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Denver Airport Accident; Athens Police Clashes Continue; Wintry Weather Batters Country

Aired December 21, 2008 - 16:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABRIEL TREJOS, PASSENGER: On my side of the plane, I could see the engine. I noticed it was on fire. I could feel the heat coming from the window.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Next on the NEWSROOM, veering off the runway and fire on a plane with 115 people on board. Fire fighters say it's a miracle that no one was killed.

Plus, riots in Athens, Greece, two weeks and counting. Outrage over the fatal shooting of a teenager threatens the government now.

And take a look at live pictures right now, the National Menorah, right now in the nation's capital of the White House. We will take you there live for the occasion, the lighting of the Menorah on this first day of Hanukkah this evening.

Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfiled and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM. One day after a Continental Airlines jet veered off the runway at the Denver Airport, there are a whole lot of questions. There may be more questions than answers in fact. Here's what we know. No one was killed. But at least 38 people were hurt, and as many as seven are still in the hospital. Flight 1404 was taking off for Houston last night, but apparently it never left the ground. 2,000 feet short of the end of the runway, the Boeing 737 veered to the right. It ended up on fire and in a ravine 200 yards away. Still not clear if weather was a factor.

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LARRY KELLNER, CEO, CONTINENTAL AIRLINES: There's nothing specific that's come up on the weather as far as snow or those type items, but I really want to let the investigation move forward to figure out what happened as far as the, that caused the accident. But there's nothing specific I'd comment on the weather at this moment.

All we know is its taking off about 6:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time and that it veered off the runway. The slides were deployed but were not really - again, we will do a full investigation, the NTSB will lead a full investigation, we will assist with that and as those facts come out, we will give them to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: So federal investigators have arrived in Denver. They are looking over the wreckage and talking to witnesses, trying to figure out exactly what went wrong. News conference is also scheduled in about an hour from now. We will bring that to you live as that happens.

In the meantime, CNN's Susan Roesgen is at the Denver International Airport. And you from a lot of people who are on that plane quite frigtening moments.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely frightening, Fredricka. You can imagine being on this plane. An ordinary flight. The weather conditions apparently were pretty ordinary, clear, no snow to speak of, little bit gusty but nothing out of the ordinary. And so the National Transportation Safety Board investigators will have to really comb through the wreckage and piece this thing back together. But when you look at the aerials of this wreckage, it is amazing that anybody got out of here alive and that there wasn't anybody burned by the fire that was caused in this wreckage. What we do know again, it was a Boeing 737, 115 passengers and crew. Continental jet taking off about 6:15 here in Denver last night for Houston when for some reason it had only made it about a quarter of a mile down the runway when it slid off into that ravine. Passengers were panicked. They were frightened, a lot of confusion. And there was some confusion on the part of the first emergency responders as well.

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CHIEF PATRICK HYNES, DENVER FIRE DEPARTMENT: The responding crews had a difficult time narrowing down exactly where the airplane ended up. They did find it north of firehouse number four north of taxi way Whiskey Charlie. They described a surreal scene when they pulled up.

TREJOS: On my side of the plane, I could see the engine. I noticed it was on fire. I could feel the heat coming from the window because I was on the window side of the plane.

MARIA TREJOS, PASSENGER: I was just worried about my son. Just making sure that he was OK. We just, we saw the - I looked to the side and and I saw my husband. There was this big like fire ball out the window. And I was just, you know, it was surreal. I didn't know what to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROESGEN: The passengers described pushing each other, shoving each other, falling on top of each other, crushing each other in the rush to get off that plane. Fredricka, if you are wondering why you couldn't see it behind me is because this is one of the biggest airports land-wise in the world. 53 square miles. A huge airport. The wreckage is some distance away, but the National Transportation Safety investigators will come here and they will look at the wreckage on the ground. And then what they'll usually do is take the parts and pieces of it and reassemble it in some giant hanger someplace, put it back together, and then figure out what caused it to all fall apart. A lot of questions we don't know, of course, is again, what caused this to happen, why was there a fire, what was the experience of the pilot and the co-pilot. Was there any kind of issue with the tower? These things haven't come out yet, but we hope to get more, either this afternoon or certainly tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: And, Susan, I wonder if the airline or if anyone is saying much about whether they are happy with the exiting, how the passengers or the flight crew are able to help the passengers exit that aircraft in this kind of emergency?

