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Massive Israeli Air Assault on Gaza; Weather in Flight; Little Red Wagon 2.0

Aired December 27, 2008 - 16:00   ET

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

RICHARD LUI, CNN HOST: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, that begins right now.
Israeli defense forces launched air strikes on Gaza. Palestinian medical sources say at least 205 people are dead. Israel says the attacks will continue "as long as it takes." Hamas has responded by firing at least 15 more missiles at Israel. Reportedly killing at least one Israeli woman. The United Nations meanwhile is calling for an immediate halt to this latest round of violence but there's no sign that's going to happen any time soon. Hamas leaders are vowing revenge. CNN's Paula Hancocks has more on today's attacks and the aftermath.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The injured are transported to Gaza City's hospital by any means possible. Children on their way home from school, adults whether Hamas affiliated or not all caught up in Israel's air strike. Inside the hospital, hundreds of wounded Palestinians are being treated by too few doctors with painfully limited equipment.

VOICE OF DR. M. EL-KHAZINDAR, SHIFA HOSPITAL: I have two young men, I lost them because I could not find chest tubes to put anything in the chest because of pneumothorax due to injuries, hundreds of these people are suffering and simply because of shortage of medical equipment.

HANCOCKS: This is the moment Israel's air force struck Hamas installations in Gaza. Many of these buildings in the middle of residential areas, civilian casualties were inevitable. Hamas says all of its security compounds have been destroyed, many of its senior peace commanders were inside and killed when the missiles hit. It is vowing revenge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator): We will not renew the call of Israel. And we will not raise the white flag.

HANCOCKS: Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert is at pains to point out he's targeting Hamas, and not the Palestinian people.

PRIME MINISTER EHUD OLMERT, ISRAEL: The citizens of Gaza are not our enemies. Hamas, Jihad and the other terrorist organizations are your enemies, as they are our enemies. They have brought disaster on you and they try to bring disaster to the people of Israel. HANCOCKS: Israel says the air strikes are meant to end the rocket attacks from Palestinian militant groups in Gaza but inevitably rocket attacks are continuing in retaliation for Israel's air strikes.

EHUD BARAK, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): I don't want to delude or deceive anyone. This will not be a short operation. The war on terrorism is an ongoing one and we will have to stand firm in order to change the situation in the south.

HANCOCKS: The six month truce between Israel and Palestinian militant groups expired one week ago. In reality it started to break down two months ago but any hopes of a renewal of an Egyptian-brokered cease- fire today look almost impossible. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD LIU, CNN ANCHOR: And now more on what's happening in the Middle East, Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak joins us live from Jerusalem. Mr. Defense Minister, thank you for joining us today. I would like to start with the application of force, proportionality. We take a look at what the Palestinian reports have it at 200 deaths in the Gaza strip and the comparison to the number of deaths as a result of rocket attacks coming from the Gaza strip, since the end of the ceasefire, until today, they have zero. Was the IBS response today proportional?

EHUD BARAK, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: The IBS is responsible for seven years of shelling continues, continued shelling and rocketing of our citizens. Three years ago we evacuated the Gaza strip to the last square inch, the last soldier left there, and after the ceasefire ended, we suffered once again, hundreds of rockets on our civilian population. I am confident that the American government would not have waited one day before they would have responded. If San Diego would have been bombed or shelled or rocketed from Tijuana with thousands of rockets. We are patient, and very humble people. We want peace with our neighbors. We really have nothing against the Gazans, but this is a terror organization who took the sovereignty over there, and after the evacuation, keep shelling us, so we are left with no choice but to respond.

LIU: Mr. Barak, when we take a look at the efforts that were made today, 50 locations that were targeted by the IBF, before you made that decision to go, did you look at diplomatic efforts that perhaps could have mitigated some of the loss of life today?

BARAK: Against heavy criticism from my own colleagues in the cabinet, and many of these in the republic I personally led the situation into ceasefire, negotiated by the Egyptians, for half a year, about six months ago, and it broke after the Hamas broke it once again by shooting at us. So I made the effort. I tried our best, after all the past events, and I saw that nothing really happened, and now, when it was renewed, and just last, the last few days, more than 300 rockets and mortar shells have been shot at our civilian population indiscriminately, we decided to put an end to it. Of course, we prepared these operations for many months, but the unfoldings have to prepare operations but we do not execute unless it's ultimately necessary.

