They're going to close again tonight at 7:00, but the last straggler left at 1:00 this morning, and we've already seen people come in at around 6:00 to get those last-minute gifts.
Now, as you mentioned, there are millions of people that are going to head out there to the stores today, all those procrastinators. We talked to some of them yesterday evening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don't think about it until the last minute, or like, I don't know, you don't really think it's Christmastime until it's actually like a day before.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's fun to be in the crowd of people, you know, to watch everybody get all frustrated and find some of the last- minute sales.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do it every year. Too busy with work and running around like crazy and finally have my day off, so I had to get all of my last-minute shopping in today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, my goal was to shop for my sister, but I found some really cool stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENDO: The real goal for a lot of last-minute shoppers, John and Carol, are getting those deals, and I tried to be a frugalista this morning here at the old Navy. It's $25 for all of this. These t- shirts that are long-sleeved waffle-knit, $5 each. That's a pretty good deal, I thought. Then this fleece, $10. So, a total savings of $50 this morning.
And we talked to the first couple that came in here early this morning. They walked away with three bags full of clothes, and they spent it all for less than $100. They get a lot of good deals. But interesting to note, a lot of these stores have already reduced their prices. This store reduced their prices on Wednesday, so not any more savings coming up for today for those last-minute shoppers. So, make sure you check it out.
ROBERTS: Good to be a frugalista, as you put it. Nobody ling up for those $175 sneakers that we showed just a moment ago?
ENDO: No, can't afford that.
ROBERTS: All right, Sandra, thanks so much. Merry Christmas to you.
ENDO: You got it. You, too.
ROBERTS: If you're flying this holiday, you may notice airport screeners taking a closer look at insulated beverage containers like thermoses. The Department of Homeland Security concerned terrorists may store explosives inside the cups. Earlier, we spoke to CNN national security contributor Frances Townsend about the new warning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: This is good news. We're finally getting to a point where we gather intelligence, we incorporate it into our screening procedures before they attempt it. And so we have to be honest, there haven' they haven't banned these insulated beverage containers. There will be additional scrutiny and they've trained the screeners to tell between typical insulation and something that may be an explosive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Passengers are still allowed to bring those insulated containers on board planes. They're just going to get more than one look by the security agent at the gate.
ROBERTS: Well, if you've been frustrated over the last couple days trying to Skype with a loved one before Christmas, Skype service is improving this morning. It's not yet back to normal, though. The Internet service went out on Wednesday, knocked millions of people offline.
Since then, more and more users have been able to sign on, but the company issued a tweet that it will not be able to predict when the service will be fully restored.
COSTELLO: Two big stories regarding your taxes this morning. Those extended tax breaks will mean you have to wait longer for your refunds, and some of you will have to wait longer to file. The compromise between President Obama and Congressional Republicans is changing some of the tax code.
The IRS also says those who itemize their federal tax returns won't be able to file until mid-February. The IRS also says it will be working through the holidays to minimize those delays.
ROBERTS: Well, after sticking with Tiger Woods through his affairs and apologies, Gillette is cutting ties with the golfer as part of a plane to phase out its champions marketing campaign. Proctor & Gamble is the fourth major company to end its endorsement deals with Woods. AT&T, Gatorade, and Accenture also dropped Tiger over the past year.
COSTELLO: The NCAA suspending five Ohio state football players for selling team merchandise, but they're not being banned from playing in the Sugar bowl. The five players, including star quarterback Terrell Pryor, will miss the first five games of next season. The players will be in uniform, though, for the Sugar bowl, which is set to take place on January 4th. Ohio State plays Arkansas. The athletic director is standing by his players.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENE SMITH, ATHLETIC DIRECTOR, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: The decisions that they made they made to help their families. The decisions that they made were decisions that a lot of people were faced with when trying to deal with the economic times that all of us in this country were struggling with. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That may be, but critics are questioning the timing of these suspensions. Many believe the decisions to allow the players to play in the Sugar bowl is driven by money.
ROBERTS: Say it ain't so.
COSTELLO: Yes, well, everything's driven by money.
ROBERTS: Well, you heard the whole story yesterday about the bowl games and how much money was involved.
COSTELLO: If the five star players aren't playing in the sugar bowl, will people show up to watch? So, I'm sure that was a consideration.