ROESGEN: No, Fredricka, we are not hearing anything about an orderly exit. We do know that the evacuation shoots were deployed. So people were jumping on the chute and sliding down. In fact, some of them were walking up that ravine by the time the fire crews first got to them. But again, according to the passengers, it was a mob scene inside. We don't know yet you know how the crew tried to handle it. These are things that we still have to find out.

WHITFIELD: Yes and when you describe mob scene I understand there were some passengers who talked about how difficult it was to get off the plane because there were passengers worried about their luggage, trying to get pieces of luggage from the overhead bins.

ROESGEN: Which, Fredericka, were actually melting. We understand that the fire was so intense that parts of the luggage bins were melting onto the passenger seats.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.

ROESGEN: So again, the injuries are broken bones, two people at least in critical condition last night. One in fair condition now. Serious condition for the other. But amazingly, no burns. Just a lot of broken bones and bruises. It could have been so much worse.

WHITFIELD: Wow, amazing stuff. Well Susan Roesgen, thanks so much there at Denver International Airport. Again, we are awaiting a conference from the National Transportation Safety Board in the next hour. We will bring that to you live as that takes place. More details hopefully on this aircraft, flight 1404, Continental Airways sliding off that runway.

All right. Let's look at the severe weather picture across the country, and it has proved deadly in many parts for at least one person in Massachusetts. Authorities say a 44-year-old man died after a snow-weighted tree limb fell right on top of him. The wintry blast has by no means been confined to New England. However, the Great Lakes and northern plains have also been hammered. Highways in Minnesota looking more like ice rinks with vehicles flipping, sliding and skidding and hampering weekend travel plans for many. Even in places where heavy snow is expected. Well this blizzard is proving to be a bit much. Green Bay, Wisconsin is what you are looking at. They are dealing with a bunch of closings and cancellations due to the growing snow drifts. And in Milwaukee a man shoveling snow collapsed and died.

Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider in the weather center. It is a horrible situation in so many parts of the country, and really unsafe. BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, Fredericka. We have more snow that is falling in areas that already saw a blast of wintry weather just a couple of days ago. Specifically in New England where the snow is coming down heavy and hard across the state of Maine. And that's where we have an i-report to show you. Several pictures from Shawn Ramsey, also know as Chef Ramsey. He took these pictures outside of Rundle, Maine, which is right near Kennebunkport. And you'll find that we got some pictures of some very heavy snow in this region that he photographed over the past couple of days.

Take a look at the I-reports now and you will see that this is just outside his home. And wow what a blast of wintry weather. Eight inches of snow. Let's move on to the next picture. And we can show you that that's his backyard. Not a good day to be sitting outside. Look at how high that snow piled up. We have a couple more shots to show you of the region. I think that could be - oh there's a dog buried in there. That's to show you the depth of the snow is up to the size of the dog's legs.

And one more photograph, a distant road shot. And you can see the interstate just covered with heavy snow in that region. Thank you, Shawn, so much for sending in your i-report. And if you would like to send one your wintry weather ireport just go to ireport.com. You can upload your photos or video. More snow across New England. It could be 20 inches in some areas, especially near the Canadian border. But then what's happening is we are getting a wintry mix of weather right through parts of Rhode Island and especially towards southern Connecticut. The temperature to the north is below freezing, to the south well into the 40s. So it's just a mess for those of you that are driving on this day as we go the weekend just before the holidays.

Taking a look at Michigan, we have a lot of wintry weather also passing through this region right now. Snow is falling. The winter weather advisories persist for this region. Six to ten inches of snow. A blizzard warning for parts of Iowa. All this is affecting travel in a huge way, Fredricka. Coming up a little bit later on I will have the complete check of your air travel delays, and it's a lengthy list.

