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Maryland's Instant Roaring River; Obama Team to Release Report on Blagojevich Contacts

Aired December 23, 2008 - 15:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Coming at you now: A city street turned into a raging river.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was one of the most hazardous event in my career as responded to on this river.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A matter of life or death?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely, for civilian and rescuer alike.

HOLMES: Desperate to reach her husband, this trapped woman writes his phone number as an SOS. Hear her story.

And it started with a driver who stopped at a red light. That was just the first shooting. Now a city is on edge, a gunman randomly firing at unsuspecting drivers.

And who on his team spoke to him? New details out today could shed light.

It is 3:00 in Bethesda, 10:00 a.m. in Kailua. Your comment unfiltered on Twitter, Facebook and more, like nowhere else. Your newscast starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Good afternoon, everybody. T.J. Holmes here in the newsroom sitting in for Rick Sanchez this hour.

We want to begin with what looked like a weather-related story, but it was not, a flash flood with the flash that nobody had ever seen before. Can you imagine driving down the street, and all of a sudden a four-foot wall of water coming towards you?

That is the scene that played out on live television today, this afternoon in Cabin John, Maryland -- this is just outside Bethesda -- where a water main broke. This was a huge water main. About a 66 inch diameter pipe broke, sending water into a street with unsuspecting vehicles, unsuspecting motorists driving down that street, several rescues taking place.

We had at least 15 vehicles. About 15 people had to be rescued as well. We are going to show you these pictures now, which are remarkable. Take a look to the sights and sounds that played out on live television just a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unexpectedly, we had a 66-inch water main break. And it was during the morning rush hour here on River Road in Montgomery County, Maryland.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Water was going over my car. And I was actually scared that that water will draw us away somewhere, because it was very strong water.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scary. It was just so strong. It was just like I -- there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't get out. I wouldn't want to get out, but I afraid that it was just -- it was moving it. It was moving the car. For a minute, I thought I was just dreaming, because it was just like I was in the middle of a river, a muddy river.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Water like that can kill instantly. We also had a lot of rocks and debris that were floating down, hitting the boat and hitting the cars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Staying in the car was extremely hazardous. With the volume of water, the speed of the water, those cars had been -- were moving and could move even more, and if they rolled over, drowning could have occurred.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We train for river rescues every day and we train for flood rescues on the road, but you never expect to find something like we found today, with the amount of water coming down River Road, with multiple cars stuck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That last one there is the one that had all of us in the newsroom literally holding our breath, as that woman tried to get her child out of that car. She tried for the longest to grab that basket to get into, but they did make it out all right.

We do understand that several -- three people, actually, had to be taken to the hospital for hypothermia. At least one of those was a child, but we do believe everybody is going to be OK.

Pete Piringer is on the line with me now. He's with the Montgomery County, Maryland, Fire Department.

Sir, give us an idea of just how little if any notice people who were on that road had before that water was just on them.

PETE PIRINGER, MONTGOMERY COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, good afternoon. And thanks.

You know, ironically, the closest fire stations to that location are the home base for our swift water rescue team here in Montgomery County. And the unit happened to be headed in that direction, and they encountered this wall of water. To them -- of course, it was very cold this morning, and when the pipe burst, it created a steam or a fog-like environment for them, and they could not actually determine what they were looking at initially.

So, they were able to get there very quickly. At the same time, the motorists were telling me they seemed to have hit by a four- or five-foot wall of water. And, again, with the cold temperatures, it really reduced the visibility. So it was pretty chaotic right at first. But the blessing is that our crews were there quickly. They are highly trained in this type of technical rescue, so it all worked out good today.

HOLMES: And, sir, did I hear that right, that the water rescue team just happened to be that close, in that area?

PIRINGER: Yes, the fire station is a quarter of a mile away.

HOLMES: Oh, wow.

PIRINGER: And it's not far from the Potomac River. And our teams are -- actually, the two closest station are the home base at Cabin John for our swift water rescue.

So, the initial first-responders here at this particular location were all trained in that technical rescue for swift water. So, it was very fortunate for everybody.

HOLMES: Well, sir, I'm sure you -- swift water and water rescue, this is probably not the kind you all are used to doing, when this water is created like this from a pipe burst, but this was a scene we all saw play out live on television and we saw you all do your work and do it so well.

We appreciate your time and appreciate the work you do, but congratulations on getting everybody out. And thank you for your time today, sir.

PIRINGER: OK. Thank you.

HOLMES: Something else we saw play out today was one of the women was -- who was trapped inside her vehicle, she didn't know the best way to communicate and to get information out about who she was.