ROBERTS: There you go.
Well, Santa and his reindeer have left the North Pole and are on their trip around the world. This year, NORAD has teamed up with Google earth to track Santa's travels around the globe. You and your kids can watch Santa move through time zones and eventually make his way to the United States.
Right now, Santa is over New Zealand. If you want to keep an eye on his sleigh, you can go to any of these websites to track Santa.
So, I used to love it when I was a kid. This is long before Google, long before the Internet, long before even personal computers, but the local news would say, and Santa Claus is -- here he is.
COSTELLO: It was fun, I know. Well, it's still exciting. You just do it on Google now.
Still to come this morning "Spiderman" springs back into action on Broadway. We'll hear from the spectators moments after the highly anticipated performance.
ROBERTS: And he's still in school, yet he's already helping other kids get the education they deserve. Our big star's big giving -- one on one with Justin Bieber, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 13 minutes now after the hour. A serious outbreak of salmonella has health officials warning against ordering sprouts at a national restaurant chain. And 89 people in 15 states and the District of Columbia have become sick, and according to health officials, many cases are linked to alfalfa sprouts from Jimmy Johns Sandwich Shop.
COSTELLO: The company says that it did its own tests and they came back negative for the bacteria. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is in the CNN center to help get us get a handle on this situation. So, their tests come back negative, yet all those people are getting sick?
DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Right, because they obviously can't test the stuff people ate, so those tests don't mean necessarily that these alfalfa sprouts did not get people sick.
So, let's take a look at where people are sick and what's going on here. There's a total of about 89 people sick, 50 of them in Illinois. That seems to be the hardest hit state, also people in Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, and then also in the other states that you see there in green.
And what's interesting here is that this is a matching strain. It's a single strain. And what that tells you is that there likely is a single source for this salmonella. Carol, John?
ROBERTS: So should we, if we go into sandwich shops across the nation, should we be saying hold the sprouts?
COHEN: You know, I think it depends on how risk-averse, to want of a better word, you are. If you're very nervous about this, perhaps you have immune problems, yes, you could absolutely avoid alfalfa sprouts. Your diet could be just fine without them.
You know, but think about this -- way more people ate alfalfa sprouts in the United States than are getting sick. So, you can think of it that way.
Now, let's talk a little bit about where a bunch of these people ate. Some public health folks did some medical detective work, and what they did is that they interviewed 40 people who got sick. And it turns out that 28 of them ate at a chain restaurant called Jimmy John's, and of those 28, 25 ate sprouts. So, what that tells you right there is that perhaps those, you know, obviously, there's something going on with those sprouts at Jimmy John's, and we got that information right from the restaurant.
COSTELLO: So, I guess -- I don't know. I guess you're right, it depends on how risk-averse you are, because it's not a huge number of people getting sick.
ROBERTS: Right. I mean, clearly, more people have eaten alfalfa sprouts than are getting sick, but you could also say, gee, you don't need alfalfa sprouts. So if there's a salmonella outbreak in some, why would you eat them? Everybody makes their own decision.
COSTELLO: Do you think they nailed it down to the sprouts, nothing else in the sandwiches?
COHEN: So far, that's what they found.
ROBERTS: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks. Merry Christmas to you.
COHEN: Thanks, and to you.
COSTELLO: Still to come this morning, a special way to support the troops this Christmas. Military families tell us about how a small gesture can really make a big difference this time of year.
ROBERTS: Christmastime often means watching some of the classic holiday films with the family. So, does your favorite match the most popular movie in a new poll? We'll have the top choices, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Here's some of the stories to get us talking in the newsroom this Christmas Eve. Maybe he was preparing for his vacation come Sunday because, yep, that is Santa Claus, wind surfing along the Niagara River near Ft. Erie, Ontario.
COSTELLO: I thought he was over New Zealand somewhere.
ROBERTS: Well, this was yesterday. He was just getting ready.
COSTELLO: Oh.
ROBERTS: You might think that a wet suit is more appropriate for this activity, but actually, the man is a wind surfer who has done this for the past 26 years. He does it to raise awareness for homeless people.
COSTELLO: Well, good for him.
