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Emergency Situation at Sea-Tac Airport; Nightmare Before Christmas; Buried Alive in Canada; President Bush Hands Down Pardons

Aired December 24, 2008 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And here are the headlines from CNN for the 24th day of December, 2008, Christmas Eve.

An awful accident on the tarmac at Seattle's airport. The icing solution gets stuck inside an airplane. Two people are in critical condition.

Bernard Madoff accused of bilking billions from investors. How could a man described as low key and shy pull it off in a world of outside egos?

And a big retailer kicks a Secret Santa to the curb. Has Wal- Mart gone all scrooge on us? We'll hear both sides of this Christmas tale.

Now let's begin with an emergency situation under way at Seattle's Sea-Tac airport. Our affiliate KIRO TV tells us a de-icing solution was sucked into an airplane through its ventilation system.

Two people in critical condition, we understand. Twenty-four passengers have minor injuries, including eye irritation.

It was an Alaska Airlines jet heading for Burbank, California, with 143 passengers and five crew on board. Several emergency vehicles are around the airplane. They certainly were earlier, but you can see the tarmac pretty much cleared right now.

Mary Schiavo is on the line with us right now.

Mary, we'll get to your title in just a moment here, but if you could, can you describe what you understand as to the situation that has unfolded, unfortunately, for a couple of passengers on this flight, in critical condition now, with the fumes of this de-icing fluid?

MARY SCHIAVO, FMR. INSPECTOR GENERAL, TRANSPORTATION DEPT.: Yes. What has to be done is, when you go into de-icing, you have to shut down the ventilation system and shut down the air outflow and intake valve, and the reason you do that is to avoid exactly this. You do not want that sucked into the cabin.

It's not necessarily just the fumes. Obviously, small droplets of the fluid, you know, microscopic ones, of course, they can become airborne and they can circulate through the cabin. Of course, once in the ventilation system, it circulates through the cabin quickly.

And so what the pilot has to do is to make sure that that ventilation system is shut down before you de-ice. However, it may not necessarily be pilot error if there was a faulty valve. One of the air inlets, if for some reason it could not be shut down or it was stuck open or had a problem. So it can be a mechanical problem as well.

HARRIS: Mary, this sounds like pretty nasty stuff. I don't know if we've thought about it in these terms, this de-icing fluid in the fumes here. It's sounds like pretty nasty stuff. And we're talking about two people now in critical condition.

What are the components of this? What did these people inhale here?

SCHIAVO: Well, glycol. You know, antifreeze, really. It's a special kind, of course.

And people remember it mostly because there's been a big movement by airports to recover it, not to dump it into the storm...

HARRIS: Yes.

SCHIAVO: ... and sewer drains because it's so harmful to the environment. And the reason, of course, it's harmful to living organisms.

So -- and it's obviously not meant to be inhaled or consumed. But obviously, a lot came into the cabin to make some people critically ill.

HARRIS: It sounds like it.

And Mary, if you would, just the two working theories that you would be looking at right now as a former inspector general for the U.S. Transportation Department? What are the two working theories you would be going with right now?

SCHIAVO: Well, two. One is the possibility that the pilot neglected to shut down the air circulation system and the air inlet vents. Or, two, that one of the inlet vents, one of the portals where air comes through, their little valves on the plane, was malfunctioning and allowed it to come into the cabin.

HARRIS: Well, Mary, whatever the case here, we've got a lot of passengers who are not feeling very comfortable right now. But the good news is, there were a number of passengers on that plane who are OK.

Mary Schiavo joining us on the phone right now, the former inspector general for the U.S. Transportation Department.

Mary, appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

Airlines scrambling to rebook holiday travelers at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

Regina Waldroup of CNN affiliate CLTV is on the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REGINA WALDROUP, REPORTER, CLTV: A lot of sleepy and anxious passengers here at O'Hare this morning. Yesterday, more than 500 flights were canceled, so it's going to be a very busy day here as airlines work to rebook those stranded passengers.

(voice-over): Long lines and lots of frustration, holiday plans up in the air on this Christmas Eve.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looking for (INAUDIBLE). We've been traveling for 24 hours almost now because we've come all the way from Spain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here I am about three nights into the airport. I don't know how much money is gone. I don't even want to know where my luggage is at this point.