And she wanted everybody to know she was OK and she wanted her husband to know it. So, what did she do? She wrote a note. She just simply wrote it on a piece of paper, held it up, hoped somebody could jot that down and call their husband for her. There you see it right there. And it worked.

And we're going to talk to somebody on the receiving end of that SOS who was getting that number and taking that number down and making sure that that lady's family knew she was OK. That is coming up on the other side of the break. We are not done with this water rescue yet. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And, of course, as always here on Rick's show, you can join in on the conversation.

This video we are showing you here is from the water main break. This lady was trying to get a message out and that is what she did. She wrote down a phone number on a piece of paper, hoping somebody would see it on the side there and say, hey, can you call this number? That number happened to belong to her husband.

One of the people who picked up the phone and called that number was reporter Sarah Lee. She joins us from affiliate WJLA there in Dallas -- oh, excuse me, Washington. Forgive me. I have got a Dallas story coming up in a second, but this is out of Washington.

Hello to you. You got that number. We all knew that the woman was in trouble, but what were you thinking when you started dialing those numbers and then you heard a voice pick up the phone? Did you even know who you were calling?

SARAH LEE, WJLA REPORTER: Did not know who we were calling.

We saw the white piece of the paper in the window, asked my photographer to zoom in and read off the numbers. There were people on the side of what had become a raging river also sending hand signals. We were confirming the digits with our fingers.

And I didn't know who I was calling. so it was -- I will admit, it was an awkward at first. I said, do you have a loved one? Do you know someone who would be on River Road in a black Honda SUV. The man who picked up said that, my wife drives a Honda SUV.

And I told him, don't worry. She will be fine. There are several highly skilled rescuers out here that are helping here, but here's the situation. You might want to turn on the TV.

HOLMES: Do you know if he had -- Yes, I was about to ask you that, if he had access to a TV. Was he able to watch this play out live?

LEE: Well, I don't know. I think he did. He got himself in front of a TV after that phone call, because I think he -- either he was in shock or it was still absorbing, because he really didn't quite understand what I was talking about.

And I think, also, you know, I am sure with the helicopters and the rapids, me talking to him, probably myself getting nervous, trying to make myself clear.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Certainly a weird conversation to try to have and probably certainly a nervous feeling for him as well. But standing there, and you were describing to me here in the commercial break, you all got so close that you were a little getting nervous, just because you saw up close and personal just how rapid this water was moving and how serious of a situation this was.

As you were calling her husband and talking to him, you know, maybe you didn't relay -- or did you relay just how dire of a situation, you standing there, how dire of a situation it appeared that his wife was in?

LEE: Well, I will tell you the truth, T.J. I didn't want to cause any alarm to him. I wanted to reassure him that she was in safe hands, very capable hands and that she was going to be OK.

I did tell him that there was a water rescue going on. She was in a car. And just simply saying that, we all know -- we have it before -- how dangerous that can be, how those situations can escalate. So, I simply told him, she is being rescued right now and they're in the process of getting her out, and she's going to be just fine.

And I was thrilled to be able to make a follow-up phone call about 25 minutes later to be able to tell him that she was on dry land.

HOLMES: Well, were you able to talk to her, lastly? Have you talked to her at all?

LEE: I personally was not able to talk to her, since she -- they pulled her out onto the opposite side of the river from where I was standing.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: All right, well, Sarah Lee from WJLA playing the role of the 911 operator, almost, if you will, calling to try to help him, help her husband through that situation and let him know that his wife was OK.

Sarah, we appreciate you giving us some time. Glad all this worked out today. Thank you so much.

LEE: Sure.

HOLMES: All right, we will now turn back to some politics, a report expected to be released, what, in about an hour and 15 minutes from Obama.

This report people have been waiting will -- people anticipate will clear him and his team from any wrongdoing and having any ill conversations, if you will, any bad dealings with Governor Blagojevich, the embattled governor of Illinois who is accused of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat.

That report expected in a little while, but what does it really mean? Does it really clear anything? Does it really answer all those questions?

Stay here. We're going to be chatting about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, something for us all to take note of now, today is the day we will, as we have been talking about, learn the result of president-elect Barack Obama's internal investigation.

Just over an hour from now, we expect to find out who in Obama's office was in contact with the office of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's about filling the president-elect's Senate seat.

It's a report two weeks in the making. Specifically, we anticipate more details about Rahm Emanuel's role. The chief of staff was the first person to be named to the new Obama administration. Did he throw his weight around? We will possibly find out here shortly.