LIU: Mr. Defense Minister, we heard from Osama Hamdan, who is the senior spokesperson for Hamas and he said Israel had broken the ceasefire prior to what you are saying which is that Hamas broke the ceasefire and they're saying Israel had closed entry points for half the time, as well as caused the death of some 28 Palestinians. What do you say to that?

BARAK: I don't say, I don't respond. I respond the way that Bob Gates would have responded to the spokesman of Al Qaeda.

LIU: Mr. Barak, you have said that you do support and have supported the ceasefire. What do you, are doing at this moment to explore yet another? At this moment we could see an escalation of violence as has been seen today, more rocket attacks after the air strike. Are you exploring another ceasefire, as you said, you do support it?

BARAK: We are now fighting, and once it would become clear the situation had changed, that there is a readiness somehow to totally change the realities along the border, namely to keep quiet on their side of the border, not to attack civilians, not to attack the IBF and not to initiate any hostilities against Israel, we were such a friendly neighbor of much better government than the Hamas one, but basically, the Hamas kind of tied themselves into this idea of destroying Israel, and after we left the whole Gaza strip, we evacuated after decades every square inch of Gaza, every soldier and settler was evacuated, every Israeli home, including synagogue was destroyed and if after all this, we have to experience shelling and rocketing on innocent civilians, that's something that we will not accept, and I'm confident that your government or any other government on earth would not have accepted it.

LIU: You have consistently said since today in your earlier press conference that you would go further in your action. How much further would you go? Does this mean boots on the ground? Does this mean more air strikes? What more?

BARAK: Both, and probably more. I will go until it will end, and the result will be achieved. I think that there is a need to hit Hamas strong enough for them to be ready to change their behavior, if it will happen in a week, that's OK. If it will take a month, that's as well.

LIU: And Mr. Barak, you said you want fundamental change. If you have boots on the ground, if you have both, is what you're saying, including air strikes what, do you think that you can affect and change that no previous Israeli efforts have been able to change?

BARAK: I don't think that you know, while we are talking the Hamas to follow, I don't think as the Israeli minister of defense, I have to portray or to try to paint what exactly we will do. We will use our force as forcefully as need we did against Hamas in order to achieve a change in its behavior. It's like having an entity of Al Qaeda in the back yard of your kind of country or state. There's something that we just cannot afford. We have tried. I have tried. I convinced other members of the cabinet to give it a chance. We gave it. They broke it.

Now, it's time to pay the price for it.

LIU: Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak, I appreciate the time you spent with us here on CNN. I know you have a busy itinerary in front of you. Thank you.

BARAK: Thank you.

LIU: All right. We wanted to get the other side of this story, as well, but Hamas has not provided a spokesman to appear with us live. A Hamas spokesman however did speak with our sister network, CNN International earlier. He defended Hamas rocket attacks on Israel. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSAMA HANDAM, SENIOR HAMAS SPOKESMAN: It's clear that we are talking about 15 years of peace process without any useful results for the Palestinians so the only solution is for the Palestinians to resist the occupation according to the international laws. We have international resolutions defending our rights but the Israelis are not acting according to this. They believe that a kind of holocaust may bring us down. This will not happen. I believe they have to know that this holocaust will generate more violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: The Bush administration blames Hamas for the latest round of mideast violence though.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORDON JOHNDROE, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: Hamas must stop launching rockets into Israel. The United States holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire. Now the cease-fire should be restored immediately. The United States is also very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and want all parties involved to work to get the people of Gaza the humanitarian supplies that they need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: President Bush is vacationing at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

It's like a huge snow cone melting, a mess of a meltdown across much of the United States, rising temperatures in parts of the Pacific northwest and midwest are melting the heavy snow, that's raising the risk of significant flooding. Heavy rain in Illinois and several other midwestern states is making matters worse to boot. In Chicago two inches of rain fell in just two hours. Flash flood warnings are in effect there. Then there's eastern Washington state, still in a deep freeze, snow blowers out, more snow hitting the region overnight, adding to the mounds already there. The state could get more snow tomorrow. Over now to who's been watching all that weather for us, and that's Karen Maginnis. The giant snow cone, it is melting, isn't it, Karen? KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It really is and it's a very dangerous thing. In fact we've seen a lot of the suburbs around Chicago reporting that some of the rivers are out of their banks. The Wishowauki River, I hope I'm saying that right, they're already saying that it is out of its banks right now. They've seen a couple of inches of rainfall. What we've got a couple of areas of low pressure following along a frontal system. This frontal system is really the dividing line between this moist, unsettled air ahead of it and much, much colder air behind it.

