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Woman with Cancer Weds; Storms Delay Holiday Travel; Traders Enjoy Santa Rally on Wall Street

Aired December 24, 2014 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

I can't wait to share this story with you. A little while ago a 25- year-old young woman was given a diagnosis of only a few weeks to live. A rare form of cancer known to plague younger people, returned after three years of remission. She got her hundred or so loved ones around the country to perhaps say "Good-bye and I love you," but she and her boyfriend came up with an alternative, a wedding instead. So now, just a day after the ceremony, doctors are seeing new gains in her treatment and Liza is no longer in home care.

Liza and her new hubs, Wyatt, are joining me now in front of their gorgeous Christmas tree in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Welcome to both of you and congratulations.

LIZA HEATON, CANCER PATIENT BRIDE: Thank you so much.

WYATT HEATON: HUSBAND OF LIZA: Thank you.

BALDWIN: So I'm going to get the full skinny on how you pulled off this surprise wedding.

Liza, first to you.

How are you doing health-wise today?

LIZA HEATON: I'm doing so much better than I was two weeks ago. I started taking a chemo pill and I think we're on the eighth day now so I can definitely start to feel the side effects. I hope that means it's working. I'm feeling pretty great really. As well as you can feel when you're doing chemo.

WYATT HEATON: Her attitude is great.

BALDWIN: Phenomenal. I see it through the smile and the love between the two of you.

Let's get this conversation started. So you have people in town from all over the country in Shreveport and then whose decision was it to instead of have a gathering to have a surprise, a wedding. WYATT HEATON: Definitely collaborative. We talked about it but then

when we knew that a lot of people were coming into town, we knew that this was something that was really important to the both of us. It couldn't have been a better ceremony. I think there was hardly a dry eye there and we had the night of our lives.

LIZA HEATON: Really, I thought, you know, we only have a few weeks I never thought we could plan a wedding that fast but he thought he could pull it off so he convinced me to turn it into a surprise wedding.

BALDWIN: He convinced you. How did you pull off getting -- I don't know, decorations and most importantly that dress.

LIZA HEATON: Of course, the dress was so beautiful. Actually, a girl that grew up down the street from me was a few years older so she had been married a few years ago. I saw her wear that dress and I always wanted to wear it. I always thought, whenever I get married, I'll just call her and figure out who made it, where could I get it. I used to joke with one of my best friend's about what if I asked to borrow it because she's the same size as me. When we decided we were going to plan a wedding in two days, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to ask her and so I really just called her up and she said, yes. She was so gracious. She said I can get it altered or whatever I wanted to it but it fit perfectly. I was really lucky.

BALDWIN: Incredible.

And so as you're surrounded by love and I had read that your dad said you were having the time of your life. I mean, how are you able to pull it off with being with loved ones and dancing and what was the reaction from all of your guests?

LIZA HEATON: I would say that everyone was really happy. There definitely is tears. No dry eyes. Just so much excitement. So much love. At that time, we still thought I was only going to be able to go into hospice afterwards. There was a sense of it being our last good-bye but it was a wedding so it was about love and fun. I love to dance. He definitely loves to dance.

(LAUGHTER)

So it was a good time. There was a lot of crying.

WYATT HEATON: We had a lot of insiders helping us plan the wedding and take care of just the bare essentials. If you have seen the pictures, you can tell that someone was really taking care of us because the sunset over the lake was beautiful. I think the general mood was just overrun with emotion. I saw people I had gone to college with, tough guys their whole lives who were crying the whole night overjoyed. It was so special to share it with that many people.

LIZA HEATON: I mean, you think for 48 hours you wouldn't be able to get most things you wanted but the wedding turned out perfect. It was my dream wedding. Everything I would have wanted to have in a wedding if I took a year to plan it I feel like I had there. It was great. BALDWIN: As I sit and talk to you and I'm mindful of family this time

of year, here we are on Christmas Eve, what is the message? Talk about loving one another and spending time with your families, what message do you want to tell people as you sit there in front of your Christmas tree?