WHITFIELD: Oh, I believe it. All right. Thanks so much, Bonnie. I really appreciate it. We will check back with you.

Honoring the memory of Caylee Anthony, an outpouring of affection and sympathy in this way for the little Florida girl.

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WHITFIELD: The search for evidence continues in the murder case of a Florida toddler. Caylee Anthony. Investigators served Cindy and George Anthony a third search warrant yesterday to comb the place for more clues. Both grandparents were there.

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CAPTAIN ANGELO NIEVERS, ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA SHERIFF'S DEPT.: It's never a good time for anyone that just lost their granddaughter and they have that information that they have just received that's devastating information to them. Obviously we are going to treat them with respect as well due to the fact the pain they are going through. But we also have an investigation that we need to continue to process, evidence that needs to be recovered and we'll continue to do that in the coming days and weeks as is necessary.

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WHITFIELD: Caylee and her mother Kaycee Anthony lived in the house before the girl disappeared last summer. The remains of Caylee were found just last week and identified through DNA testing. Her mother Kaycee is now facing murder and other charges.

As investigators search the Anthony home, sympathizers continue to gather at a makeshift memorial close to where Caylee's remains were found. People affected by the little girl's tragic story, left flowers, notes, stuffed animals and their prayers. Erik von Ancken from CNN affiliate WKMG in Orlando, Florida, has the story.

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ERIC VON ANCKEN, WKMG, REPORTER (voice-over): A note for a little girl Catherine Cubano never knew but wished she had.

CATHERINE CUBANO, MISSES CAYLEE: I'm a 45-year-old woman who could not bear a child. I would be blessed to have a beautiful little girl like you. I want you to know that I am sad and hurt with how your life was abruptly ended without even yet beginning.

VON ANCKEN: Her note is neatly nestled among hundreds of other momentos where the hope has now left Hope Spring Drive. Never before has this corner seen so much grief. So many people all day with so much hurt. This little girl couldn't help from being drawn in. The resemblance is heart wrenching.

THERESA DAVIDCON, SAYING GOODBYE: She would see the pictures of Caylee on the news and would scream, that's me. I guess just because of her age and how she looks similar to Caylee and a lot of the things that she would do at home was similar to Caylee. Playing house, watching "Sponge Bob Squarepants." I just couldn't see where somebody could take a child like this and harm it. When I got to the corner and it's just emotional.

VON ANCKEN: Caylee's memory moves on in so many other's memories.

CUBANO: I love you and I will miss you and your sweet smile and your big precious brown eyes of innocence. I am very sorry that this happened to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And just a short time ago the Anthony families have announced what will happen to all those toys,t he mementos and the gifts that have been left at that memorial for Caylee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRAD CONWAY, ANTHONY FAMILY ATTORNEY: What they want to do with all of these gifts that were given to Caylee is give them to underprivileged children. Our plan is to give them to the Orlando Union Rescue Mission. There are at least 88 children and several families that are homeless. And they won't really have a Christmas but for the gifts that everybody has given to Caylee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Conway said the memorial would stay up for a few more days so that people who didn't want their gifts given to others will have a chance to retrieve them if they want.

All right. With more bad news on the economy, President-elect Barack Obama is expanding his economic recovery plan. Advisors say he will try to create or save three million jobs in the next two years. Obama is on a working holiday in his home state of Hawaii. CNN's Ed Henry is there and joins us live from Honolulu.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aloha, Fred, that's right. The president elect has changed his goal on the number of jobs he wants to create after he got some dire warnings from his advisors about this recession being even worse than expected.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HENRY (voice-over): Home to Hawaii for President-elect Barack Obama and his family. 12 days of relaxation to ring in the New Year. But there's no rest for his economic team, which has been ordered to think bolder after the president elect received dire private forecasts suggesting the nation could lose four million jobs next year without drastic action.

SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), VICE-PRESIDENT ELECT: What have we learned is the economy is in much worse shape than we thought it has been. This is a spiralling effect. There is no short run other than keeping the economy from absolutely tanking.