So much so we're seeing in some cases about a 40-degree temperature difference. Let's go ahead and take a live look at what's happening in Chicago right now. Chicago has reported some delays, yes, even on the camera there, somebody could take a cloth and just kind of wipe that off. But it's rain that's coming down, so far, Chicago, this year, this month alone, they've seen 21 inches of snowfall at O'Hare.

What is typical for the month of December, four inches of snowfall. So you can see that's a lot of snow that has occurred just in the last 26, 27 days, with more rain that's due, it's going to melt that snow, fill those rivers up and they'll be out of their banks but look at these tornado watches, all the way from Chicago and now it looks like it's dropped off right around Shreveport. Shreveport wouldn't surprise me if they issued a thunderstorm watch. Let's go down towards Illinois and into Missouri, St. Louis, you've been seeing some pretty strong storms, lots of lightning, heavy downpours and very gusty winds.

Also across Arkansas, Little Rock, right about now, yes, the thunder and lightning definitely there. Also into the Arklatex region the Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas region some pretty good thunderstorms rumbling around that region as well. So flash flood watches and warnings and additional one to three inches of rainfall certainly possible across this region, and Richard, this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what's going on in the northwest. So when we come back in about 20 minutes we'll tell you what's going on there, a variety of watches and warnings out.

LUI: you go eat a power bar, have a Coke and we'll talk about the Pacific northwest.

MAGINNIS: I'm with you. I'll be back.

LUI: All right. Karen Maginnis, thank you so much.

MAGINNIS: You bet.

LUI: It's not only the season for some bad weather for folks, it's also the season to bargain hunt. Retailers make a final holiday sales push but are they getting shoppers to spend in the end?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: And now to a terrible scene in Philadelphia. Fire ripping through this house overnight, killing seven people, including three children. Six of the victims were found huddled together in the basement against the only exit door.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AYERS, PHILADELPHIA FIRE COMM.: It was an exit to the exterior in the rear of the home. This is how the firefighters made their entry, and this is how they fought the fire back, to attempt the rescue of those who were inside. And the stair was actually removed from the basement to the first floor, so there was no way out for those, that family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Officials suspect a kerosene heater started this fire, and we've got some new information about a Christmas eve shooting rampage and fire in southern California right now. Nine people were killed by a man in a Santa suit. Police say the suspect, Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, had recently lost his job. He showed up at a party at his ex-wife's parents' house.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF KIM RANEY, COVINA, CALIFORNIA POLICE: He walked up to the door, once he knocked on the door, rang the doorbell, and gained entrance. He immediately was confronted with an eight-year-old child who thought that Santa Claus had come to the house. He shot her once in the face and then proceeded inside the residence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: After the shooting spree and fire, Pardo killed himself. But police say he was apparently planning a getaway. They say he had $17,000 and a plane ticket to Canada.

So no word yet from GM's financing arm on whether it met a Friday night deadline to clear a last hurdle to become officially a bank holding company. Meeting the deadline would allow GMAC access to billions in federal bailout funds. Now, the company makes auto loans for GM's customers. It already has fed approval to become a bank holding company but that's contingent on GMAC completing a complicated debt for equity exchange.

Well, for most retailers the holiday shopping season was a plain bust. So stores are now trying to lure shoppers like you with big after Christmas bargains. They've lured Susan Candiotti. She's in New York and she's there in front of Macy's in New York City and having a big party along the way, too, Susan, aren't you?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Everyone's having a good time here. They see the cameras, they see the lights. They want to check - look we just walked out of Macy's. There are all kinds of crowds. Everyone has a shopping bag. You walk outside, you want to grab a little shish kebab, a few roasted chestnuts. You're all set to go. But in all seriousness, retailers here know this is their last crack at hitting up Christmas and holiday shoppers who are taking advantage of deep holiday discounts. Why? Because overall sales are down five to eight percent and retailers are trying to catch up on lost time. Now, here we found a couple of visitors all the way from Colorado and trying to find out from you first of all are you shopping with cash or credit card?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Both.

CANDIOTTI: Both and are you finding those deep discounts we're hearing about?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, everywhere. It's absolutely - I'm glad I came.