It may be the most popular Christmas movie out there, but critics say it's not necessary lay the best. A poll on ew.com says "A Christmas Story" is the number one Christmas movie. More than 19 percent of voters picked that holiday classic. Many critics say "It's a Wonderful Life" is the number one holiday movie of all time. Surprisingly, it landed in fourth place. I love that movie.
"Love, Actually" came in before it and so did "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."
ROBERTS: Now, we were talking about "Love, Actually," and everybody here in the newsroom that has seen it loves it. You need to see it.
COSTELLO: I do. I've seen "Christmas Vacation" and I love the part where the squirrel attaches -- that's funny.
ROBERTS: "Love, Actually" is such a sweet movie. You need to watch it.
COSTELLO: OK.
ROBERTS: The show must go on. The Broadway musical "Spiderman" returned to the stage last night and this time it went off without a hitch. It's the first performance since an actor fell 20 feet off the stage this week. They say the actor, Christopher Tierney, is expected to recover. He had a couple cracked ribs.
They had new safety measures in place and spectators were impressed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK MARS, MIAMI, FLORIDA: I mean, you don't feel an element of danger. It's kind of like if you go to the circus or see a Cirque du Soleil or something like that. You know there's always a potential, but you're not looking for that. You're just enjoying the excitement of the show.
LOGAN WEBER, MARIETTA, GEORGIA: The harnesses looked really safe. They had two strings on every person who went above the crowd. If one broke, there's still one that would still be good, so I think they'll be fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: I think the show may be fine, too. People are so interested in it now because of all of its drama.
ROBERTS: The critics hate it, but the audiences are fascinated by it.
COSTELLO: They're the only ones that matter.
ROBERTS: As long as the box office continues, that's all it needs.
COSTELLO: And until now, it only happened to him on TV. Actor David Schwimmer is about to be a daddy for real. He and wife Zoey Buckman are expecting their first child. He is best known for his role as Ross Gellar on "Friends," but congratulations.
ROBERTS: Congratulations to them.
Who's been naughty and who's been nice this year? We're going to look at some top three lists that touch on politics, business and pop culture just ahead.
COSTELLO: Speaking of pop culture, Justin Bieber, so young, so famous and already giving back. Our Alina Cho talks with the pop sensation as part of her special series "Big Stars, Big Giving."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Always the star of the show. It's 24 minutes after the hour. This Christmas Eve we thought we'd find out who's been naughty and nice in politics, business, and pop culture this year. So we asked two people with strong opinions to share their top three in each category, Robert Zimmerman, a member of the Democratic National Committee, and Leslie Sanchez is a Republican strategist and she joins us this morning from Washington. Good to see both of you and happy Christmas to you.
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you. Merry Christmas.
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Merry Christmas. ROBERTS: Robert, let's start with you. We have a naughty list, first of all, before the nice list. Courtesy of our graphics department, we've kind of Grinched up your naughty list. Who's on your naughty list and why?
ZIMMERMAN: Amongst my top three, number three belongs to Rand Paul. We have had a season, a political season of crazy and divisive comments from the right and from the left, but after Rand Paul attacked the Americans with Disabilities act and the Civil Rights act of '64, now he's drawing analogies between the Nazis and Democrats. He's more into Hitler than Ava Braun. And I think it reflects why he's on the naughty list this year.
ROBERTS: Who's number two?
ZIMMERMAN: Number two goes to Michael Moore. If you want to be a progressive leader, you have to take tough positions and have leadership. He was a contributor to George Bush's election by supporting Ralph Nader over Al Gore. In the health care debate, the greatest debate of our generation, he stood on the sidelines criticizing everyone. The only time we hear from him is when he's promoting movies or DVDs.
ZIMMERMAN: Or trying to bail out Julian Assange.
ZIMMERMAN: Or promoting himself.
ROBERTS: And number one?
ZIMMERMAN: Number one, this was pretty universal in conclusion from a lot of Democrats and progressives -- John McCain. It's not just that he reversed himself on don't ask, don't tell, and opposed the DREAM act after authoring it, but then after introducing Sarah Palin to the world, he's now texting with Snooki. He's got a thing about women who don't like to read, I'm telling you.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Oh, no!
ROBERTS: Leslie, we'll get you to respond in just a second, but first of all, who's on your Grinch list this Christmas?