WALDROUP: Chicago's cruel weather caused major headaches for folks on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Visibility was low and because of weather in other parts of the country. So we had about 500 canceled flights here yesterday, delays were running up to 90 minutes.

WALDROUP: Dozens of stranded passengers who thought they were headed to their holiday destinations hunkered down where they could at the nation's second busiest airport. It made for a sleepless and frustrated-filled night. The only wish many have today is to make it home by Christmas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're here for one week and we've spent already almost two days. So half of our vacation in the airport. But anyway, hopefully we will get someday -- today or tomorrow.

WALDROUP (on camera): Officials say crews have been working throughout the night clearing runways. As far as cancellations and delays go for today, aviation officials say they should know more by later this morning.

Reporting from O'Hare, I'm Regina Waldroup, CLTV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And if you're traveling by road, conditions are still very treacherous. Northern and central Indiana coping with ice on the interstates and roadways. More than a dozen deaths are being blamed on crashes on rain and ice-slickened (ph) roads across the country.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: A true Christmas celebration in Canada today. A woman has been found alive after she was buried under two to three feet of snow for days.

Here's ITV's Vanessa Cutiford (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): With blizzard conditions and temperatures of minus 16 Celsius, everyone was giving up hope for finding Donna Molnar, who had gone missing during a snowstorm. But incredibly, four days later she was found, buried in snow with just her face exposed, a few hundred yards from her car, which had got stuck in a field.

SGT. MARK COX, ONTARIO POLICE: I can honestly say that I didn't expect to find her alive, but the hope was there, and that's why we keep going.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In their home in Ontario, Donna's husband David had been desperately waiting for news. And then he got his Christmas miracle.

DAVID MOLNAR, DONNA'S HUSBAND: I think that God literally reached down and cradled her until we could find her, because that's, in my opinion, not something that the average human being could probably do on their own. I won't say we were losing faith or hope, but you know, I've got to tell you that, with every passing hour and day, you know, the reality sets in that, hey, like, where could she be if she's outside? That's a real problem.

It's a good Christmas for us. It's the best Christmas gift ever. It certainly could have been a lot worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a four-legged star.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fifty-five-year-old Donna was found by Ace (ph), a police search dog. Doctors say it was the insulating effect of the snow that kept her alive.

RAY LAU, SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM: To find a missing person laying there, it was just -- I guess over the top for me. It was really a mile a minute.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you say to her? What did she say to you?

LAU: I tried to just give her a comforting feeling just like I would want if I was in the same situation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donna was taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia, but is expected to make a full recovery.

Vanessa Cutiford, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Bah, humbug. Scrooge dropped another batch of bad economic numbers on us today. The Labor Department reports claims for unemployment benefits rose to, listen to this number, 586,000 just last week. That is the highest since November of 1982.

Shoppers dug into their wallets less frequently last month. Consumer spending fell .6 of a percent. That is the fifth straight monthly decline.

And one more here. Orders for durable goods, things like washing machine, furniture, slumped 1 percent in November.

Deep discounts are pulling more shoppers into stores this holiday season, but it is not enough to rebuild shattered consumer confidence.

Here's CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They may as well be ringing alarm bells at retail stores nationwide. All those signs of deep discounts on the doorstep of Christmas are signs of a brutally cold holiday sales season. Sure, that's great news for consumers with enough confidence to buy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went up to the register and I found out this was 25 percent off, and I didn't even know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can buy one and get one free.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like 25 percent, 30 percent off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have been doing very well with the sales.

FOREMAN: But all that is terrible for retailers. The International Council of Shopping Centers is predicting the worst holiday season in decades, with sales actually falling, perhaps 2 percent, where they usually rise.

With retail accounting for a quarter of the jobs lost already this year, this will cost even more. And, as it is, our latest CNN/Opinion Research poll shows more than nine out of 10 Americans think the economy is in poor shape.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's going to get worse before it gets better.

FOREMAN (on camera): That's not very encouraging.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what I think.

KEATING HOLLAND, CNN POLLING DIRECTOR: Sixty-six percent say economic conditions are very poor. I'm not sure we have ever seen anything like that in recent polling history, at any rate. This time last year, it was only about 21 percent saying things were very poor. And that, as you will recall, was when this recession officially began.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Even those who are spending, like Angie Bracer (ph), are keeping a careful eye on the bottom line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know in like Wal-Mart and other locations like that, they definitely have lowered the prices.