CANDIOTTI: How much of a percentage are you finding that you're getting?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, a lot of them are you know buy one, get one at 50 percent off. That's pretty good, you know, for American Eagle that's expensive.

CANDIOTTI: Exactly. We always like to dip into the shopping bag. So let's see if you can show us an example. Oh, you're wearing something.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

CANDIOTTI: Down to the feet and they let you wear them out of the store?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I wanted to wear them so bad that right after I walked out, I actually put them on.

CANDIOTTI: All right. Well and you found this, too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just all week, you have even today I found more things.

CANDIOTTI: Retailers are happy to hear that. Now the question is will those sales figures be enough to boost the overall economic picture by year's end? We'll have to wait for a week or two to find out what the official numbers are. Back to you, Richard.

LUI: You know, Susan, my producer and I were just talking a moment ago, it's kind of a reverse Christmas, all of the big shopping stores happening after Christmas. So it's kind of a little bit sparse before. So very interesting stuff you got for us today. Appreciate it.

CANDIOTTI: You got it.

LUI: Susan Candiotti.

Rising tensions, Pakistan moves troops to the Indian border. Barbara Starr on what the U.S. is saying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: And those are the folks that make it all happen there. Today is the first anniversary of the assassination of the former Pakistani prime minister, Benazir Bhutto. More than 150,000 supporters gathered at her mausoleum. Some cried. Some beat their heads and chests and wailed. Bhutto was campaigning ahead of parliamentary elections when she was killed. Some blame forces tied to then President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf's government blamed a militant leader with alleged links to Al Qaeda. Bhutto's widower was later elected to replace Musharraf as president.

A set back now for the U.S. war on terror. Pakistan is moving troops away from its border with Afghanistan. They are heading to Pakistan's border with India. A response to growing India-Pakistan tensions. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two Pakistani officials tell CNN their troops are moving from the border with Afghanistan, where they are fighting Al Qaeda, to the border with India, amid fears India is planning a cross-border attack. Officially, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani says Pakistan will act only if attacked. India quickly charged Pakistan is trying to divert attention from the real threat of terrorists.

PRANAB MUKHERJEE, INDIAN EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER: We would expect that, instead of raising war hysteria, they will address this problem. This is a menace to the regional peace and stability.

STARR: A senior U.S. military official tells CNN the Pentagon sees no direct evidence of a significant Pakistani troop movement so far. This may all be another round of posturing by both sides. But feuding between two nuclear powers is exactly what the Bush administration doesn't want to see. The risk is either side could miscalculate and India and Pakistan, which have gone to war three times before, could find themselves again at the brink.

Washington wants Pakistan to focus on fighting terrorism inside its borders. An obviously worried Bush administration issued a statement saying, "we hope that both sides will avoid taking steps that will unnecessarily raise tensions." All U.S. hopes are with this man, General Ashfaq Kayani, Pakistan's Army chief of staff. Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint chiefs of staff has had two meetings with Kayani in the last month making the move any moves towards war play right into the terrorists' hands.

ADM. MIKE MULLEN, CHAIRMAN U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: It shouldn't be lost on anyone how a handful of well-trained terrorists using fairly unsophisticated tools in a highly sophisticated manner held at bay an entire city and nearly brought to a boil inner state tensions between two nuclear powers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Both Pakistan and India have put military units on alert since the Mumbai attacks a month ago. The U.S. remains watchful and is still trying to convince Pakistan to keep focused on fighting Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups inside its country, rather than to look to India as a potential enemy. Barbara Starr, CNN, Washington.

LUI: Caroline Kennedy pumps up the volume in her bid to become the next senator from New York. Once criticized for being too elusive, she's now talking about why she believes she is the best person for the job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: You've heard this before, when money's tight, moms often cut back on things just on themselves. A recent survey warning though that women are now skipping important medical checkups. CNN's Judy Fortin has our "Health for Her" report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDY FORTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bills, bills, bills. It seems like everyone wants our money these days, and there's less of it to go around. One area where we shouldn't be trying to cut corners is our health. That's the conclusion of the National Women's Health Resource Center. Its recent survey shows nearly half of all women are opting to save by skipping, skipping screenings, medical procedures, medications, even annual exams. The survey found the cuts come with a cost.

ELIZABETH BATTAGLINO CAHILL, NAT'L WOMEN'S HEALTH RESOURCE CENTER: By cutting back on your health care does not mean that you're going to save money in the long-term. These annual visits and screenings are important because they can pick up on certain illnesses or chronic conditions before they become too serious.