Some say the investigation is much ado about nothing. Others will tell you it is a necessity to clear the air as the new president takes office, a new president who is bringing along with him some longtime political veterans from Chicago. And that's, as many of you know, a city fraught with a history of corruption.

A new CNN/Opinion Research poll we will show you now asks what you think about the contacts between Obama and Blagojevich's teams -- 12 percent believe something illegal was going on -- 36 percent say not illegal, but still unethical -- 43 percent say there was nothing wrong at all.

It is the 36 percent that may be the most problematic figure on the board. If that is the public perception before any official report is released, the president-elect may have an image problem to address.

More on that in just a moment. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. We are about an hour away from a much- awaited and anticipated report from the Obama transition team about the contacts between Obama's teams and the Governor Rod Blagojevich's teams about any -- about that Senate seat that Blagojevich was arrested and accused of trying to sell.

Now, here is Obama talking about it just a while back, his thoughts and his feelings about the investigation, and about what he thinks should happen now. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT-ELECT: It's a little bit frustrating. There's been a lot of speculation in the press that I would love to correct immediately.

We are abiding by the request of the U.S. attorney's office. But it's not going to be that long. By next week, you guys will have the answers to all your questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: "By next week" -- that is this week, and an hour away. We will see if we have all the answers to those questions.

Rick Pearson, Ruben Navarrette, will we have those answers? Rick is a political reporter from "The Chicago Tribune," Ruben syndicated columnist from "Dallas Morning News."

Ruben, what answers are we going to have? Are we going to have all of them?

RUBEN NAVARRETTE JR., EDITORIAL WRITER AND BOARD MEMBER, "THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE": T.J., I'm not sure what answers we're going to have.

It is odd that we are waiting with bated breath for a review that is being done by the primary actor in the drama. This is the executive after all investigating himself. And we are waiting to see what finding would be.

In a more traditional role, journalists would be digging around to find out their own answers to this question. And so it's a little odd. I don't think that there will be a smoking gun. I don't think that you will see any evidence of a clear quid pro.

But I will say that the Obama team seems to do a pretty good job of looking guilty even when they may be innocent, because they have not handled this very well from the beginning. They haven't been accessible to the press. They have been running the show.

HOLMES: Yes, that has been a lot of the complaints.

And, Rick, is your headline in your paper going to be, Obama team says Obama team did nothing wrong?

I mean, can we really take -- I mean, no offense, but still how it is OK for people to investigate themselves and we all take it as, OK, I guess everything is all right?

RICK PEARSON, POLITICAL REPORTER, "THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE": Yes, I'm not sure that this is going to end up clearing the air. And, in fact, really, the Obama team is investigating without having the benefit of what the U.S. attorney in Chicago has, which are some of those secret tape recordings that led to Governor Blagojevich's arrest earlier this month.

We may not really have any real answers until Blagojevich goes to trial, and we enter that discovery phase, and may be able to find out what is on some of these tapes.

HOLMES: So, Rick, what would you say is the significant of this report?

PEARSON: Well, I think, one, it is maybe a test here, and since we don't know what the scope of this report is going the look like, this was an incoming administration that talked much about transparency.

Yet, Rahm Emanuel, who has never shied away from talking to a reporter before, wouldn't talk to any reporters. And he is nowhere to be found as this thing unfolds.

HOLMES: Ruben, I think you were making this point just a moment ago. And you read several things out there, several columnists like yourself and certainly all over the Internet, the blogs and whatnot, a lot of people really don't believe that Obama himself and even his team did anything wrong, but the way they have handled this just leaves people scratching their heads.

NAVARRETTE: Absolutely.

Again, for an innocent group of folks, they act guilty. I think there's a concern that the appearance is one of impropriety. Your poll, the poll you mentioned, I think says a lot. The fact that those -- that 12 percent, plus the 36 percent, that means a total of 48 percent of that sample thought that either something illegal or unethical had been done.

And I think that is needless. If in fact the Obama team did nothing wrong, they should be huddling around right now, trying to figure how from this point forward, they avoid this kind of mistake, whereby they create the appearance of something going wrong and convince so many people out there that something is amiss when in reality it may just be innocent.

HOLMES: And, Rick, you cover politics there in Chicago, a town, as we talked about just a moment ago, is really, unfortunately, historically known for some of the bad dealings, the ugly dealings and, quite frankly, corruption there.

