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Winter's Crushing Blow; NYC Cabber s told to Racially Profile; Private Life for All to See

Aired December 12, 2010 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

Brace yourself. It is a mess out there, and it is going to get worse. A massive winter storm right now is turning life upside down for a great many people, and it could be days before it gets any better.

Every part of the country is feeling it now, from Canada to Mexico, coast to coast. Cleveland is getting socked with lake-effect snow. That area is under a winter storm warning.

Air travel all over is a mess, long lines, cancelled flights, frazzled nerves. This is Buffalo's airport, typically used to winter storms. Wintry weather is even blowing through the south right now. In Nashville, the snow looks pretty on the grass but it is ugly on the highways. Black ice causing accidents everywhere. Snow even made a rare appearance as far south as Atlanta today. It didn't stick, but bitter cold temperatures and high winds are in the forecast for tomorrow.

And just check out the long lines tonight at Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport. Our very own Deb Feyerick, she was here earlier today anchoring. She took this shot of people standing forty deep at the airport's help desks with no letup in sight. She still hasn't gotten a flight out back to New York City.

But perhaps the most telling video of all is from Minneapolis. A storm cost the Minnesota Vikings their home field. The Teflon roof of the Metrodome, well, it couldn't hold the tons of snow and it caved in with a spectacular crash early this morning. The Vikings-Giants game scheduled for today move to tomorrow night at Detroit's Ford Field.

Boy, what a mess out there. We're going to turn now to our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.

And it is just getting started. Take it away

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, this is a far-reaching storm. It's going to have impacts on eastern parts of the U.S., at least through the middle part of the week.

The storm packed quite a punch as you saw across the Midwest. And now the worst of that storm is focused here across the great lakes and down to the Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys at least in terms of the wintry aspects of it. Some of the heaviest snow coming down just east of Nashville. Look at this up through parts of Kentucky, and over towards the Cleveland area where you're under a winter storm warning. You'll likely see a couple of feet of snow by the end of the week on the lee side of the lake as the lake-effect snows continue to kick in. Ahead of the system in the warm sector, it's been rain all day long. New York, up towards Boston, all throughout New England. You'd expect snow this time of the year, but you're in that warm wedge, but that was enough to cause some major delays at the airports.

We have major delays from the Midwest, from the northeast, to the southeast. At this hour after more than 1,300 flights cancelled in and out of O'Hare, look at this, you still got delays over six hours. Newark heavy delays over two hours. About one hour in San Francisco. Some low cloud and low fog and a lot of this has dwindled down primarily because it's just that time of the day when a number of flights start to push on out.

Now the good news here in the northeast is that you're going to stay rain, maybe a few snow showers tomorrow. But the heavy snow is now moving on up into Canada. What you're going to be left with is going to be bitter cold wind chills.

Take a look at the temperatures. In Minneapolis 15 below, 18 below in Cedar Rapids, Chicago one below, and all that cold air is going to advance southward, and we're going to see this all the way down into Florida for the middle of the week. And yes, those citrus crops could be freezing again come Tuesday morning.

There you can see the national picture for tomorrow with all that cold in place. The accumulating snows will be dying down outside of the lakes, but it's going to continue to be windy, and that's why we're expecting to have more airport delays tomorrow.

So Boston, New York Metro, Chicago and Detroit, over an hour and Cleveland, expect delays as well as Atlanta and then San Francisco, so we expect another rough day of travel. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention what's also going on in the Pacific Northwest. We've had heavy rains particularly into parts of Washington as well as into Oregon, and we've had quite a bit of flooding and even some landslides going on outside of the Portland area.

Don, it's a powerful storm, and it's going to real leave a lot of cold in its wake.

LEMON: And as we said coast-to-coast, so patience. Jacqui Jeras, thank you very much.

Now to a desperate scramble to save lives in Afghanistan. U.S. soldiers combed through the rubble today after a suicide bomber detonated a van packed with explosives at a military outpost. It happened in southern Afghanistan's volatile Kandahar Province. Six U.S. soldiers were killed. The "New York Times" reports more than a dozen U.S. and Afghan forces were injured. The explosion blew in the outpost roof, trapping soldiers below. It was so loud it could be heard eight miles away. Some cab drivers in New York City are being told to racially profile potential customers by their boss. Up next, we'll hear him explain why.

Plus, Santa came with an early green delivery for one Connecticut man, but the Grinch put him in jail. We'll explain that one as well.

And using holiday parties to get ahead at work or find a job. It can happen. We'll tell you how.

And I'm online. I know you are, too. Make sure you check out my social media accounts and let's connect.

Also I've posted some of our best content on my blog, go to CNN.com/Don for some highlights there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Some New York City cab drivers are now being told to racially profile potential customers after a shooting left one of their own in critical condition. The shooting was captured on a dash cam from inside the cab. Police are looking for 22-year-old Shawn Peace. They say he shot driver Trevor Bell seven times on December 3rd in Queens.