FOREMAN (on camera): Much lower than usual?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I think so, absolutely. I'm a bargain shopper. I don't pay top dollar for anything, unless I absolutely have to.

FOREMAN (on camera): Looking for some good news? Well, our poll also found that most of you think the economy will be doing better by next Christmas.

Tom Foreman, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: President-elect Barack Obama spending Christmas Eve in Hawaii, where he is vacationing with his family.

Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry is traveling with the president-elect, and Ed joins us now live from Honolulu.

And Ed, I'm just sort of curious, what's been the reaction from the Obama team to its release of its internal investigation of contacts with the governor of Illinois?

ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Tony, it won't surprise you that their reaction has basically been to try and turn the page and try to say, look, this report shows there was no wrongdoing, that while there was some contact between Rahm Emanuel and the Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich, as well as Blagojevich's chief of staff at the time, that there really was no quid pro quo, no talk about trading the Senate appointment of who would replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate in exchange for anything for the governor. And so they're trying to move forward. Trying to turn the page, as I said.

In fact, yesterday, while this report was coming out, we saw the president-elect attend a memorial service. A very poignant moment for him, obviously, for his grandmother.

You'll remember that in the final days of the presidential campaign, at some political risk, analysts were saying at the time, he left the campaign trail at a pivotal time to fly all the way here to Hawaii just to be with her in the final days of her life. And he was able to visit with her here in Hawaii at the time, you'll remember. And then she passed away just two days before the election.

He was not able, obviously, given the proximity of the election, to come out for the initial memorial service. So he was able to do that yesterday, and then he actually spread her ashes here into the water, into the Pacific, off of the coast of this island of Oahu. So, again, he realizes, obviously, that politics goes on, and that even as he vacations, even as he's dealing with these family issues, he also has to deal with the economic stimulus plan that will be coming up very quickly in January to try to deal with the financial crisis. And this Blagojevich report is out there. It's a political issue that they have to deal with.

But they obviously feel that since they've now aired all the contact that they say occurred between team Obama and team Blagojevich, they're hoping to turn the page. But as you know, Tony, this is not necessarily the final word here.

This is a report that was put together by team Obama about team Obama's conduct. It's going to take an independent person like the prosecutor in this case, Patrick Fitzgerald. As his investigation moving forward in the months ahead, we'll find out whether his account of all of these contacts squares with team Obama's account of what happened.

HARRIS: That's right.

HENRY: But so far, the prosecutor has given no indication that there was any wrongdoing by team Obama -- Tony.

HARRIS: Our Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry in Honolulu.

And Merry Christmas to you, Ed. And we'll see you back here soon.

HENRY: Merry Christmas, Tony.

HARRIS: Friends say he is a shy man, but Bernard Madoff is accused of one of the biggest frauds in history. What could have triggered this crime?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The Bernard Madoff financial scandal may have taken a deadly turn. Authorities are investigating the apparent suicide of one of Madoff's investor. The 65-year-old hedge fund adviser was found dead in his New York office early yesterday. His firm said it lost $1.5 billion investing with Madoff.

Police say the man suffered cuts to his wrists and arms and there were pills present. The medical examiner expected to issue a toxicology report later today.

People who know Bernard Madoff say he didn't need a scam to become a multimillionaire. Yet, he is accused of bilking investors out of $50 billion.

CNN Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff examines the psychology of the man behind the alleged Ponzi scheme.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the Wall Street world of big personalities, Bernard Madoff did not stand out. He was low key, understated. His business card had no title. Friends say he was shy, but inside was the drive of a highly competitive person.

ALDEN CASS, PSYCHOLOGIST: There's a need to prove to the world that I am somebody powerful. I am so intelligent. I am so respected by the rest of the world.

CHERNOFF: Madoff earned respect. In the 1970s and '80s, he built an innovative high-tech trading firm, correctly anticipating that the buying and selling of stocks would become computerized. The Madoff firm traded from big retail brokers like Fidelity and Charles Schwab, stealing volume from the New York Stock Exchange. He impressed trading expert Jim Angel.

JIM ANGEL, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Here was a very intelligent man who knew this business really well and who also was very driven to succeed.

CHERNOFF: Madoff was successful, but matching buy and sell orders is not a glamour job on Wall Street. Not like managing other people's money.