Is there so much -- and, certainly, Obama is being celebrated, and a lot of that, people would say, he should be celebrated. But is so much of this -- will this begin, has it begun to, will it ever begin to cause a bit of a stain on Obama, because he does know a lot of these characters?

PEARSON: Oh, absolutely he knows these characters.

And I think it has soured the celebration somewhat, the whole idea of a governor trying to sell a Senate seat of the president- elect. There's nothing untoward for the fact of a president-elect calling a governor or calling his aides or anybody on his staff calling the governor's staff and saying, here are some ideas I have got for a replacement senator.

It doesn't happen that often. It has not been decades before we have had an appointed senator in this state. But I think the next step is, if there were some games-playing going on, if the Blagojevich camp was indeed allegedly trying to extort all kinds of things for the seat, what did the Obama camp do when they got that information?

HOLMES: Ruben, what would you say he can do now, Obama and his team? He is going to put this out, and from what we can understand, they will probably say they have washed their hands of it, this is a done deal.

So, what can he do at this point to maybe clear the air a little more for people, folks like yourself who are kind of scratching your heads, like, you have really bungled this thing, Obama?

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRETTE: He should have a press conference today in Hawaii. He shouldn't wait until the vacation is over with. He should get together with, if possible, Rahm Emanuel, and say, listen, now we are free. We said out of deference to Patrick Fitzgerald that we were not going to release a report until today. Now we have. And now let us take your questions and let us completely dispel any sense that you have we did anything wrong. We did nothing wrong.

But this idea of somehow releasing the report on Christmas week -- he told a reporter from "The Chicago Tribune," I'm not going to let you waste your question on this. I mean, a tip of the hat to Barack Obama. He has handle this little scandal very, very -- scandal, little S -- he's done a good job of taking the air out of the balloon.

But that does mean that the press is absolved of its responsibility to dig deeper and to find out the whole story.

HOLMES: And, Rick, would you say is this not Obama-esque? Is not, the way he's handled this one, the way you and others around Chicago and still the nation now and the rest of the media have been used to seeing him handle things that come up, given he has this mantra of I'm going to be open and open government? But this is not really in line with how we have seen him handle situations and even scandals?

PEARSON: I think, one, he certainly was hamstrung by the fact that U.S. attorney still has a very active criminal investigation going on.

But, two, releasing the news on the eve of Christmas Eve is certainly a classic principle of how to try to bury a story. And, certainly, the Obama camp would love to see this go away. They have been embarrassed by this whole Blagojevich incident, but I don't know that it is necessarily as forthcoming as a lot of people would like to see.

HOLMES: Well, we will see what we do get here in about an hour.

Again, Rick Pearson, political from "The Chicago Tribune."

And, Ruben Navarrette, I will get your paper right this time, "The San Diego Union-Tribune" -- I will say that again, "The San Diego Union-Tribune" -- the syndicated columnist.

NAVARRETTE: Thanks, T.J.

Gentlemen, thank you, as always. And we will see what we get in an hour.

Thank you so much, guys.

(CROSSTALK) HOLMES: We will turn to Texas now, Dallas, a scary time down there for motorists, scary time for people on the road. Several people have been shot in what appears to be connected, but also random, shootings done by someone down there police believe is in a -- riding around literally in a pickup shooting at folks.

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We turn to Dallas now. A scary time down there for motorists after a series of shootings. At least two people dead and we know of at least four attacks. Another person injured in what seem to be random shootings on a three mile stretch of the LBJ down there.

According to police -- again, you see where those shootings took place. But someone in a three mile stretch just began shooting at unsuspecting motorists. We know that, again, two drivers are dead, another one injured in four attacks down there. Police don't have a whole lot of clues. We heard from Craig Miller, one of the officials there with the police department in Dallas.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY CBS11TV.COM)

LT. CRAIG MILLER, DALLAS POLICE: We, in speaking with the representatives from the company, know that Mr. Miller was just about to the point where he was going to drop off his big rig and going to fly out of town, back to his home in Frankfort, Kentucky, where he would be with his wife and children for the holidays. We now know he's not going to be able to be with his wife and his family for the holidays. And that's why it's important that we do everything we can in this investigation to make sure that the people that committed these crimes are brought to justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And just a horrible detail there. One of the men killed driving his tractor-trailer -- he was going to park his rig and head home -- shot and killed before he could park it and head home.

Craig Miller there, you can tell from some of what he was saying that they really don't have a lot of clues and know who they're after here.

We want to turn now to Scott Goldstein. He's a staff writer with the "Dallas Morning News".