FORTIN: For women with medical coverage, there are some easy ways to avoid skimping.

CAHILL: There's a lot of different incentives that come with that health care plan, and making sure that you get all the screenings that are under that health care, your vision, your dental, your annual screen. Health plan or not, one way to save is to return to the basics, things like flossing, good nutrition, reducing weight, and managing stress in our lives, all of which can go a long way to keep us well.

And another cost-effective cutback could be to trade in that gym membership for some outdoor time.

CAHILL: If you're not using your gym membership, you know, it's like wasting money, throwing money out the window. So get your friend, go out for a walk, or start working out at home.

FORTIN: And remember, when women get sick, there's a good chance the entire family might suffer.

CAHILL: If you do not take care of yourself, you're not going to be there to take care of your family.

FORTIN: And that's one job that is really hard to replace.

Judy Fortin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: And now back to our top story. Palestinian medical sources say more than 200 people have been killed in a massive Israeli air assault on Gaza. Israel defense forces says the military group Hamas was targeted.

Josh Levs takes a closer look at the history and geography of this area.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As we look at these images out of Gaza, I just want to give you some context on what the area looks like, how it all fills in.

Let's zoom in on the screen right here. What you're seeing here, everything that's light beige color is Israel. And this little section right there, that's Gaza.

Now, 1.5 million people live in that area, but it's only about twice the size of Washington, D.C. It's a relatively small area, about 140 square miles.

Now, what we've been seeing recently is this: Hamas, which controls this area, there have been Hamas militants firing rockets into Israel. We've been told they're going northward up toward here, Ashqelon, also eastward, some toward this area, Beersheba, these Israeli cities in the south.

And what we're seeing today is Israel attacking key installations, key Hamas installations inside Gaza that are right there. And Hamas controls that area.

Let me also give you a little bit of history on Gaza, and for that we have a graphic.

We're going to start in 1920, which will bring you back to when it was part of the British ruled mandate of Palestine. In 1948, Egypt gained control during the Arab-Israeli War, and that's when Israel officially came into existence. In 1956, Israel briefly got control of Gaza. But then it was in 1967, in the war then, the Six-Day Arab-Israeli War, that Israel took control of Gaza.

Now, in 1993, Israel signed some agreements, and it was the next year after those agreements with the Palestinian Liberation Organization that most Israeli troops pulled out. But it was in 2005, as we reported right here, that Israel ended its historic occupation of Gaza, pulled out those settlements and left that area all together.

Now, I want to show you one more thing on the board before we go. Let's zoom back in really quickly. I mentioned that Hamas controls this area. This section up here, however, this is the West Bank. There, it's Fatah, that political party that controls Palestinian life. Israel also still has occupation, still has troops inside the West Bank. That is one thing that makes it different from that area, Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, an important context to keep in mind as you hear about the actions between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: And of course we'll stay on top of that story for you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LUI: Did you ever wonder what goes into making sure your flight is as smooth as possible? How about an army of meteorologists? Our colleague at CNN International, Kevin Corriveau, prepared this report for the CNN.com blog Weather FX.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN CORRIVEAU, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Their lives are filled with maps, charts and satellite data. They use words like upper air (ph) and pirefs (ph). But their mission is really quite simple.

STEPHANIE KLIPFEL, DELTA AIRLINES SUPV. OF METEOROLOGY: We're looking for areas that are going to affect the safety of our flight.

CORRIVEAU: Stephanie Klipfel is a supervisor of meteorology for Delta. Her team provides something of a crystal ball for dispatchers and pilots by pulling in and analyzing data.

BILL THULL, DELTA AIRLINES METEOROLOGIST: Temperatures are critical. We want to know where the cold is aloft, how stable the atmosphere. And that's what these temperatures tell us.

Dew points is the moisture in the air. Is it dry enough aloft where you won't get any rain or thunderstorms forming that day? And obviously the wind speeds, how fast -- it affects how fast weather is moving, and as far as our aircraft, what kind of a shear to expect in the atmosphere.

CORRIVEAU: When the winds are moving in different directions, at different levels of the atmosphere, or at varying speeds, it's called wind shear, and that can lead to turbulence.