HENRY: So transition aides are now huddling with democratic leaders in Congress to craft a stimulus plan of up to $775 billion to try and jolt the economy. Republicans are wary about the price tag on top of Friday's rescue of automakers, the latest in a string of taxpayer bailouts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm concerned about when we hear these staggering numbers, close to a trillion dollars right now in spending, where is that going to take us over the long run?

HENRY: Team Obama argues the short-term spending will reap dividends long term. The emerging plan includes billions for backlogged transportation projects, to beef up construction jobs and improve the nation's infrastructure, modernizing crumbling private schools to creat jobs while also investing in education and weatherizing one million homes, money to upgrade furnaces, fix windows and seal leaky air ducts to boost the industry while also cutting energy usage. SEN. BARNEY FRANK: If we don't do this, it will cost us even more. This economy is now in the worse shape since the Great Depression. And if we don't respond in a very firm way, it gets worse and worse.

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HENRY: Now there will be other business during this working vacation. The president elect is getting daily intelligence briefings. And also this week the transition team is expected to reveal that long awaited internal investigation into contacts with the Illinois governor, a very sensitive political matter. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sensitive indeed. Ed Henry, thanks so much there in Honolulu.

All right. let's take a look right here. This is the nation's capital and momentarily will be the lighting of the National Menorah on this first day of Hanukkah come sundown. Right now you are seeing some performers there during the ceremony that really lured quite a few dozen people there, right there on the ellipse of the White House and when the official lighting takes place, let's take there you live.

Well, mister, can you spare a little help with unemployment at 10 percent staggering foreclosure rates, the people of Detroit can at least forget about their troubles on Sunday, or can they?

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WHITFIELD: Oh is that something to be jolly about or not? Our i- reporters are sending in their favorite Santa photos. And we are sharing them with you. This is from Kristie Leachman of Genesseo, Illinois. I hope I got that right. This picture shows her oldest daughter, (Theresa) who is very happy to see Santa and giving him her wish list but younger daughter, McKenna, not so happy there. Turns out McKenna doesn't really like Santa or this whole picture-taking thing. Which photos did the Leachman used as a Christmas card? Well, of course the one that got the most laughs. Probably that one.

All right. So government bailout loans come not a moment too soon for Detroit. The city has suffered through a horrendous year symbolized by its halfless lions. CNN's Carol Costello takes a look

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You can call Detroit the big hurt. Unemployment stands at 10.1 percent. Foreclosure rates are staggering. And the city's mayor?

MAYOR KWAME KILPATRICK, DETROIT: All I'm asking for, you know, your forgiveness. It will never happen again.

COSTELLO: He lost his job and landed in jail for lying under oath about a lured sexual affair. Detroit. The big hurt. DREW SHARP, COLUMNIST "DETROIT FREE PRESS": Detroit needs help. Not just from the economic standpoint, but you know people in this town count on the sports teams to kind of help them get through the real world, and as bad as the Lions were this season, it's just kicking the city in the stomach even more.

COSTELLO: Are they ever? The Detroit Lions, far from uplifting, they have become a metaphor of what's wrong with Detroit. Owned by William Clay Ford, yes of those Fords. The lions are on the verge of a historic NFL record. If they lose this Sunday, they will be 0-15. Yes. 0-15. For you nonsports fans, that means they have not won a game all season. If they lose the Sunday after, they will be 0-16. Fans are beyond angry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With any luck, maybe William Clay Ford Clay Ford will hire George W. Bush to be your new general manager. And if that happens, you thought 0-16 was bad. We might even lose the pre-season.

COSTELLO: Detroit seems to be taking out all of its woes on the teams. Booing them so relentlessly that Lion's center Dominic Raola gave the finger to his own fans with no regrets.

DOMINIC RAOLA, DETROIT LIONS CENTER: I'm tired of being a door mat. You know for people to just talk to us, how they want to talk to us. I'm just not going to put up with that anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Desperate times calls for desperate measures.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, why do you say that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to win.