He bolstered his reputation by becoming non-executive chairman of the Nasdaq stock market in 1990, '91 and '93. At that point, Madoff was earning tens of millions of dollars. He owned properties that dwarfed his 1970s home in Roslyn, New York.

ANGEL: Here's somebody who didn't need to start a scam to become a multimillionaire many times over. And yet, apparently, there must have been some flaw in his makeup that led him to get into this mess and to dig himself in deeper and deeper.

CHERNOFF: Madoff graduated in 1960 from Long Island's Hofstra College before it became a university, with a major in political science. One investor told "The Wall Street Journal" that Madoff confessed to him this year, "I wish I had gone to Wharton or Stanford."

Madoff lacked a pedigree. He was not an alumnus of a prestigious school. But at the Palm Beach Country Club and other social circles, he created and aura of exclusivity by selectively choosing whose money he would manage. In effect, creating a velvet rope like a chic nightclub.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Madoff made it feel as if it was an exclusive club. And that's how he sucked his people in. That's how he got them to go into this. And it was a fantastic, brilliant job of marketing.

CHERNOFF: Madoff reported steady annual returns, 10 to 18 percent, year in, year out, never seeming to lose.

CASS: That determines whether you're a success or failure. They get their identity from how solid their returns are. CHERNOFF: Bernie Madoff joined the board of Yeshiva University, then became chairman of its business school. His prominence kept investors from questioning his success, even those whose monthly account statements were pure fiction.

Last month, Madoff even reported to them that cash was held in Fidelity Spartan U.S. Treasury Money Market Fund. Fidelity says it hasn't had a fund by that name for three years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Allan Chernoff joining us live now from New York.

And Allan, good to see you.

Is this a personality type that we see with other big finance people accused or even convicted of crimes?

CHERNOFF: Well, in some ways there are analogies. I mean, some people who have been convicted of crimes on Wall Street have been at the top of their field -- Ivan Boesky, for example. He was convicted of securities fraud. He was considered to be one of the best arbitrageurs on Wall Street.

This was back in the 1980s. And if we go further back, Richard Whitney, the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, well, he, too, fleeced investors.

Obviously here it's not yet proven. These are accusations. We'll see what happens.

HARRIS: That's right.

And Allan, has there ever been a case even remotely like this one?

CHERNOFF: Well, I'd say that Whitney maybe is the most analogous. I mean, Mr. Madoff had been the non-executive chairman of the Nasdaq stock market, a leadership position on Wall Street. Whitney, of course, years ago, 70 years ago, was chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. So there again, I mean, a person can have incredible prestige, incredible power, and you never know.

HARRIS: You never know.

All right. Allan Chernoff for us in New York.

Allan, good to see you. Happy Holidays to you. Thank you.

CHERNOFF: You, too.

HARRIS: Granting clemency. President Bush grants 19 pardons and commutes one sentence. No prominent names on the list of pardons issued by the president just yesterday.

Not on the list, former vice presidential aide Scooter Libby. The president did issue a posthumous pardon to a man who helped smuggle weapons to Jews fighting in what was then Palestine. A commutation was issued to a person serving a life sentence for possession of methamphetamines.

The year's naughtiest politician? Hands down, it's Rod Blagojevich.

Fifty-six percent of people asked in a CNN/Opinion Research Poll picked the Illinois governor. Nearly a quarter thought it was New York's former governor, Eliot Spitzer, you may recall, nabbed in a prostitution sting last March. Finally, 19 percent chose John Edwards. The former senator, presidential, and vice presidential candidate cheated on his wife Elizabeth.

Has the drop in gas prices changed any of your holiday travel plans? Our "Energy Fix" team is checking out that story. They're next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A former Utah state trooper is suspected in highway shootings near Dallas. Police say ballistics tests link Brian Smith (ph) to at least three of the attacks, including one fatality. Now, there were four shootings in all, two of them fatalities.

Authorities say Smith (ph) tried to commit suicide after the shootings. He is in the hospital right now in serious condition.

Are you sticking close to home this Christmas? A lot of people in airports and train or rail stations, bus stations, probably wishing they were. Americans certainly cutting back their holiday travel plans, despite the drop in gas prices.

Diane King has our "Energy Fix" from New York.

Diane, good to see you.

DIANE KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, too, Tony.

Well, gas prices are down about 60 percent from July's record high, with the national average sitting around $1.65 a gallon today. Even so, fewer Americans are hitting the road this holiday.