SANCHEZ: Sure, no problem. Number three, I would say duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson. I'm going across the pond, for trying to sell access to her ex-husband, Prince Edward. That was a no-no.
Number two's more interesting. It's more recent. It is Ernst & Young. New York prosecutors are going after them in a civil case, accusing them of hiding some of the financial improprieties that brought down Lehman Brothers and hurt a lot of investors. But it's the first Wall Street kind of government act after 2008 failure.
But number one belongs to the one and only Charles Rangel for being censured by the house for his ethics violations. I think on a long career of public service, this is not the way you want to go. ROBERTS: Yes, I think, too with Sarah Ferguson, the prince we were looking for was Prince Andrew.
SANCHEZ: Andrew. I said Edward.
ROBERTS: Not prince Edward. Let me get you to respond, though, to Robert's naughty list.
SANCHEZ: You know, I think that the Democrats have a love affair with John McCain. He can do no right, he can do no wrong, and to compare to ads, Snooki, the long career. They're really going to have to move forward with different ideas.
And you know, with Rand Paul, he is also part of the Tea Party movement, energized many different individuals throughout the country and led to a Republican takeover of the Congress, or at least of the House. So, I think we're excited about that.
ROBERTS: What do you think of her list?
ZIMMERMAN: I've got to tell you, Leslie, that's not a naughty list, that's a prosecutorial dream list you put together. I think for Christmas, though, in terms of new ideas, we somehow, Leslie, we can talk about Tea Party initiatives without drawing upon analogies to Nazis. We have to move beyond that.
ROBERTS: OK, let's go to you nice list. Who's on your nice list, Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: Nice list, number three, that belongs to Doug Liman. This brilliant filmmaker is the executive producer of "Fair Game," featuring, starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. It's the story of how the Bush White House pursued a political strategy that exposed Valerie Plame Wilson to get even with Ambassador Wilson for telling the truth.
ROBERTS: Number two?
ZIMMERMAN: Number two, that goes to heroic congressman Patrick Murphy. He was not just an Iraqi war hero, but he was a hero on Capitol Hill, the architect of "don't ask, don't tell" and paid the price, losing his seat in a close election over that issue.
ROBERTS: Number one on your nice list?
ZIMMERMAN: Number one on my nice list goes to Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, performed an historic achievement when she brought both Russia and China to the table to implement historic sanctions against Iran.
ROBERTS: Leslie, your nice list this Christmas?
SANCHEZ: Nice list, one thing we talked about leading into 2010 was social media, the impact. And I'd have to say it's all things Facebook. Certainly with Mark Zuckerberg at the helm, he not only donated $100 million to charity, New Jersey schools, he's also named "TIME's" man of the year and there's even a small movie called "The Social Network," which is getting a lot of buzz. It changed the way people communicate.
ROBERTS: Although that wasn't too flattering toward Mr. Zuckerberg.
SANCHEZ: I think he was OK.
ROBERTS: How about number two?
SANCHEZ: Number two, I have New Jersey Governor Chris Christi.
ROBERTS: The "bulldozer."
SANCHEZ: Yes, for being good to the taxpayers of New Jersey, and he's setting an approach that could be a model for state government and leadership across the country.
ROBERTS: And who's number one?
SANCHEZ: Number one goes to former D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Not only has she bucked the educational system to reform schools, she's looking at doing it nationally now one school at a time.
ROBERTS: That picture she looks like she's about to chew up the teachers union.
(LAUGHTER)
ZIMMERMAN: Leslie, are you going to go with me to the movies and see "Fair Game"? Will you finally go out with me to the movies? Come on!
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Absolutely, Rob. In the spirit of Christmas.
ZIMMERMAN: Finally. And we'll watch Alina Cho's "Great Stars, Great Giving" as well.
ROBERTS: And why don't we also get the two of you a DVD of "Love, Actually," and you can get together and watch that.
ZIMMERMAN: Leslie, we've got a future.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: All right. Leslie, Robert, great to see you this morning.
ZIMMERMAN: Merry Christmas.
ROBERTS: Merry Christmas to both of you. Thanks.
SANCHEZ: Thank you.
COSTELLO: That was funny.
It's 7:30 Eastern Time -- time for a check of this morning's top stories.