LIZA WYATT: I mean, I guess I realize once I thought I only had a few weeks left to live how important it is to spend as much time with your family and friends as possible and tell them that you love them and tell them, you know, that they're great or everything you would want to say. I think a lot of times things go unspoken but when people realize they only have a few weeks left, I just got an outpouring of cards and calls and texts and e-mails and just little things saying I love you. I've always felt this about you or that about you and you helped me in this situation. Just things that you would want people to know but you never really take the time to say because you don't feel like you're going to run out of time. I guess just spend as much time and say what you really feel to your friends and family.

WYATT HEATON: I think affliction can make people feel isolated and just the sense of community and the love and support that we've had from everyone that we know, I don't think we ever felt more loved. And we really appreciate that.

LIZA HEATON: Definitely.

BALDWIN: My goodness. You two, no words. Just love from here in Washington, D.C., down to you in Shreveport, Louisiana, and gratitude. I couldn't have said it better myself.

Thank you, Liza and Wyatt Heaton. Best to you.

LIZA HEATON: Thank you so much.

WYATT HEATON: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Talk about spending times with friends and family here. The weather has different plans. Severe storms ripping through the Deep South and how is it affecting holiday travelers? We'll talk about that.

And we're looking back at the year in entertainment. Two words. Weddings and scandals.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A lot of us are trying to get home or to that special city with your loved ones or for the New Year. The weather is not cooperating. Nearly one million Americans will travel 50-plus miles this holiday season. That's a stat from AAA. Rain and snow making road conditions difficult, delaying flights, you get the picture and then you have this. Tornado watches lingering over parts of the south today after deadly twisters killed four people in the overnight hours in Mississippi.

Let's talk about air travel with Rosa Flores. I spent many hours at LaGuardia. Got on the plane and the pilot said,

sorry, canceled.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh no, Brooke. Let me tell you something. One thing for sure travelers did not ask for, for this Christmas, was snow in Chicago, rain in the southeast and more rain in the northeast. But somebody snuck that present into that gift because that's a situation we're dealing with today.

Take a look behind me. We're in LaGuardia where Brooke spent many hours yesterday. Right now, it's smooth sailing for travelers. Almost nobody is in this particular area. I want you to take a look at the gate. What does it mean when you have snow in Chicago, rain in the southeast and northeast? It usually means that monitors like these light up like Christmas trees. Not a good thing on this day. Here at LaGuardia, 10 canceled flights, 31 delays. That's not so bad.

Let's look around the country. Look at this misery map. I feel bad saying misery on Christmas Eve. That's what we're looking at around the country. This is from flightaware.com. We're looking at this together. Look at the rings. They look like ornaments in red and green. Here's how you measure that. The more red that you see, the more misery at that particular airport. Some of the highlights. New York, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Denver, LAX and San Francisco, all of those are on the high scale of the misery map because of those delays.

Now, Brooke, if you are a procrastinator and you spent a lot of time at the airport, you can use your time wisely and get those extra gifts for those extra people in your life that you might want to give something for the holidays -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Yeah, I suppose that could have been something I did. Instead, I just made a few new friends and crossed our fingers we would get out of there.

(LAUGHTER)

Rosa Flores, thank you so much, you and your misery map.

You know, Karen MaGinnis, I have a feeling you have a misery map of your own when it comes to weather in the country. Tell me who has it worse right now.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I would say both coasts looking at a storm system that's gathering strength across the interior west. Up and down the seaboard we've got wet weather, overcast skies, low visibility and I'm afraid that you were with hundreds of people, hundreds of flights that were canceled. We had numerous delays, especially Philadelphia yesterday. Here's a big storm system across the interior west spelling out feet of snowfall. I just checked the weather conditions in aspen. It is 17 degrees there.