Fernando Mateo, the president of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, is directing his drivers, who are predominantly black and Hispanic, to not pick up some people of their own ethnicity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FERNANDO MATEO, PRESIDENT, THE NEW YORK STATE FEDERATION OF TAXI DRIVERS: Unfortunately, if the driver can't identify you, can't see you and can't describe you.

LEMON: Then don't pick them up.

(CROSSTALK)

MATEO: Then don't pick them up. It's not worth risking their lives.

LEMON: So it's not all blacks and Hispanics. It's not all blacks and Hispanics. You're asking them to use their judgment based on the way they look and the way someone is dressed.

MATEO: That is correct, and anyone that misunderstands me doesn't know me. Everyone knows who I am, and everyone knows that I'm a defender of our people in our community. But right now I'm defending the drivers. I'm defending, I'm standing up for them. So I can accept criticism from everybody and anybody. It doesn't matter.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: And what was the response so far, Mr. Mateo? What's been the response from drivers and what's been the response from people in New York City? MATEO: Drivers have been applauding me. People in New York City, eight out of ten, have been supporting me. If you read the blogs, if you see what people are saying, they are saying it's about time someone comes out and says the truth.

You know what? It hurts. It hurts me, but the truth is the truth. And I am going to stick by the truth 100 percent. I will not back down from the truth, and, unfortunately, it's our own committing crimes against our own. I can't blame it on Asians or on whites or on Indians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: By the way, the man you just heard from there, Fernando Mateo, he is black and Hispanic himself. The family of Trevor Bell, though, the cab driver shot repeatedly, supports Mateo's call for drivers to racially profile.

You might not think so, but the holiday season can actually be the best time of the year to take control of your career.

Our Christine Romans is going to show you how in tonight's edition of "Mastering Your Money." Christine?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, that's right. You can actually use holiday parties as a way to build relationships tactfully, of course. Get out from in front of your computer and start socializing. Effective networking, after all, is all about building and sustaining relationships.

Focus, too, on employers who don't rely on seasonal employees. Instead of that temporary job in retailer and hospitality look to bring your skill set even if it's in customer service, to top growth fields that need good talent year round like health care, I.T., information technology or government affairs.

The holidays also provide a great excuse to send someone you've been looking to connect with a card or small gift. Take some time to make sure that your holiday cheer is going to be delivered in a way that will be appreciated by the recipient. And this next one is really for -- reach out to HR prior to the last two weeks of December. That means this week you can really make a lot of headway because almost everyone is in the office trying to get their work finished before hitting the road for the holidays. It's a connection now that maybe could pay off next year.

And show that what you bring to the table aligns with the prospective employer's 2011 goals. One of the most important things job-seekers can remember is that employers are looking to hire people who are uniquely qualified to fill a particular position. Think about what the company is looking to achieve next year. Make the pitch that you're the guy or gal who can produce the results that the employer needs delivered.

LEMON: All right. Christine, thank you very much.

WikiLeaks reveals new information about North Korea. So what is rock legend Eric Clapton have to do with the communist nation.

And we all know about the government's problem with the massive deficit, but there's a new kind of money problem, $1 billion worth.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Here are your top stories right now on CNN.

More than 600 passengers and crew stranded on a Missouri showboat are safe tonight after a 15-hour ordeal. The boat ran aground late yesterday in high winds on a lake near Branson, Missouri. A passenger shivered through a night of frigid temperatures wrapped in table cloths and napping on the floor. The boat company rigged a 30-foot plank to shore this morning and everyone was escorted safely.

The State Department says U.S. Diplomat Richard Holbrooke is still in critical condition after undergoing an additional procedure today to improve circulation. Holbrooke underwent emergency surgery yesterday at George Washington University Hospital to repair a tear in his aorta. The State Department says Holbrooke's family is grateful for the outpouring of support coming from friends, colleagues, and leaders around the world.

Britain's home secretary says protesters made some contact with Prince Charles' wife Camilla during violent protests this week. Demonstrator's fury is over plan college tuition increases, attacked the Royal couple's Rolls-Royce on Thursday. Neither the prince nor duchess of Cornwall was hurt, but British media report Camilla was poked with a stick through the window. Police aren't confirming that.

And another bizarre twist buried in a trove of WikiLeaks diplomatic cables. One of them suggests that North Korea wanted rock legend Eric Clapton to perform in Pyongyang as a way of building goodwill between the U.S. and North Korea. An intermediary who relay the request said North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il's son is reportedly a big fan of Clapton. Representatives for Eric Clapton have not commented.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin joined Reverend Franklin Graham and his charity Samaritan's Purse this weekend in Haiti. She observed the charity's operations and handed out Christmas gifts. Today as her trip drew to a close Palin told reporters she hopes the American people won't turn their backs on a country that's been through so much.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: Don't want Americans to forget the need that is here. More importantly for Americans and people across the world to know what an individual can do to make a difference to contribute, to kind of get out of your comfort zone and volunteer to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Well, Haiti, as you may know is being ravaged by cholera, even as it continues to recover from that huge earthquake 11 months ago. And in recent days a disputed presidential election sparked violence which threatened to plunge the country into renewed chaos.