AAA predicts about 64 million people will travel at least 50 miles during the Christmas to New Year's period. That's a decline of nearly 1.5 million travelers from last year, and the first drop since 2002. Even though gas is cheap, the overall economic situation has a lot of Americans feeling cautious.

Unemployment is up, Incomes are down. People are worried. But many are planning small gatherings close to home.

Now, last summer's high gas prices showed it is possible to cut back on driving. And the lesson is apparently sticking. The Transportation Department says Americans drove 100 billion fewer miles between November of 2007 and this past October, even after gas prices had started to fall -- Tony.

HARRIS: So, Diane, what are the indications here? Is this a permanent shift we're seeing in the way people drive?

KING: Well, it might be. According to a recent study from the Brookings Institute, it concludes the drop-off in driving is actually here to stay. It cites a number of factors for the shift, including more mass transit ridership and more stores closer to where people live.

But the report also finds driving is declining at different rates in different areas. Nevada, Idaho and Colorado saw the biggest drop. Cities like Austin and Indianapolis also experienced steep declines. But driving increased in five states, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

For more energy fixes, check out cnnmoney.com.

Tony, I'll send it back to you.

HARRIS: That's Diane King there in New York.

Diane, good to see you. Merry Christmas to you.

KING: Good to see you, too. Merry Christmas.

HARRIS: What happens when the bank becomes the landlord? Just ask the neighbors.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So let's see. We're about a half hour away, less than a half hour way, from the close of the trading day for the trading week here. New York Stock Exchange, a look at the big board now. As you can see, we're in positive territory, trying to break a run of four, five days where the Dow closed down in negative territory. We're up 49 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is trading pretty flat, but in positive territory, up two.

Oh, let's hear the singing from the floor. The traders. Do we have it? We don't have it? Oh, shoot. OK. All right. We'll try to get it.

Millions of foreclosed homes are waiting for buyers right now. Turns out the banks that own the houses may be their own worst enemy. Generally speaking, banks don't make good landlords. Here's reporter Louise Schiavone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The news from the real estate world keeps getting worse. Whether it's new homes, selling at their slowest pace in almost two decades with prices dropping like a rock, or existing homes, sales now down by almost 9 percent. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prices are continuing to fall. Inventory remains high. And the housing market is struggling to get back on track, and, therefore, I think it really requires a government intervention to bring the buyers back into the marketplace.

SCHIAVONE: There's an 11-month inventory of home on the market. Nearly half of which are bank owned, distressed properties. And therein lies the problem, say those on real estate's front lines. Banks make terrible landlords. Home inspectors walking into foreclosure properties get the first view.

BRION GRANT, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HOME INSPECTORS: Banks aren't in the business of taking care of buildings. They're in the business of selling and mortgages building. So what we're finding is that through general neglect or deferred maintenance, that homes are not in that good a condition.

SCHIAVONE: In some real estate markets, especially in the west, south west and Florida, once a paradise for property flippers, neighborhoods have been laid waste by vandals, even arsonists, even as overwhelmed financial institutions struggle with inventory.

WILLIAM PROCIDA, REAL ESTATE (ph): They got books this thick that tell you how to sell a house. I mean, we're talking about selling a house. Why do you need a manual this thick?

SCHIAVONE: This real estate veteran says it's time to take the mystery out of the housing crisis and get back to basics.

PROCIDA: Toxic asset. It's just a mortgage and it's just a house and it has a story. And the faster somebody deals with it, and deals with it face-to-face, the quicker it will get resolved.

SCHIAVONE: Inspectors and agents say there's no science to selling property, just common sense. Fix the windows, cut the lawn, empty the garbage, paint the house and price it to sell.

Louise Schiavone for CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Last hour we asked you to send us your e-mails if you're going through some difficult times right now trying to get to your final destination for Christmas. Boy, you've sent in the e-mails, that's for sure. Let's read a couple of the e-mails that were sent to us.

This one's from Kevin who writes, "We left Philadelphia 5:30 a.m. on December 21st to come to California. We missed our connecting flight, had to stand in a line of 500 or more people three different times, tried to get on four standby flights with over 80 people on standby." Well, that's going to end badly. "And we were the lucky ones." Wow. "We got to California at 7:00 p.m."

Someone writes us, "My flight from Austin was delayed due to a crew member calling in. So I missed my connection by five minutes and now I am stuck in Dallas for the next 12 hours."