KLIPFEL: We have several jet streams in the upper atmosphere that we look at. And a lot of people, we like to relate it to a river flowing that you -- because you can see the currents in a river, but the air is just like that. So we look for those stronger currents, and where the less wind speeds are, and the difference in those is where we find turbulence. CORRIVEAU: The meteorologists use maps and computer models to look for clues to help pilots avoid the turbulence. And the problems don't always lie in the air; rather, as a result of what's coming from the ground. Mountains, for instance, can create what's called mountain waves.

KLIPFEL: If you think about air flowing over something, it sets up a little eddy on the east (ph) side of the mountain. And so that's what we call the mountain waves.

A plane that gets caught up in an eddy, it could actually push it down or push it up. (INAUDIBLE) faster than it should be going, or it could get pushed back up. And if you're on final approach, that could be a dangerous situation.

CORRIVEAU: Thunderstorms are the most obvious cause of turbulence, but there are times when a rough ride just can't be avoided. It's call clear air turbulence, as explained by Professor John Knox with the University of Georgia in the United States.

PROF. JOHN KNOX, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA: When you fly through a thunderstorm, you expect turbulence because thunderstorms are made out of air rising. And clear air turbulence is a special type of turbulence that happens near the jet stream, near where planes are flying at cruising altitudes, and it often but not always happens with clear blue skies. More generally, it happens far away from thunderstorms.

KLIPFEL: It can go unforecast. So what we do in those situations is we monitor pilot reports. And suddenly, if we see this area is supposed to be clear, then we start seeing some reports there may be some light turbulence starting, our first thought is, why is there light turbulence there? And we may drill down a little bit more and try to figure out what's causing that.

CORRIVEAU: Winter weather brings its own set of challenges. For example, the weather conditions are right for snow or ice to accumulate on a plane's wings. Scientist Marcia Politovich studies the effects of icing on planes at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research.

MARCIA POLITOVICH, NCAR PROJECT SCIENTIST: For forecast icing, you need to have a good idea of the weather from surface weather maps, from satellite imagery. Radar helps to pinpoint where precipitation is happening. And then numerical weather prediction models. And in fact, some of the research that's been done on icing has really helped improve what we call the microphysics, what's going on in the clouds with snow and ice particles, as well as the super cool liquid.

Many airports, many airlines apply a thin coating of a different liquid, and it sticks to the wings. The snow falls on that liquid, and it doesn't stick to the airplane.

What's neat about these liquids that stick to the airplane is when the airplane revs up to take off, gains speed to take off, the liquids are designed very specifically to kind of peel off the airplane. Then you're taking off with a clean wing and everything's fine.

CORRIVEAU: Whatever the challenges may be, these meteorologists are armed with the tools to keep pilots informed before they ever leave the ground.

I'm Kevin Corriveau.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: How a Japanese company is using green technology to fuel its next generation of cell phones.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Caroline Kennedy is stepping up her efforts to be named Hillary Clinton's successor in the Senate. The 51-year-old daughter of President John F. Kennedy has been more visible since asking New York's governor to consider her.

CNN affiliate New York 1 will be airing an interview with her tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROLINE KENNEDY, JOHN F. KENNEDY'S DAUGHTER: People have a lot of opinions about our family, people in our family. You know, good opinions, bad opinions. That's something that I've grown up with.

But you know, I can tell you that in our family, in my family in particular, I think, you know, there was a sense that, you know, we have to work twice as hard, because, you know, people have this perception that, you know -- and we are fortunate, but I think that's a question of what do you do with that opportunity?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: All right. Kennedy says she's always considered political office, but was finally moved to action after working on Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

Holiday spirit shining brightly on this street, 34th Street. No miracles. Not yet, at least. Just lots of lights and lots of laughs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: OK. Don Lemon joins us right now, the host of NEWSROOM this evening at 5:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

Before we get into that, though, you've had a pretty good couple of days off. Huh?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm in a food coma.

LUI: You told me your mom's out here treating you right.

LEMON: My mom is here. We're going to talk about that, too, like, what happens after Christmas? A lot of people get depressed because Christmas is over. Are people shopping, Richard? What's going on?

LUI: Right.

LEMON: I'm going to get to that a little bit later on. But we're going to update you on the latest. We're going to take you to Gaza.

Our Paula Hancocks is going to report from there. And also, we're going to tell you what this means for the current administration. You know, President Bush now in the waning days of his administration -- what this means fort current administration and also for Barack Obama.