Also, Mike Brooks, who's also always helped us out on a lot of security issues. He's sitting next to me here in the NEWSROOM.

Scott, I will start with you, if you will. Listening to that press conference today, it sounded like they didn't have a lot of anything to go on. SCOTT GOLDSTEIN, "DALLAS MORNING NEWS": Yes, pretty much. In the first shooting in Garland, which is just northeast of Dallas, they got a vague description of possibly a man driving what they thought was a tan Ford pickup -- a balding man, possibly middle-aged. But they didn't get any descriptions from anything of the three incidents that followed that in Dallas.

They're even saying that they're not 100 percent sure that all four are the same shooter. It like it because they're in close proximity and close in timing. But they can't say 100 percent just yet that it is the one shooter.

HOLMES: Well, yes, is sounds like, Mike, they don't know what they're up against.

Where do you go?

What do you do?

How do you even start looking for clues in a case like this?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, the fist thing they've got to do is they're going to take ballistics and try to match up the scenes. They'll take the round out of the bodies...

HOLMES: Yes.

BROOKS: ...and take a look at that and make a comparison. But there also, apparently, was some video surveillance in the first shooting in Garland. And what they'll do is, too, they'll go to the businesses along the routes where this happened to see if they can glean any video from there.

HOLMES: But, Mike, at the same -- what does this tell us?

I mean these things happen. But if you've got four in a three mile area...

BROOKS: Right.

HOLMES: ...I mean, does common sense, at least -- are they at least working on the assumption that this is the same person?

BROOKS: You know, they say they're not sure if it's linked, but yes. You're going to go under the assumption it's -- it's the same person. You know, and they're also looking at an incident -- right before all this happened, T.J....

HOLMES: Yes?

BROOKS: ...there -- in Garland, there was a robbery at a Kroger pharmacy. And then they had a description of a dark-colored Honda. Then, after all these shootings happened, they pulled over a guy matching a description of this robbery and there was a standoff with the SWAT team. And this guy used to be a Utah state trooper...

HOLMES: Right?

BROOKS: ...and he tried to commit suicide. So they're going to take the ballistics from that incident, also, because it was so close together when the first...

(CROSSTALK)

BROOKS: ...happened and see if there's any possible connection with that attempted suicide.

HOLMES: And, Scott, I'll turn back to you here.

What are they telling the citizens of -- of the area, the Dallas folks?

I mean, are they giving you anything to look out for?

We've got different vehicle descriptions. We don't know if this is the same suspect. We don't have any descriptions from three of the scenes.

What are they telling you, the media down there?

I'm sure they want you all's help in trying to catch whoever this is.

What are they telling you?

What are you putting out there and telling people to look out for?

GOLDSTEIN: Well, just as much as they -- they put out that truck description -- that vague truck description. But they are making an appeal for more witnesses. They're hoping somebody along the Dallas highway saw something last night during the time period between about 5:40 and 5:50. They're also now offering a $20,000 reward for information that will -- that will lead to an arrest in the case. And like Mike said, they're looking at that -- that standoff that happened later on. They're right now trying to process the ballistics to compare what -- the gun that that man used to try to -- who attempted to kill himself -- to compare that with the Dallas shootings and the Garland shootings to see if they can link all three or link a few of them.

HOLMES: And, Mike, quite frankly, this guy could be halfway across the country, for all we know. He might not be local...

BROOKS: He could be.

HOLMES: He might be heading right out of town.

How do you continue the investigation there to -- an investigation that could be branched out to the entire country now?

BROOKS: Well, I think that video surveillance that they had at the first Garland shooting -- they're going to try to enhance that. That could be a key to this, as well as, I was talking about the other videos that businesses along the way. That's going to play a key role in this investigation.

HOLMES: Scott...

BROOKS: And witness statements...

(CROSSTALK)

BROOKS: ...you know, witnesses. That's -- that's the best thing we can get.

HOLMES: And, Scott, on that point there -- I was about to ask something else. But on the point that Mike just made, it doesn't seem like there are a lot of witnesses, first of all, who can report anything back -- to that point.

And, also, tell me how are people in that community really responding right now?

Because everybody has to use those -- those highways. Everybody is traveling right now, they've got family in town, everybody heading to that area. Everybody is on the road.

Just how is the community reacting right now to what appears to be somebody out there randomly shooting drivers?

GOLDSTEIN: Yes. There appears to be some high anxiety about it, understandably. I mean the one thing that they said at the press conference today was they don't have any reason to believe that it will continue. It happened in very, you know, small amount of time. And I guess sort of what they were leading us to believe is maybe this was just one burst of -- of random attacks.