COSTELLO: Some fans are starting to drift away but for many, there remains those beautiful things that lions fans have always had and that Michigan possesses. Intense loyalty and hope. You can hear it in the governor's voice.

GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D), GRANHOLM: In Michigan, we are going to be all right.

COSTELLO: And in sports fans' hearts.

SHARP: I'm one of the few people in this town who actually thinks 0- 16 is impossible in the NFL.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Actually, some fans are hoping the Lions really will go 0- 16 because at least they will have won at something. A rather embarrassing place in NFL history. Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.

WHITFIELD: All right. Carol, talk about the big hurt. OK, bigger hurt now. More bad news. The lions lost to the New Orleans saints today 42-7. Ouch. Bigger hurt. All right.

Well, another Kennedy eyes the U.S. senate. Is political pedigree enough to win her the job once held by her uncle?

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WHITFIELD: All right. Now an update on our top story. As many as seven people are still in the hospital following yesterday's accident at Denver International Airport. A Continental Airlines jet taking off for Houston, veering off the runway and ended up on fire in a ravine. We are expecting to hear more from the National Transportation Safety Board in about an hour from now or, rather, in the next hour, somewhere in that next hour. Scheduled a news conference in Denver and we, of course, will bring that to you live.

Meantime, overseas more fiery protest on the streets of Athens, Greece. A two-week old demonstration against police is making parts of the city look more like a battleground. Protesters are angered by the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old by police earlier in the month. Rioters yesterday attacked the city's second Christmas tree display after bring the first one days after the police shooting couple weeks ago. Government's inability to contain this growing violence is now sparking calls for a change in leadership. Reporter Anthee Carsavva is in Athens and joins me now by phone. Anthee, how is it that the government or police can't get some sort of control over the situation?

ANTHEE CARASAVVA, REPORTER (via telephone): The government has said that its main priority has been since the shooting to avoid any blood shed. In line with that, it has adopted a defensive stance in that its riot police are not going out on an offensive chasing these rioters. The government has said that it has several options and, in fact, the security experts that I've been speaking to said that these options range from banning protests to going into universities where honor kills are holed in and are launching offensives against the police to clear them out. Things like that would aggravate the situation and not the government which is in a precarious situation, would not want to see.

WHITFIELD: So when we say that there are some calls for some sort of change in the leadership, leadership of what? The government or police law enforcement?

CARASAVVA: No. The leadership, there is a very strong call for a change in the government. This has been obviously quite a bit by the main opposition, the socialist party, and even as we, as in the aftermath in the shooting in December 6th when we saw genuine outrage by students who took to the streets, later we saw workers and laborers, teachers, people of all crosses of life and aspects of life taking to the streets basically to send out their grievances and express their frustrations to the government and its belt-tightening measurements.

WHITFIELD: And so Anthee how is this disrupting day-to-day operations or perhaps even tourism? Given Athens usually has a pretty good draw for tourism this time of year.

CARASAVVA: It is, of course, an issue here and, in fact, a lot of these demonstrations are keeping the market, at least in central Athens, very numb. Unfortunately, these demonstrations are continuing to take place and we are seeing several shop keepers, seeing these demonstrations. This is, it's a city, though, that where it's aching to return to normality and residents that fight these demonstrations are trickling into these shops and trying to keep the commercial activities going, especially during this holiday season.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Anthee Carasavva thanks so much joining us there from Athens.

The symbolic shoe protest taking place now in two Canadian cities. Many hurled their footwear at photos of President Bush in support of the jailed Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at the president last weekend in Baghdad. Well, in addition to demanding the journalist relief, protesters are condemning U.S. Policies all together in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On India now the Taj Mahal Hotel reopened in Mumbai for guests today. The hotel's five restaurants were also booked for diners; the hotel was damaged in the city's deadly terror attacks more than three weeks ago now. In all more than 160 people were killed. And part of another hotel that was attacked, well it reopened today as well.

Under fire for opposing same sex marriage, in this country evangelical pastor Rick Warren is defending his invitation for president-elect Barack Obama to give the invocation at next month's inauguration. Speaking last night at a Muslim conference in California, Warren stressed the message of inclusion.