A fresh blanket of snow complicating millions of travel plans this morning. The winter storm right is now dumping snow and ice across the Midwest. The same system is expected to make its way towards the Southeast, where areas like Atlanta could eventually see snow.
ROBERTS: The United States may consider Iran to be a sponsor of terrorism, but it's reportedly still allowed to do business with a number of U.S. companies like Kraft Foods and Pepsi. "The New York Times" reporting that the Treasury Department has granted nearly 10,000 special licenses to businesses over the past decade. That's so they can sell products like popcorn, chewing gum, cigarettes and body- building supplements in countries on the U.S. terror list.
According to federal law, companies can trade with black-listed countries if it's approved for medical or humanitarian purposes.
COSTELLO: Think the West Coast is the only part of the country that has to worry about earthquakes? Well, think again. More than 500 quakes have been recorded in the past few weeks in the small town of Guy, Arkansas -- 500 quakes there. Last year, there were only 39 the entire year. Geologists don't know if those quakes will stop any time soon, either.
ROBERTS: Yes, townsfolk thought it was interesting at first, but now, they're a little sick and tired of it.
And Lady Gaga, a leader in gay rights issues, has nabbed DoSomething.org's number one spot on the list of top 20 celebs going good. Alicia Keys came in at number two for her work on fighting HIV and AIDS.
CHETRY: And this morning, we're focusing on some of those mega stars who are giving thanks for all of the success they've achieved, including Justin Bieber, one of the hottest music stars on the planet, and he's only 16 years old.
Alina Cho joins us now with more on her special "Big Stars, Big Giving." He was lovely, wasn't he?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was! He was a lot of fun and now, I'm a big Bieber fan.
ROBERTS: A Biebette?
CHO: Biebette or I have Bieber Fever.
Good morning.
You know, you could call it a real-life Cinderella story. You know, Justin Bieber virtually overnight went from food stamps to becoming a millionaire several times over. But what was most surprising to us, certainly you, is that even at the ripe old age of 16, Bieber already is building a history of giving back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): Justin Bieber --
(MUSIC)
CHO: -- he's hot, hot, hot -- so hot the hysteria surrounding him has a name, Bieber Fever. The hair, the music, the moves.
(MUSIC)
CHO: And he's all of 16, with a passion for giving back.
(on camera): You know, you think to yourself, he's 16 years old.
JUSTIN BIEBER, POP ARTIST: Yes.
CHO: How does he know what charity is?
BIEBER: For me, I grew up -- I didn't have a lot of money. And for me, it's about helping people out that haven't had opportunity.
CHO (voice-over): In fact, it wasn't just that Bieber didn't have a lot of money. Four years ago, he and his mother -- a single mom -- were broke, living in poverty.
Then his mom uploaded videos of him singing on YouTube. Little did she know, they'd go viral and catch the eye of a record producer.
The rest is now Bieber Fever history.
BIEBER: For me, I'm inspired by -- you know, by children and other kids. And I think that charities that are involved, involve kids -- it's just important to me.
CHO: So Bieber is giving back, one C.D. at a time. A portion of his new C.D. sales benefit the Children's Miracle Network, money for children's hospitals. And $1 from every concert ticket sold goes to Pencils of Promise, which builds schools in the third world.
(on camera): That's a lot of money.
BIEBER: Yes.
CHO: Why?
BIEBER: I just think that, for me, it just goes past, you know, money.
CHO (voice-over): Perhaps most touching, at concerts, Bieber meets personally with a child from the Make a Wish Foundation.
BIEBER: It's definitely hard on me. Definitely it gets me a little teary-eyed. And it's -- it's just crazy to know that, you know, that I'm the wish.
(MUSIC)
CHO (on camera): What inspired you to write those words?
BIEBER: There's so many people in this world that go without. And there are so many people that just need someone to just help them.
CHO: It was nice to talk about something other than your hair and the girls, right, for a change?
BIEBER: Yes. I do love talking about girls, though.
CHO (voice-over): And that's when you remember all this giving back from a star who's just a kid.
BIEBER: I have such a big platform. And it would be silly if I didn't do something good with it.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: And he also plays four instruments, if you can believe it. For behind-the-scenes photos of our shoot with Justin Bieber, you can go to our Web site, CNN.com/amFIX. For more on how you can make a difference, CNN.com/Impact.