HOLMES: Now, what can they base that on?

They -- I guess they don't want people to panic, but they're saying they believe this is just one random attack -- don't think there are going to be anymore.

What do they base that on?

GOLDSTEIN: Well, certainly, as you're saying, there may not be any -- any strong evidence for them to say that. But I mean they are trying to calm the anxiety. And like I said, they're working. I mean I think they're kind of crossing their fingers that they can link this -- this other guy in Garland, who was involved in the standoff, to all this. But there's really no strong -- strong evidence yet to link him to these other things. And, in fact, his car doesn't even match what the one witness saw in the Garland shootings.

HOLMES: Mike, do you think they know something that leads them to believe there might be another shooting?

BROOKS: Yes. You know, I -- I'll just go out on a limb saying it... HOLMES: Yes.

BROOKS: You know, I mean, as a former investigator, they must know something other than...

HOLMES: OK.

BROOKS: ...for them to come out and say that.

HOLMES: OK.

BROOKS: You know, what that is -- because, you know, there's -- we don't know what motive. We don't know the motive for these shootings, if there was any or if it was just a random act of violence -- somebody who just went off, if you will. We don't know that.

HOLMES: All right, Mike Brooks, always, our security analyst. Good to have you here with us.

And Scott Goldstein, a staff writer from the "Dallas Morning News".

Sir, we appreciate your time, as well, and good luck -- good luck down there. I hope they figure this thing out.

GOLDSTEIN: Thanks.

HOLMES: A lot of people are traveling right now and a lot of people out there are scared.

Thank you both, gentlemen.

Stay here. We want to turn back to some of this bailout money. A lot of money being handed out these days. A lot of money -- billions, literally, went to banks -- supposed to go to you.

Where did that money go?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. We are taking note of some of your comments -- again, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter. Rick's, of course -- his MySpace and Facebook accounts -- CNN.com/ricksanchez is where you can check it out.

Here's one of the comments we got. We were just talking about the Obama story and an investigation. Well, this is a Twitter user and show watcher who says: "CNN is totally unfair in covering this. Obama wants to talk, but there's an investigation. Stop trying to create the news."

Are the caps and the exclamation points necessary? Why are they yelling at me?

Why are they yelling at me?

Just teasing there.

Well, we appreciate those comments, as well.

Here talking about the new administration needing to invest in infrastructure and infrastructure-related jobs, as well. And here's a comment, as well, from FreakyFran, saying: "Thanks to the rescue people, who did an outstanding job."

That, of course, in response to that story outside of Bethesda, where people had to be rescued after that water main break.

Well, a lot of people traveling right now. We all know traveling can be treacherous during the holidays. You've got to fight the crowds, the weather. You've got to endure that. And you cross your fingers everything is OK. And then you've got delays.

Many folks who are watching right now from airports are wondering when your flight is going to take off.

Well, before you go yell at that ticket agent, think about what a group of holiday travelers has been going through in Chicago -- 450 Amtrak passengers were delayed at Union Station. They were delayed about 24 hours. The train was supposed to leave yesterday at 2:15 Central time. It was heading to the Pacific Northwest. Several stops it had to make. It finally pulled out a little more than an hour ago.

So why, you ask, were they delayed so long?

And the pictures you're seeing here are some that some of the folks in there sent in. They were actually trapped on the train for a while. They also had to go to a waiting room. You can see they were cold and bundled up.

Amtrak not saying much about why they were delayed. Passengers telling the "Chicago Tribune," however, that they've been -- they were given excuses, such as there was no conductor that was available; also, that there was engine trouble. Passengers say they were stuck on the train, as I said, in waiting rooms, also in the terminal. At times, there was no working toilet either.

So, a heartfelt shout-out to those folks who endured. For those of you who are just on an hour or 30 minute delay, calm down. Take it easy on the ticket agent.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: The $700 billion bailout -- no, that money wasn't supposed to come directly to you in the form of a check, but it was still supposed to make its way to you -- the American people, to the consumers.

You know, that banks -- they got that money. They got billions and billions of dollars of that money. They were supposed to take it and then start lending it out -- free up the credit markets, free up all of us and our pocketbooks so that we could start buying things -- big items. That's not exactly happening. It's certainly not happening as quickly as some thought it should happen.

CNN's Mary Snow now on what the banks are doing with that money -- what they say they're doing with that money and how a lot of people are just not buying it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): With investors on edge, Bank of America is among banks trying to seek customers and soothe nerves with ads like these.