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PASTOR RICK WARREN: We are all immigrants. And America is as much a Muslim right for Muslim Americans as it is a Jewish right for Jewish Americans or Christian Americans or anybody else. I love America, and I love the idea stated by that great thee trogon Rodney King, can't we all just get along?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Obama earlier this week defended his choosing of Warren saying it's impossible for all Americans to simply agree on everything. So we invited out Bill Schneider, senior political analyst to talk a little more about this situation and other political news. All right. So Rick Warren kind of trying to explain. Does that help the situation at all?

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I'm not sure it does. There was a big shock here in California where I am right now over the passage of proposition eight. The president-elect says that he defends his decision to invite Rick Warren because he wants to be inclusive. But this isn't really a debate or a negotiation where you want to have a diversity of views represented. This is a public ceremony. It's really a statement. So the criticism is that the president elect has chosen to honor someone who opposes equal rights. And the gay and lesbian community and its supporters feel excluded from this public ceremony. They feel that the president is making the statement excluding them. And the support has included an awful lot of young people who are a key element, the key constituency supporting Barack Obama.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about another statement that President elect Obama is making kind of upping the ante to the 2.5 million jobs he wants to help create now he's saying 3 million jobs. Wait a minute. Doesn't it take money to create jobs? How this going to happen?

SCHNEIDER: It does take money and, of course, most of the money will be borrowed from the future generations. The expectation is if the jobs program, the economic stimulus works, it will stimulate economic growth and that as the economy grows, tax revenues will increase and help bring down the public debt. What's most important here isn't simply that he's going to hire people to do public works.

He wants to generate hope. That's the key word. Hope. Because the thing that will get this economy moving isn't public work spending or public jobs its private investment and private spending. That will come only if Americans raise their optimism and expectations for the future. And the fact that we are inaugurating a new president is one step in that direction and Obama wants to keep that hope going.

WHITFIELD: And I guess among those sectors that president-elect Obama is saying those new jobs will come from grows, mass transit project, and even some government buildings and installations of I guess certain medical technology at certain facilities.

SCHNEIDER: And energy.

WHITFIELD: He's big on energy as well.

Let's talk about Caroline Kennedy seeking this New York U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by Hillary Clinton. She's got name recognition. What else?

SCHNEIDER: Well, she does have name recognition. That's not nothing in this day and age in the very big and important state. She also has an ability to raise money. A lot of people will give her money and that's important for her future campaigns if she becomes the senator. Because whoever is named to this seat will have to defend the seat in 2010 in a race for the last two years of Hillary Clinton's unexpired term, and then the seat comes up again in 2012. So the ability to raise money is absolutely crucial. She wants to be part of the Barack Obama movement. Her endorsement of Barack Obama was absolutely critical a year ago. She clearly wants to be part of what Obama is doing to save the country.

WHITFIELD: And few argue that she has a pretty good track record for being able to raise money.

SCHNEIDER: She raised money for the New York public schools. And that's very important.

WHITFIELD: All right. Bill Schneider thanks so much coming to us from Los Angeles. Enjoy the holidays too. SCHNEIDER: Thank you, you too.

WHITFIELD: For years, talking about the holidays, Toys for Tots has made Christmas very special for children in need. But now big problem.

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WHITFIELD: One of the highlights of this time of year, right, the classic photo with Santa, whether it's naughty or nice. Well, this indeed is a Christmas to remember. Our I-reporters have been sending in their favorite Santo photos just like that. Cathy Tomala (ph) of Baltimore sent in this picture of her very unhappy son Paul there. She had to distract him as best she could to actually get that picture.

And Matthew Freer of California, he wasn't very happy about sitting on Santa's lap either. Where is the picture of him? All right. Well, the picture was sent by mom. We are welcoming all these photos coming in from you on the happy and the not so happy photos with Santa. Thanks so much for sending them in.