ROBERTS: You know, I didn't know about his background.
CHO: Yes, you know -- I mean, it's incredible. When his mom uploaded those videos of him singing on YouTube, they really only did it because the file was too big that they couldn't send it out over e- mail. They really just did it for their extended family members, and then this record producer was looking for someone who was about the same age singing "Respect," and clicked on Justin Bieber, not knowing it was Justin Bieber, and boom, was interested, and suddenly --
ROBERTS: So, if mom hadn't uploaded those videos --
CHO: Who knows?
ROBERTS: -- none of this probably would have happened.
CHO: Who knows what would have happened. But what's really great about him is that at 16 years old, he really has a mind, you know, and is committed to giving back and committed to children, you know?
ROBERTS: He's got a good heart.
CHO: Yes. He really, really does.
COSTELLO: And hopefully, he stays that way.
CHO: We hope so, of course.
COSTELLO: His mother's very involved in his life, right?
CHO: Very much so. Very much so. They travel together and so forth, but I also interviewed Nicole Kidman, as you know, Halle Berry, Julianne Moore, Edward Norton, all about their charitable efforts.
ROBERTS: Back to Bieber, though. He receives so much criticism, you know? Maybe people who are criticizing him who probably don't go anywhere near him in terms of charitable giving, should give that some consideration.
CHO: Well, right. And, you know, we were talking about, you know, a portion of his C.D. sales, $1 from every concert tickets sold, and you mentioned, you know, overtime, that is a lot of money. It is millions and millions of dollars. You know, he says he's inspired by Michael Jackson, not just his music, but his commitment to charity. And he says, if I could give a tenth of what Michael Jackson gave, I'd be really happy.
ROBERTS: Easy to criticize. A little more difficult to do the type of work that he's doing.
CHO: You're absolutely. Yes, you give him a lot of kudos.
COSTELLO: And don't forget, don't miss Alina's one-hour special "Big Stars, Big Giving." It airs tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern and tomorrow on Christmas day at 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
ROBERTS: Well, it's not just Justin Bieber. A young girl answers the call to kids in need this Christmas. We're going to introduce you to "Katie Claus," as many people call her. Straight ahead: Her story, her mission and how you can help her help others.
COSTELLO: And small donations are making a big difference for some military families this Christmas. We'll show you how you can help.
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COSTELLO: Christmastime can be hard on sick children and their families, especially if they're not well enough to be home around the tree. But one 9-year-old girl is doing the best she can to give those kids a merry Christmas.
Katie Green and her parents, Liz and Dean Green, join us live now from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Merry Christmas to you all and thanks for being here!
LIZ AND KATIE GREEN, MOTHER AND DAUGHTER: Merry Christmas.
DEAN GREEN, KATIE'S FATHER: Thank you.
COSTELLO: I like that. That was awesome.
Katie, you know, they call you Katie Claus because your mission this year was to raise $15,000 to buy toys for sick children.
K. GREEN: That's right.
COSTELLO: And when people hear of a 9-year-old wanting to raise $15,000, they say, oh, that's crazy! Did you do it?
K. GREEN: Oh, yes. I raised $15,708.
COSTELLO: That's insane!
K. GREEN: So, I made it.
COSTELLO: You made it? How did you do it?
K. GREEN: Well, I speak to groups and I do -- I send out a newsletter and I do craft shows.
COSTELLO: You started doing this sort of thing when you were 6 years old. How did this idea to raise money for kids come to you?
K. GREEN: Well, I was in a store and I picked up a care bear and then, all of a sudden, I had this idea that I wanted to do it. So, this is my fourth Christmas, and I'm 9 years old.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's good.
So, Liz, when Katie said, "Mom, I really want to do this, this care bear has inspired me," what was going through your mind?
L. GREEN: Well, you're a 6-year-old child and that will be fine, but you need to raise the money. I said, Katie, that will be fine. Your mom and dad aren't an ATM, so raise the money and you can do that. Not expecting it to go where it has gone, you know, thus far, but we're very -- we're very thankful that it has.
COSTELLO: So, Dean, when you were having this conversation with your daughter, did you really think that she would come up with creative ways to make -- to raise this much money?