And Jeremy, Chad, writes, "stuck in Dallas, waiting to head to Chicago. Stuck at the airport bar."

Well, hey now. If you're going to be stuck, maybe try to put a smile on your face. Maybe a red nose at that.

So, again, we want to know what's happening to you right now. Are you in the middle of a travel nightmare? Send us your pictures, your stories, your videos and we'll share them with the folks. Some who are probably in a similar situation. Some who are probably sitting back saying, ha, ha.

Let's check in with Chad Myers now in the severe weather center.

Chad, good to see you, doctor.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Did you say put on a red nose?

HARRIS: Sometimes I just can't stop myself. I can't pump the brakes fast enough.

MYERS: We need to get you some anti-lock brakes.

HARRIS: Yes, exactly.

MYERS: Be on -- they got that 30 time as minute, trying to slow yourself down.

Hey, you're slowing yourself down already if you're in Chicago. We had an interview with one of the guys about three days ago about being (ph) stuck in Chicago. What was the worst part about spending the night. He said the bar was closed. So, you know, it's all relative. It's all about standards and where do you lower them to.

Newark, you're two-and-a-half hours behind. San Francisco, now you're an hour and 20 minutes. And the delays are gathering steam. Not every flight is this far backed up. But what we have, we have ground delay programs that the FAA sets up. And you can't get too many planes in the air. Why? Because you can't get that many planes on the ground when you have bad weather. They have to separate the planes in a farther distance. You can't land a plane every 30 seconds and if you can't see that plane because visibility's only three miles.

So you have to separate the planes out to the two minutes or so. So, therefore, you only can get 30 planes on the ground in some airports and that is not nearly enough sometimes.

We have some ground delays in Houston, although they've cleared up. Had some thundershowers and thunderstorms through the northern parishes of Louisiana as well.

And the west. The west is just going to get pounded all of the end of the week and even into the beginning of the weekend. And so if you are on a ski vacation, you have just -- you have picked the right time if you can get there. That's the problem right now, getting through some of the passes. Very, very difficult. The snow's coming down. Could be another 10 inches.

I know that's not the forecast, but I'm looking at the computers. There could be 10 inches of additional snow in Portland. I mean they got record snow already. Can you imagine another 10 inches on top of that? Wind chill right now in Portland's 15 above. Salt Lake City feels like 9. Minneapolis, it feels like 2 below zero.

And then the warmth across the southeast. Memphis feels like 64.

HARRIS: Man.

MYERS: I know.

HARRIS: That's not bad. Memphis (INAUDIBLE).

MYERS: Depends if you want a -- especially if you want a white Christmas, then it's not going to happen.

HARRIS: Then it's invisible (ph).

MYERS: It's not going to happen.

HARRIS: All right, Chad, appreciate it. Thank you.

MYERS: All right. You got it.

HARRIS: You know, it could be weeks before officials know what caused a massive water main to burst. Yesterday, emergency workers used boats and helicopters to save nine Maryland drivers stranded in the sudden swift current.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERBERT DERIENZO, RESCUED FROM WATER MAIN BREAK: Maria told me that she saw some leaves or like a debris, like somebody was blowing leaves. And then suddenly we saw mud and raging water coming down. And the car stopped. Both cars that were on River Road stopped. And then the mud and the rocks and the debris started to make our car skid sideways.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, officials say 150,000 gallons of water went rushing out each minute at one point. Five people were checked out for hypothermia, but there were no serious injuries. It could have been devastating. Take a listen to this pretty scary 911 call from one of the stranded drivers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't see anything! I need help!

OPERATOR: Ma'am, we're on our way. We will be there very shortly. I have units responding to you now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. I can't see anything. Please . . . (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Oh, man. How frightening is that. The state of Maryland is requesting more federal money now to maintain water-related infrastructure.

What's happening in Bethlehem this Christmas Eve? We will get an update, next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: How did we do with the music? OK. Pretty good. You know, Christians around the world are converging right now on Jesus' traditional birthplace and Manger Square is bustling with tourists.

Ben Wedeman gives us this snapshot from Bethlehem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Most of the area of Bethlehem is a pretty quiet place. But for Christmas, they pull out all the stops. Throughout the day here in Manger Square, one scout troop, many of them Christian scout troop, parade through the area, making lots of noise, putting on quite a show. Also on Christmas Eve, the Latin patriarch, who's based in Jerusalem, comes here in a procession and goes to the Church of the Nativity.