All right. Well, we are also getting video of bad weather. Our I- reporters in New Haven, Connecticut are among the mix, heavy snow there over the weekend, few cars on deserted streets. If you have a video or picture that you would like to share just this.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Slow driving.

WHITFIELD: Even if there's audio, we will take that too. OK. We like that commentary. Continue to send in those images to I-report.com. with or without videos, Bonnie.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Got the driving technique there, talking and driving and photographing the road at the same time.

WHITFIELD: Seems like maybe she was a pedestrian because didn't seem like she was in the car.

SCHNEIDER: As we take a look at the northeast now we are still getting heavy snow falling. This has been a one-two punch for New England with a big storm that came in Friday night, dumped around eight inches of snow. Round two, Sunday night when so many people are heading out to travel right before Christmas, getting close for the holidays. You can see the snow continues to fall across Maine and into western Massachusetts and 40 miles west of Boston is where we have our next I-report. This comes to us from Karen Sax in Hudson, Massachusetts.

It's what it looked like outside her house yesterday. She goes for a walk in the snow, comes back, our next picture shows you what her car looks like, completely covered in snow. You can see she was doing the snowplow getting the pathway outside the front door to her car which was buried in snow. They are some hardy folks.

Now what is happening is we have low pressure to the south of Rhode Island so the winds are tightening up around the low as we get moisture coming up from the Atlantic and the back side blowing in some brisk winds from the north making for, you guessed it, lengthy airport delays for this Sunday evening. And we've got a lot of that to show you.

From Seattle out west to Boston, two hours, 35 minutes for ground delays. Also delays in Houston, in the New York metropolitan areas at least Newark looks a little better now they are at an hour and fifteen, they were at two hours earlier. San Francisco has lengthy delays as well, an hour and 35 minutes. LaGuardia now 40 minutes. And in Aspen, where lots of folks are heading for the holidays, it's closed right now. Hopefully it will get reopened soon.

Wintry weather is really plaguing the entire country, not just the northeast where we have a combination of rain, sleet and snow. But as we head all the way across to the Pacific Northwest, blizzard conditions in parts of the Cascades right now due to blowing snow across this region and some rain along the coast. It's been wet and windy and it certainly has been very cold over the entire country. Here's a look at our current temperatures. If you are looking for the oldest air right now as we go outside, this is the wind chill across the northern Plains and the Midwest. It feels like it negative 21 degrees in Fargo. Feels like it is about negative ten in Duluth, Minnesota. So the cold air is in place. We are looking at some very cold conditions. Winter got here at 7:04 this morning. As you can see, it's definitely here.

WHITFIELD: It felt like it even before 7:04 this morning in some parts. Gosh, negative, no. I can't be there. I don't even want to visit and I certainly wouldn't live.

That having been said thanks so much, Bonnie appreciate it.

Christmas certainly wouldn't be Christmas for a lot of kids without presents. And that's where the Toys for Tots project steps in. However, this time stepping in is a little tricky.

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WHITFIELD: So some like Santa, and then, hey, some don't. It's just as simple as that. Melissa McKevers (ph) of Manhattan Beach, California responded to our request for favorite Santa photos. Stephanie McKever (ph) tells us that her 4-year-old daughter, Nicole, wouldn't even look at Santa this year. And 2-year-old Carson just cried and cried. But the grownups as you see right there, they were really jolly. They had a very fun time with Santa.

And Anna Varnich (ph), well, hey, she's only nine weeks old and did what nine week olders do. They sleep, right through the Santa visit. And his mom, Lori Varnich (ph) of Pencele, Texas, sent us a picture. Thanks so much for sharing.

Well, a lot of folks are waiting for Santa to arrive. Right now we are waiting for the National Menorah to be officially lit. Hanukkah begins at sundown. Right now you are looking at live pictures of the ceremony of the National Menorah right there at the nation's capitol. When that happens, we will be able to bring that to you. All right. We all know that giving is not always easy, especially when times get hard. This holiday season CNN photo journalist bring a story that focus on people helping people. Toys for Tots, for example, have been giving presents to children in need for more than 60 years now. But as photo journalist Bob Crowley shows us the donations are not coming in like they used to.