D. GREEN: Well, honestly, no, not really. But then on the other hand, she's very hard to say no to, and so, things tend to work for her when she goes to stores and asks for discounts and that type of thing. People generally come through for her. We try to come through for her.
COSTELLO: Well, Katie, tell us how this works. So, you raise this money, you got the toys. So, what's the next step?
K. GREEN: Well, the next step is to take a break and then in January, I'm going to start back up and figure out my goal. And then -- but I take it one step at a time and then keep doing it.
COSTELLO: So, when you deliver these toys, what goes -- how does it feel for you?
K. GREEN: Well, I know that I have helped a child in the hospital that is in pain and really needs a toy on Christmas, and that just helps me feel better about how bad they're hurting.
COSTELLO: And I know it must be difficult, because sometimes you can't get into the actual hospital room to see these kids because they're too sick and they don't want to put those kids in any danger.
So, just in knowing the toys go to those children, what does it mean to them?
K. GREEN: Well, it -- they don't know who it comes from, and I bet if they did, they would feel so, so happy. But they always do when they get a toy because that's what children like is a toy to have to play with, to pass away time.
COSTELLO: That's so -- so, Liz and Dean, I see you looking at Katie with such pride. So, as you -- as you listen to your daughter this morning, Liz, what goes through your mind about this kid?
L. GREEN: It's just amazing. She has worked so incredibly hard, Carol, to make this happen and she is so dedicated. It inspires us to do everything we can to help her take it to where she wants it to be, and we look -- and as odd as it sounds, we look to her for guidance and see where she wants to go and help her achieve that.
COSTELLO: Oh, it's terrific. OK, so, Katie, quickly, your goal for next year? It was $15,000 this year. Next year, it will be?
K. GREEN: Well, I have not decided yet, but I know I'm going to do it, and my mom and dad have said, Katie, whenever you want to stop, we can stop, and the money that we have saved over, we can just spend it and then bring the toys to the hospitals.
COSTELLO: It was $15,000 this year. Next year it will be?
K. GREEN: Well, I have not decided yet, but I know I'm going to do it and my mom and dad have said, Katie, whenever you want to stop, we can stop.
And the money that we have saved over, we can just spend it and then bring the toys to the hospitals, but they're not going to stop me from doing it because it's my ministry and I lead it, so I make the decisions.
COSTELLO: Well, thank you for joining us.
K. GREEN: It will be bigger.
COSTELLO: Yes, it will be bigger. I'm sure.
K. GREEN: And thank you for having us.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Green family, and Merry Christmas.
K. GREEN: Merry Christmas.
ROBERTS: OK, she is amazing. She is nothing short of amazing. That's incredible. COSTELLO: Just $15,000.
ROBERTS: That just makes your heart feel so good.
COSTELLO: Well, imagine a cute little 9-year-old girl going into some retail outlet and saying, you know, I'm collecting toys for sick children. I mean, how could you say no?
ROBERTS: I think the crux of it, she said right at the end, she said it's my ministry and I'm going to do it the way I want to do it. Good for her. Good for her.
COSTELLO: Good for her.
ROBERTS: Still to come this morning, military families split apart over the holidays. We're going to introduce you to the organization that's making it a little easier for them to cope.
COSTELLO: And the southeast bracing for a rare White Christmas weekend. Rob will have this morning's forecast after the break. It's 46 minutes past the hour.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What a great lamp.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here, hold it. Hold it! Here, go on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The old man's eyes boggled, overcome by art.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow! I know just the place for it, right in the middle of our front room window!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It would not be Christmas without a little "Christmas Story" and without a little leg, our own leg lamp, right here in the CNN studios. I'm glad we cut away at that moment.
ROBERTS: Do you believe Phil actually bought that?
COSTELLO: And he loves it.
ROBERTS: He has a little one, too, a candle goes on the top of it. It's 49 minutes after the hour. Rob Marciano's in Atlanta. You got a leg lamp, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I don't, but that makes me want to get one. Phil absolutely adores that thing. I mean, who wouldn't? A Christmas classic. Good morning, everybody. It would be nice to have a little snow on your Christmas to make it just white enough to paint a picture, wouldn't it? Well, we're going to try to make that happen for some folks. Places like St. Louis and through parts of Kentucky, Chicago trying to get into it as well. I'll tell you who's been getting snow on and off for the past couple weeks. It's been eastern mass and parts of northern New England.