We'll talk about that coming up in just a few minutes.

Also, with everything we have heard this holiday season about foreclosures, layoffs, tight budgets, we're taking a closer look at some of the things people are doing to help others. You may be surprised by some of it, Richard. Really some good Samaritans, or if you want to call them Santas; right?

Often it's for people who don't even know that it's happening. One lady, I'll give you a hint, got a lot of money, a huge tip. These stories will inspire you.

Also, we want to know what's on your mind tonight. Make sure you log on to Twitter, to MySpace, ireport.com. Tell me what you're thinking and we'll get it on the air.

I'm looking at some of the response now and it's amazing. One person says, "I am so glad Christmas is over. Glad it's over, the commercial part of Christmas holidays. Very tiring."

LUI: A lot of stuff in the NEWSROOM tonight with Don Lemon.

LEMON: Yes.

LUI: Thank you, sir. And you're not in a food coma at all. I can tell you've got full energy.

(LAUGHTER)

LUI: He's going to take a nap, but at 5:00 p.m. he's going to be here.

Thank you, sir.

LEMON: See you.

LUI: All right.

"Miracle on 34th Street" an old holiday classic, but here's a relatively new holiday tradition. Every year people flock to 34th Street in Baltimore where homeowners put on a Christmas show of their very own.

Photojournalist Jay McMichael (ph) gives us a ringside seat, part of CNN's "Focus on Giving" series. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we are on 34th street and Hamden (ph). Some call it the Miracle of Lights. It's one more wonderful year of having the lights come on for all the people.

Some neighbors, it takes a month. And so they start the day after Halloween. And other neighbors it just takes a few days, and if any of the neighbors need help, we're there to help them.

At different times we've had traffic backed up for four miles, all the way up to exit 10. I had one gentleman say, "I saw your hubcap tree on my telly." I said, "Where is your telly located?" And he said, "Australia."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, my name is Vienne (ph). I'm from Sydney, Australia. Nobody in Australia decorates their house to this extent. They maybe a few lights and maybe like a blowup doll or something, but not like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A blowup doll?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, a snowman or Santa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Christmas? OK.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The other night when I was up here, young girls from Italy, that lady there from Ecuador. People come from all over. They love it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's really tacky but pretty awesome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like the hubcap tree. It's my favorite.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is so unique, this is so Baltimore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They take whatever they've got and they make what they can out of it. Put on a bunch of Christmas lights and people come look at it. And it's a good time. You know? It's pretty fun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this has been a longstanding generational tradition. The whole neighborhood cooperates. Everybody is lit up. It's famous. People come from all across the country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: Love the Santa cycle there. See that Santa cycle? .

A classic toy is getting an extreme makeover.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We approached this product much like an automotive company might with a concept car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: A sneak peek at the Little Red Wagon 2.0.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Stiff competition fueling a gasoline price war in South Carolina. It all started when a new gas station enticed drivers with an opening day price of just $1.30 a gallon. We do not jest.

Other stations dropped even lower and lower, eventually hitting the bargain basement price of just 91 cents a gallon. Needless to say, the lines stretched around the block. The customers insisted the deal was worth the wait.

Many companies are tightening their belts this holiday season, but one Chicago-based toy maker is still thriving after 90 years.

Gary Tuchman has the story of the little red wagon with a big new twist on this week's "Edge of Discovery."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The little red wagon, an iconic American toy that represents a simpler time. But times they are a changin'.

TOM SCHLEGEL, RADIO FLYER: This wagon we really kind of push the boundaries.

TUCHMAN: This is not your father's wagon. It's called the Cloud9. It features a slick design, padded seats, a strollometer and of course an iPod connection.

SCHLEGEL: We really approach the Cloud9 wagon like an automotive company might approach a concept car.

TUCHMAN: So why would this small family-based company fix something that's not broken?

SCHLEGER: Much of our companies are much larger. To compete we really have to be innovate.

TUCHMAN: Designed with cutting edge tools, Radio Flyer is taking this once simple toy into the 21st century.

SCHLEGER: We can take a product from a sketch pad all the way through to a finished prototype to be able to show our customers what we are going to come out with next.

TUCHMAN: This version of the Cloud9 would probably sell for around $1,000 if it were available in stores. It's not. Radio Flyer is just toying with the idea for now.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Chicago. (END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Oh, how times have changed.

I'm Richard Lui. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now with Don Lemon.