For Palestinians, both Muslims and Christians, Christmas is a time of celebration. And it's particularly important for Palestine's small and shrinking Christian community. For them, it's an opportunity to remind the world that they're still here.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Manger Square in Bethlehem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And we'd like to get you an update on the story we've been following out of Sea-Tac. That is the international airport in Seattle. We've been telling you of the situation where apparently de- icing solution was sucked into the plane. An Alaska Airlines flight. And there are at least two people suffering with some critical injuries right now. Let's bring in David Quinlan. He is a reporter for one of our local affiliates there, KIRO-TV.

And, David, what's the latest on this story? Seattle, at the airport there, has certainly been the center of a lot of activity, first with massive delays yesterday and this developing story today.

DAVID QUINLAN, KIRO REPORTER: Right. Right. Yes, more snow, more problems for the Seattle area. We had been updated with the status of injuries. None of the injuries right now are considered serious, which is good news.

But we understand that on that Alaska flight, there were 143 passengers onboard. The plane was on their way to Burbank. They were out on the runway, I guess, taxiing and de-icing, doing the de-icing preps that a lot of these planes are having to do right now.

And for 45 minutes, we understand, Tony, that the de-icing chemical somehow got into the ventilation system of that airplane and passengers began to smell it. Then they decided, the captain came on and told the passengers, hey, we need to get back to the gate. Clearly it is not safe to fly now.

So they went back to the gate. Passengers then began complaining of eye irritation, chest pains. That's when the paramedics were on scene. So they came and actually worked with those passengers that had those problems.

But at this point, we have not had any confirmation as to whether or not anyone went to the hospital. We did have a producer that was inside pass security. She was trying to catch a flight, another flight, and she happened to go over there to that gate when the passengers were getting off the plane. She talked with them.

They're more irritated than anything else. You know, the problems here have just been horrendous at Sea-Tac because of the weather and now more delays. But the good news here, no serious injuries right now.

HARRIS: OK. So that sounds like, at the very least, David, the reporting that we had initially that there were two people who were in critical condition, at least, the reporting that you're offering to us now is that their conditions have been upgraded. That's good news there to be sure.

QUINLAN: Right.

HARRIS: While I have you, let me get sort of a general update on conditions at the airport. As I mentioned just a moment ago, yesterday, and certainly the day before, the story has been just the backlog of flights there. Has that backlog started to clear at all in any way significantly at this point?

QUINLAN: You know, it started to clear yesterday. Yesterday was a great day at Sea-Tac Airport because people were finally getting on their planes, you know, reaching their destinations, going home and seeing their loved ones. Today, not too bad. I think there's some cancellations at other airports that caused delays here. So there's probably that backlog.

But so far, we were just inside a few minutes ago and I looked at the board, not too many delays out of here. But, again, I mean, it's been snowing since 4:00 this morning here in Seattle. And, you know, you and I both know what all this snow can do out here.

HARRIS: Yes, absolutely.

QUINLAN: It's not fun.

HARRIS: All right, David, thanks for the reporting and thanks for the update on that situation with that ventilation system on that Alaska Airlines flight. QUINLAN: You bet.

HARRIS: David Quinlan is with our affiliate in Seattle, KIRO.

Store officials told him to go away when he tried to hand out the gift cards to customers. Why did he do it? And what happened next?

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HARRIS: You know, they say it's better to give than to receive. But a Rhode Island man found out the hard way being a selfless Santa can be pretty rough. Barry Goldberg thought it would be a nice gesture to purchase $1,300 worth of $10 gift cards and hand them out to customers in the store. But his gesture of kindness didn't last long. He joins us now from Providence with his side of the story.

Barry, good to see you. Thanks for your time.

BARRY GOLDBERG, SECRET SANTA: Thank you very much for having me here.

HARRIS: Barry, let me -- hang on a second here. Hang on just a second. Let me try to understand this here. You're trying to tell us all that the world's largest retailer, we're talking about Wal-Mart, didn't allow you to hand out Wal-Mart gift cards to Wal-Mart customers? Is that what you want us to believe?

GOLDBERG: That's absolutely what happened.

HARRIS: Is that what happened?