Talking about California and the Rockies, 10 inches in Greenville, Maine, Wellington with nine inches, and Landgroove, Vermont with seven inches. Christmas in Vermont, tell you what, snowing, nothing better than that.
Thirty to 60-minute delays in New York, Philly and Boston because of the winds that you guys have been enduring. Minneapolis and Chicago, we'll see some low visibility because of this snow, which is part of the west coast system getting the Cedar Rapids, to Chicago. There are winter weather advisories out. No winter storm warnings. Look for one to three inches in Minneapolis.
Looks like a winter storm warning was just posted for northern Iowa, three to five inches maybe more than that now according to the National Weather Service and two to four inches potentially from St. Louis back through Louisville and this is all heading to the west or to the east, I should say.
High temperature of 53 in Atlanta, not quite cold enough for snow, but rain possibly changing to snow tomorrow night in north Georgia. Dusting on the ground day after Christmas would certainly be a historic moment. You can measure snow in some parts of the country using a leg lamp. I suppose.
COSTELLO: You could just place the leg lamp and the heel and measure up.
ROBERTS: Six-inch Stiletto heel. Did you say airport delays in New York?
MARCIANO: Yes, I mean, just, you know, small ones. Small potatoes for Laguardia.
ROBERTS: You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
COSTELLO: Governor Bill Richardson was just back from a trip to North Korea. We're talking to him about the high tensions over there and something else, too. Is he really going to pardon Billy the Kid?
ROBERTS: We'll ask the governor.
A $30,000 fine at a dusty cellar is quite Christmas gift for a Florida man. A story behind a very, very fine wine that's ahead. It's now eight minutes to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Nothing says Christmas like a Yule log in a television monitor with a copy of a New York City tabloid and a leg lamp.
COSTELLO: Hopefully not reading about the foot fetish.
ROBERTS: You're reading about the Jets' coach there, Phil?
The holiday season can be a rough time for military families with their loved ones deployed overseas. Our Casey Wian shows us how a charity is providing a special service to show its appreciation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you finished, baby?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Syndonne Fingall and her five young children know dad won't be home for Christmas this year. Andrew is a former George Mason University basketball player who's now an Air Force lieutenant serving a yearlong tour in Afghanistan.
(on camera): Tell me a little bit what it's been like for you to have your husband overseas and you are here with five children, you know, what's it been like?
SYNDONNE FINGALL, HUSBAND DEPLOYED: You know, it's -- it has its ups and down. I mean, there are days when honestly I come home and I cry because, you know, you just think of -- you're thinking of, my God, it's only two months into it and you have these 10 months to go.
WIAN (voice-over): Syndonne is Jamaican born, proud to be an American and now feeling even more love of country because of a simple gesture, a free Christmas meal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our gift to you. We want to say thank you and please thank Mr. Fingall for all he's doing for us.
FINGALL: Thank you for thinking about the military family at this time and thank you again.
WIAN: Meals in box for military families is a new program from Angel Food Ministries, well-known for responding to disasters and offering discounted food, 1,500 U.S. military families received gift meals in the past week donated at $36 a box. The Fingall's donor is pastor's wife at the Maranatha Church.
SOLOMBRA INGRAM, DONATED MEAL TO MILITARY FAMILY: It is about more than just a box. It's just knowing that someone cares about you and someone is really wanting to give you that love and attention that you may not have because your husband is deployed.
FINGALL: It even goes beyond, you know, just the financial part. It is just so important to us to know that people, you know, this always get me teary. People care about us.
WIAN: The meal says support our troops.
FINGALL: We have some yams and beans.
WIAN: And their families. FINGALL: And also in the oven, I have chicken and ham.
WIAN: And the Fingall's are a portrait of gratitude. Casey Wian CNN, San Pedro, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: If you're interested in donating to the cause, you can go to www.ssl.angelfoodministries.com/donation.asp.
COSTELLO: Wow, that's a long one. We'll put it on the website.
ROBERTS: Yes. If you go to ssl.angelfoodministries.com that will get you there and we'll put it on our blog.
COSTELLO: CNN.com/amfix. Top stories are coming your way right after a break.
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