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(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Toys for Tots started by the Marine Corps in 1947. Reserves picked it up as something they would do at Christmastime to distribute toys to needy children.

SGTY. DANIEL SAMPSON, U.S. MARINE CORP: This is the warehouse for the greater Boston Toys for Tots program. All the toys from the local areas and collection points and events come into this facility. They go in to the orders and then they go out right from this area.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): The need this year is rather overwhelming.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): We are at a standstill. We can't fill any more orders. We are down to zip. These bins should be full of the toys and their respective age groups, and as you can see, there's absolutely nothing in them. Normally we would throw the toys in there, but we haven't even bothered putting them in there, because as soon as they come in, we just start bagging them. It's really bad. I have never seen it this bad. I'm sure the economy has a lot to do with it.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): We can get them in earlier then some of the people that are on the waiting list might be able to receive toys.

I hope that we get enough help that we can fill all of the orders. And right this minute, it looks like we are going to be turning people away.

SAMPSON: Every kid deserves a present on Christmas. Just to put that smile on the kid's face that might not have a toy on Christmas. It really makes it worthwhile.

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WHITFIELD: Thanks to last-minute donations, the Boston Toys for Tots office says it should meet its goal. Nationally, however, it's a different story. Cities like Philadelphia, Fresno, Miami, Atlanta, and many others are indeed hurting for toys.

And in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM, why Norway is saying thank you to the British for the gift that you can't miss in the heart of London.

And for more on our focus of the giving series, visit our website CNN.com/giving.

All right, the latest now on our top story, that fiery jet accident at the Denver Airport, well a Continental Airlines jet veered off a runway and somehow it also caught fire all this happening last night. All 115 people on board escaped. At least 38 were hospitalized. Most with broken bones and bruises. At least one person was seriously hurt. It's unclear exactly what caused the Boeing 737 to lose control. The National Transportation Safety Board is giving a news conference at the top of the hour. We will bring that to you live as it happens from Denver.

Here comes Santa. We asked I-reporters to send in favorite Santa photos. And here we go. The classic image. Not all the kids very happy about it all.

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WHITFIELD: All right, well, nothing like a trip to Santa to stir up a few memories. Our I-reporters are sharing some of our favorite Santa photos with us and then we are sharing them with you this holiday season. Here's one from Melissa Harris of Jacksonville, Arkansas. She tells us that her seven-month-old son Micah had no trouble with Santa there but seemed a little bit confused. Unfortunately for Santa there that beard is real and Micah just simply liked to pull on it.

And Lynn Marshal was just 5 years old when her dad snapped this photo in Peoria, Illinois. And by the way she is now 66. She held on to this photo. But she says she remembered this day quite clearly. She tells that you say she answered the door found Santa standing right at the door and then they just took a few right there on the sofa and had a little chat. Good times for her.

And the news that Santa is just for kids, Timothy Morris of Lake Land, Florida, decided to take his 8-month-old Chihuahua, Butch, to see Santa and take that photo there. Moore says this is the first time he is actually dressed Butch up this holiday season, and he's going to make it a tradition.

Thanks for sharing all of your holiday traditions with us. Here's another one. Happy holidays from the Jordan family of Kent, Washington. Kristin Jordan sends this photo of her sons Wyatt and Nash there, 3-year-old Wyatt, pretty happy to see Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus, but not so happy was the little one there. Quite a different story for the 1-year-old, Nash. Mom Kristin says Nash didn't stop crying until they left. Why do we do this to our kids? But they make such great photos and great memories, don't they?

Well, long flight delays certainly can lead to short tempers this holiday season. But at the Houston Airport, the mood is quite merry.

Karaoke. That's pretty good there. The airport has set up a machine right there for travelers to kill a little time and be jolly about it all. Anyone with the holiday spirit and a whole lot of courage. And maybe even a good little step there. She's very happy. Take a step right up to the microphone and belt out their favorite Christmas tunes and, of course, it's all free of charge.

The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.