But what banks aren't so public about is what they're doing with the billions in federal bailout money they've received -- money they were given so they could start lending again.

We contacted the banks who were given the biggest amounts -- Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

Bank of America received $15 billion as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

Where did it go?

A spokesman sent us a statement saying

"We're using the TARP funds to build our capital and make every good loan that we can." The bank says it anticipates releasing more information in its fourth quarter earnings report.

Sarah Binder of the Brookings Institution has been monitoring the bailout money.

SARAH BINDER, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: What the banks have said, largely, is that we are using the money to stimulate the economy -- to get the economy moving. That's far, far too general to know what precisely these banks are doing with the money.

SNOW: Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo each received $25 billion -- the largest sum. Wells Fargo says it can't provide details until it releases its fourth quarter statements, though it says it intends to use the funds to help customers avoid foreclosure. Citigroup says it's using TARP money to help expand the flow of credit and formed a special committee to oversee the TARP money.

JPMorgan Chase points out that it recently bought more than $1 billion in Illinois bonds and plans to lend $5 billion to non-profit and health care bought companies.

The Associated Press surveyed 21 banks and reports few specifics. A Republican member of the House Financial Services Committee who opposed the bailout says don't be shocked.

REP. THADDEUS MCCOTTER (R), MICHIGAN: Unfortunately, a lot of people were disgusted, but not surprised. One of the fundamental problems with the Wall Street bailout was the people who had caused the problem were never called in front of Congress to explain what they had done, what needed to be done.

SNOW (on camera): Congress did not put conditions on the bailout money and the Government Accountability Office, for one, is calling for more transparency. And critics say now is the time for Congress to act and demand conditions since the second half of the bailout money has yet to be distributed.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Yes, there's another $350 billion out there on the table. It can't be handed out until Congress says so. So maybe we'll see if this one comes with more rules and regulations and restrictions on exactly how it should be used.

Stay here.

A lot of people have plans for New Year's Eve.

Do you know what you're doing?

Well, in our Fix today, one late night comedian is not so happy with the options.

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. As always, we appreciate you joining the conversation here on Rick's show at 3:00 in THE NEWSROOM.

I'm T.J. Holmes sitting in for him this week.

The Fix is in. We've got Jamie Foxx for you in here and a late night comedian, in particular, not so happy with her options on New Year's Eve.

The Fix. It's in right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE FOXX, ACTOR: If there's any indication that America is not the most incredible country in the world...

(LAUGHTER)

FOXX: If there's anyone out there who notices I stretch out my words.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

FOXX: Oh, man -- oh man.

(APPLAUSE)

FIXX: He's so smooth, you know what I'm saying?

He's always -- is he the smoothest dude in the world?

JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST "THE VIEW" : He's smooth.

FIXX: Smooth. Because he's the right black candidate, that he's so smooth. It couldn't have been just any black dude to have won, because I would have went crazy if it had been me...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Yes.

FIXX: Like I would have been like oh, man.

(LAUGHTER)

FIXX: I told y'all it was going to go down. I would have been...

(LAUGHTER)

FIXX: I would have been nuts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHELSEA HANDLER, HOST: Dick Clark's New Year's Eve lineup has been announced. The Jonas Brothers will be performing Taylor Swift and Lionel Richie.

(LAUGHTER)

HANDLER: One of these things doesn't belong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lionel Ritchie?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I heard there was Lionel Richie, I was like, um, did they finish work on that time machine that could take us back to 1987, when Lionel Richie was relevant?

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lionel Richie was like, MC Hammer not available?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're going to have Lionel Richie and have Taylor Swift, get Taylor Swift out of there and get Taylor Dayne. That's what I'm (INAUDIBLE). Really go way back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go way back.

HANDLER: Well, whatever happened to Miley Cyrus?

Miley Cyrus is usually part -- that would be the perfect fit with the three of them. This will be my first New Year's Eve without the Cyrus family.

What am I going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Why are they knocking Lionel Richie?

He was -- he was the man for a while, wasn't he?

Can anybody name a Lionel Richie song for me right quick?

Can you?

Oh, hello. Yes. Thank you. Chris. "Lady."

Anybody else got one (INAUDIBLE)?

"Standing on the Ceiling." They're coming into my ear right now fast and furious, folks.

All right. But New Year's Eve, if you're not up on your options, you've got one we can tell you about, at least. Anderson Cooper, Kathy Griffin -- they make a wonderful New Year's Eve duo, don't they?

You can watch the special live, of course, New Year's Eve 11:00 Eastern time -- those two cutting it up in New York on Times Square.