Coming up for Christmas day, we'll expect some flurries right across the eastern Great Lakes. It's going to be very blustery. That rainfall ends. You won't see a white Christmas in New York. You're not going to see a white Christmas in Boston. You have dreary weather that lasts the rest of the day. You'll see it during the early morning hours. Santa will have to deal with those raindrops. Look at what's happening across the Great Lakes. Chicago, I think you dodged a bullet. A little bit of rain may change over briefly to snow. We were looking at maybe three to six inches and possibly eight inches with brief snow burst that we were looking at but now that's been canceled. Look at the temperatures. New York City, temperatures in the 50s, then into the 40s. These are running way above average for this time of year. And then for the interior west, all of the way from Helena to Salt Lake to Denver, if you are going to the ski resorts, bundle up. It's going to be so cold one to three feet of snow.

Back to you.

BALDWIN: Karen MaGinnis, thank you so much.

You know, it's a very merry Christmas Eve for the traders. Wall Street enjoyed the Santa Claus rally today, one day after stocks hit the historic high, surpassing that 18,000 mark, that benchmark for the first time in Dow's history.

Alison Kosik tells us how stocks are faring today.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The holiday cheer rolls on. The Dow closed at a record high today up six points to 18,030. If you are invested, look at this year's returns so far. S&P 500 is up 13 percent for the year. The Dow is up 9 percent for the year. So what's moving stocks forward? Stronger than expected economic growth. The economy grew 5 percent over the summer. It's the fastest pace in 11 years. Much of that is being driven by an uptick in consumer spending. Will the momentum continue? Some think you'll see weakness in the fourth quarter's number for GDP but there will be lower gas prices helping fuel consumer spending.

The irony here is that it could be plunging oil prices that could slow down the rally that we're seeing in stocks because lower oil prices could be a signal of weaker demand especially in Europe and in Asia. And stocks are still susceptible to volatile swings as oil prices continue to fall as European and Asian economies slow down and as the fed moves closer to raising interest rates. Meantime, looked like the Dow wouldn't hit that 18,000 mark. The blue chip average came off a huge losing streak but then it staged a comeback with the Dow rising almost 1,000 points over the course of one week to close above that 18,000 level for the first time ever. And then we saw traders pass around these 18,000 hats. We put them on because we did see the Dow get close to that a few weeks ago.

Question is, Brooke, will they continue wearing these hats into the New Year? Many analysts say they're optimistic -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: I know we were wondering if they had jinxed themselves by having those hats a few weeks ago.

Alison Kosik, thank you so much. Coming up next, from Beyonce to Kim K., we're counting down the top 20 entertainment stories of 2014. Find out who claimed the number-one spot when CNN continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You think about this year, there were shocking scandals, over the top weddings and then you had Beyonce and Jay-Z.

"Entertainment Tonight" correspondent, CNN contributor, Nischelle Turner, looks at the top-10 entertainment stories of 2014.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NISCHELLE TURNER, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT" CORRESPONDENT & CNN CONTRIBUTOR: "Frozen" fever winning over a billion dollars worldwide. And that song again, what was it?

(SINGING)

TURNER: Because of that song, the soundtrack has become the bestselling album of the year.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST, NEW DAY: Today, the sad news that Comedian Joan Rivers has passed away at the age of 81.

TURNER: The comedy world and just all of us who loved to laugh mourned the passing of an icon when Joan Rivers died in September of this year. She was 81 years old and died of complications while undergoing a minor surgery. All of Hollywood came out and mourned her. Good-bye, Joan.

So what do we want to call her? Swizzle? T. Swift? Taylor Swift?

(SINGING)

TURNER: She became the first female artist to have three albums sell more than one million copies in one week. Good lord, that girl is good. And she said bye-bye to Spotify. Taylor pulled her music from the service proving they need her more than she needs them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're hearing from Bill Cosby's attorney.