GOLDBERG: That's absolutely what happened. I wanted to do a good deed. I wanted to help people out throughout the holidays. Raise their spirits and lift their morale a little bit.

And within about 20 to 25 minutes of me passing out the cards, the store greeter approached me, asked me what I was doing. I told her, giving out Wal-Mart gift cards that I purchased. And she disappeared. And a few minutes later, the security came and the manager and told me I needed to follow them.

And I was absolutely astounded that they're sitting there telling me that initially the cards had no value. And then they scanned them and they realized that they did. And at that point was the only time that any crowd had gathered. And these were several of the people that I had given cards to, just staring in disbeliever that they're telling me that I can't stay in the store. That I had to leave.

HARRIS: Well, what happened here? What do you think the problem -- what's the problem really here?

GOLDBERG: What's the problem really? I think it was so outside of the norm of what they are used to expect having happen in front of the stores. And in their stores.

HARRIS: Barry, let me stop you. You know what the problem was? GOLDBERG: What's that?

HARRIS: Let me try to explain this to you. Here's the problem. The problem is, is that if you give gift cards to people who are inside the store . . .

GOLDBERG: OK.

HARRIS: They are likely to redeem them.

GOLDBERG: You know, I had people tell me that.

HARRIS: And normally what happens when we get gift cards, most of us don't redeem them. So when you give the cards to people inside the store, they redeem that. And you know what that hurts? The bottom line for the store.

GOLDBERG: Yes, but that -- you know that's . . .

HARRIS: Have you heard that?

GOLDBERG: Yes, I've heard it. I've received hundreds and hundreds of e-mails telling me that that's ultimately, you know, buy the gift cards and they'll get lost and come back when you have more money. And that's Wal-Mart. But, you know, that's not what the whole idea was about. It was really just to help people that, you know, typically when you go shopping, you look at people and they have this blank stare on their face. They're miserable.

HARRIS: Yes.

GOLDBERG: And particularly in this day of age when everything is bad news, I wanted to do something good just to help some people out.

HARRIS: And this is interesting because you were attempting to do this at a time of some distress in your own life. Is it true that you're not working right now?

GOLDBERG: For the past seven months, my partner and I, we had a relatively large mortgage company and a title company and we closed it down. And, you know, I'm now part of the gainfully unemployed. Yes.

HARRIS: And even with that, you decided to make this gesture. Again, I know it's an obvious question, but, honestly, why did you do it?

GOLDBERG: I have to look at, I guess, everything in perspective. And I look at what I have and what I was fortunate enough to obtain. And even though things are difficult for me, there's many others out there that are facing much more difficult times than I. And I thought, you know what, do something nice and help people out. And, in turn, you actually feel good for yourself.

HARRIS: I have to ask you, so how many cards do you have left? And -- you troublemaker -- what are your plans for the cards? GOLDBERG: I have 47 cards left and I'd like to give them away today. I'd like to find some people that would benefit from them. I did speak with Target management and they haven't confirmed that they would exchange them or not as of this point. So, you know, with Christmas only a day or so away, I'd like to, you know, give them away as soon as possible so somebody else might be able to benefit.

HARRIS: So this is interesting. So Target actually stepped in and said what to you?

GOLDBERG: Well, I actually made a comment a couple days ago that, you know, maybe I'll give gift cards in the future at Target. And I guess somehow it was taken out of perspective or context. And I wanted to get in touch with Target and I contacted a local Target in Killingly, Connecticut, and the manager spoke with the higher ups and they weren't able to make -- to me seemed like a no-brainer decision.

HARRIS: OK. And very quickly, you know, Barry, we asked for a representative from Wal-Mart to come on the show.

GOLDBERG: Yes.

HARRIS: They, of course, declined but they offered up this statement. Wal-Mart spokesman Greg Rosofer (ph) says, "it was a kind, thoughtful gesture by Mr. Goldberg that represents the best of the holiday season. We just wanted to be sure that it was done in a safe manner."

What's your reaction to that?

GOLDBERG: You know, I think that's, I don't know, poppy cock, to say the least. You know, there was no crowds. No one was in any danger. You know, it was so dead at some time that I was giving them to people that were leaving the store. And if it was really busy, I would have been in and out in 10 or 15 minutes.

HARRIS: Barry, got to run. I've mismanaged my time with you, as always. Happy holidays to you.

GOLDBERG: Thank you very much.

HARRIS: And Richard Lui is up next right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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