Be sure to tune in for that if you're looking for a good New Year's Eve option. And maybe they'll get Lionel Richie on.

But stay here. We've been talking about some amazing pictures we've seeing all day about that water main break. We're going to show you some more sights and sounds from that. Again, nobody hurt, so that's a good thing. A couple of people taken to the hospital with hypothermia, but everybody rescued after that water main break swept up about 15 vehicles. Several people had to be rescued.

Stay here.

Some more pictures.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: OK. Welcome back.

We've been telling you -- we started this show off last hour talking about that water main break. It looked like a weather-related story. That is not a weather-related flood there. It's the water main that burst. And essentially those cars you see did not have any warning. They were on this road. This is happening in Cabin John, Maryland, just outside of Bethesda.

They did not have any warning. They were on this road and the next thing they knew, quite literally, four feet of water coming at them.

You're taking a look here at some of the rescues that had to take place. This basket -- this specific one you're seeing -- had to be lowered to some of those folks in their vehicles that got trapped. And the folks were on their own, trying to try to get that -- get that basket, doing the best they can to try to reach that thing.

This is one that really had all us on the edge of our seats and had us all, quite frankly, with our hearts pounding. A woman and child are in that vehicle.

It took them several minutes to try to get a hold of that basket from the helicopter. Not sure if we're going to get a chance to see this whole thing play out here. But she does get to see her child -- we see her give her child into that basket.

We'll get a couple of other items.

Who knows what they were?

A lot of us were speculating maybe she had some Christmas gifts she just couldn't part ways with. We don't know what it was, though. But she did get her child in there, got her bags in there, got herself in there and they were lifted out.

Fifteen people, at least the word -- around 15 people, I should say, had to be rescued. None of them injured seriously. A few of them had to be taken to the hospital with hypothermia. But all of them were able to get out.

It took authorities so long to get this -- the water off. So it kept going for a while. They couldn't get it done immediately. They couldn't get it shut off.

What you're seeing here -- I want to explain this picture. That lady trapped, as well. You can see people on the side there -- rescuers trying to get to her.

But what she did was write down her husband's phone number on that piece of paper. Her little SOS, if you will. And reporters actually on the side of the road there took that number, called her husband and said, hey, we've got a situation here. Your wife is OK. You might want to turn on the TV, but you don't want to be alarmed. She is all right. As you see there, she was able to get out of there all right. And her husband was able to get to a TV and watch this -- kind of a lot of this play out live.

But, again, just a horrible situation. And as I was saying, they couldn't get the water cut off at the source there. So it took them a few more minutes to cut the -- it took them a little while longer to actually get the water cut off at a different location. So it wasn't just an instant -- you turn the faucet off and turn it on. It wasn't that kind of situation.

But it's nice to see that -- that it all worked out that today. But, really, just a fascinating human drama playing out right here live on television during the day still.

Susan Lisovicz with us, as well. Always good to have you.

Always good to see you.

What has been shaking on Wall Street today?

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HOLMES: How is everybody feeling?

Just tell me what the mood is down there about the holidays -- retailers, how they're going to fare. You know, I don't know if this is any -- any way to gauge it, but I have been doing a lot of Christmas shopping. I'm sure a lot of us have. You know, the malls and the stores just aren't as packed as it seems like they should be. I don't know if that's a good way to gauge it. But just from my own unscientific analysis and poll, it doesn't seem like it's that busy.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're right. And, you know, unfortunately, bad weather plagued one of the most critical weekends of the year -- I mean for the entire industry. This last weekend, where we had terrible weather. And, in fact, now, the National Retail Federation is asking for TARP money to be included. Everybody wants a piece of it. And they're asking for -- one of the things they're asking for is three national tax-free shopping holidays in the new year.

You're right. I mean, we've seen traffic that's down both online and bricks and mortar. A very tough time. And the profits they make will be seriously dented because of the discounts that are going on -- the kind of discounts that you see after the holidays are happening now.

It's a good time to buy if you -- T.J. , if you've still got a bit in you...

HOLMES: Yes?

LISOVICZ: ...today and tomorrow, you should -- you know, retailers are really slashing.

And there is the closing bell. Santa Clauses abound on the platform, but no Santa Claus rally today, unfortunately -- T.J. .

HOLMES: Yes. Get Santa out of here.

All right. Susan Lisovicz, it's always good to see you. Happy Holidays to you.

Now I want to hand it over to Suzanne Malveaux, sitting in in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- hello there, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, T.J. .