TURNER: We're talking about Bill Cosby and his fall from grace in 2014. More than 20 women have now come forward and said Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them. NBC has now canceled his upcoming project and Netflix has postponed his comedy special.

Celebrities and selfies seemed to go hand in hand these days. What happens when those personal photos become public fodder? A number of A-list celebrities were hacked into and released to the public. Pictures of people like Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton. J. Law called a sexual violation and a crime.

It was Super Bowl Sunday, but the news that overshadowed the game was the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. The actor died in February after an accidental overdose. Celebrities took to social media to pay their condolences and everyone said he was a good man who did great movies.

(SINGING)

TURNER: I think we're all still talking about what happens in an elevator doesn't stay in an elevator. Yeah, the fight in the elevator. Jay-Z, Solange, in the elevator at the Met gala. Beyonce standing to the side and everyone said what's going on with this marriage? Are they breaking up? Are they getting a divorce? Beyonce and Jay-Z gave us a little answer at the MTV Music Video Awards. He got a big kiss from his wife, which said to all of us, mind your business.

(SHOUTING)

TURNER: Jay Leno said farewell and David Letterman announced he was leaving, too, and now we see a new breed of TV hosts. Stephen Colbert is taking over for David Letterman. Jimmy Fallon took over for Jay Leno. He didn't miss a beat.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm talking about weddings. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West got married to much fanfare in Italy. We see Kim Kardashian post every single moment of her life on Instagram. That kiss became the most-liked picture on Instagram this year.

And then there was Bradgelina. They surprised us all. They kept that secret because they're private.

And then, of course, there's Hollywood royalty of all royalty, George Clooney. How did Amal get him to walk down the aisle? I need to talk to that lady. Whatever secret she's got, I want it.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, we learned that Robin Williams, a treasure to millions, has died.

TURNER: There's not a lot that shocks us in Hollywood anymore but this one stunned us all. I'm talking about the passing of Robin Williams. He was 63 and sober. We now know he was struggling with severe depression and early stages of Parkinson's disease. He was loved and beloved in Hollywood. A husband, a father, and to all of us, he was just kind of our favorite guy. His legacy will live on and he will never be forgotten.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Nischelle Turner, thank you so much.

Make sure you watch the "Top 10 of 2014" special here on CNN hosted by yours truly. Make sure you tune in Sunday at 6:30 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.

Coming up next, imagine for a moment that your Secret Santa was Bill Gates. That was a thing. That happened. We'll tell you what the billionaire gave one lucky Redditt user next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The NBA has a Christmas gift for basketball fans. Five blockbuster games tomorrow with biggest stars in the NBA and it's not just a treat for fans in the U.S. The fans are a big deal all around the world.

Brian McFayden has a preview.

Hey, Brian.

BRIAN MCFAYDEN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey, Brooke.

Yeah, all five Christmas games will be televised in 215 countries and in 47 languages. That's how huge the NBA brand is around the world.

The game with the biggest buzz has to be Lebron James visiting south beach for the first time since he left the Heat. He won two championships before heading home to Cleveland. How will James be received by the Heat faithful? Will he be booed? Cheered? Maybe a little bit of both. We'll see tomorrow. The Heat are planning a get well honoring King James with a video tribute during the game. Lebron has played in his shares of Christmas games during his career and he was asked his thoughts in playing another one?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, NBA BASKETBALL PLAYER: It's the biggest day for the NBA. I knew when I decided to come here I was going to play in Miami or against Miami on Christmas day. As far as my family coming or not coming down, we're not sure right now. Go out and play the game. Play the schedule and move on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCFAYDEN: Cavs and Heat at 5:00 eastern tomorrow. You can catch prime time games on our sister station, TNT. Kobe Bryant will play in his 16th Christmas game. Late game is warriors at Clippers at 10:30 eastern. Lots of fun basketball -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Brian McFayden, thank you so much. Happy holidays to you, my friend.