Some good news for job-seekers to tell you about; bad news for casinos though. And if you have money problems, you are not alone. Carter Evans explains in this week's "Getting Down to Business."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, after months of disappointing reports, there is finally some good news for unemployed workers. The number of available jobs jumped from 3 million to 3.4 million in October. The Labor Department says that's the biggest jump in six months, and an increase in openings is usually followed by a rise in hiring.

And while more Americans may be getting jobs, they certainly are not willing to risk that hard-earned cash like they used to. A study shows that gamblers in Atlantic City casinos are spending 30 percent less than they used to. The second largest gambling market now plans to step up its amenities to lure more people back.

And the government has a new problem that's all about the Benjamins. $1.1 billion newly minted $100 bills are now under quarantine because of a printing problem that made some of the bills unusable. The source of the problem is with the new high-tech bills' security ribbons. They are 3D and they are intended to fend off counterfeiters. The original February release is now being pushed back. That's this week's "Getting Down to Business."

Carter Evans in New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: President Obama with a face-to-face message for America's CEOs and who is going to be in line to take home some hardware in holiday. Those are just two of the stories that will be making news this week. We have your headlines before they happen.

And I don't think this is what Santa Claus had in mind for a Christmas present, pot, and lots of it, under the tree. Talk about a very Merry Christmas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hollywood's annual awards season kicks off this week with the Golden Globe nominations, but we begin our look ahead at the coming week with the president's agenda.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Henry in Washington. A big week for President Obama. On Wednesday, CNN has learned he'll have a CEO summit across the street from the White House where he'll try to sell his controversial tax cut plan. Then on Thursday he releases a year-end review of Afghanistan policy. Officials say it will show some progress, but also note a lot more work needs to be done.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. This week the long-awaited report on progress in the war in Afghanistan. How much progress? And how soon can troops really come home.

And Defense Secretary Robert Gates still hopes that Congress will do something about repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the closing days of the congressional lame duck session.

PAUL STEINHAUSER CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I'm Paul Steinhauser at the CNN Political Desk. New York City's independent mayor Michael Bloomberg joins some leading Democrats, Republicans and some other independents to launch a new group that hopes to find non-partisan solutions to some of the nation's problems. The group is called No Labels, and it kicks off tomorrow in New York City.

Later in the week, two men who may want to run for the White House, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Senator Rick Santorum speak to Republicans in crucial early voting states.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Wall Street is preparing for a pretty busy week of economic news which kicks off with a closely watch report on November retail sales, followed by readings on consumer confidence, new home construction and also a report on leading economic indicators from last month.

And on Tuesday Federal Reserve officials will meet in Washington for a one-day meeting on interest rates.

Also this week, we'll get earnings from Best Buy, General Mills and FedEx. We'll track it all for you on CNN Money.

A.J. HAMMER, HOST, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: And I'm "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer. Here's what we're watching this week. Golden Globe nominations will be announced. You know what that means. It is the beginning of Hollywood's blockbuster awards season. So who will be the early favorites?

Also "Showbiz Tonight" is going one-on-one with Matt Damon.

"Showbiz Tonight" is live at 5:00 p.m. Eastern on HLN, and we are still TV's most provocative entertainment news show at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

LEMON: All right, let's take a look at what's coming up overseas with CNN international desk editor Azadeh Ansari.

Azadeh, let's start with Julian Assange.

AZADEH ANSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL DESK: Right. So he's going to be in court on Tuesday, and he's going to have a new bail hearing taking place. And then actually on Monday, we're going to have the launch of OpenLeaks.org which is a new site where whistleblowers can anonymously and securely post leaked information, but this time it's not going to be made available to the public. It's going to be disseminated to different media organizations and then the media can decide which ones they want to leak out.

LEMON: Where will this end?

Last week when he was arrested by appointment, it was really a zoo outside of the courthouse or outside of the police headquarters there.

OK, let's talk about the Chilean miners. There's some news when it comes to them.

ANSARI: OK, so 26 out of the 33 miners are in Manchester, England, and why do you think that is?

LEMON: Why?

ANSARI: Because the Manchester United Game versus Arsenal is taking place tomorrow.

LEMON: OK.

ANSARI: So they are going to be at the game. And actually one of the Chilean miners, the 53-year-old, his last name is Ramirez.

LEMON: Yes.

ANSARI: He used to be a former professional soccer player and part of the Chilean national team. Isn't that cool?

LEMON: It is very cool. They spent a lot of time underground and now they're just living the life.

ANSARI: It's really neat.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: They should be. We were really worried about them and I'm sure they were, too.

Oprah in Australia. Oprah is everywhere, huh?

ANSARI: Yes. The one and only Oprah Winfrey, the queen of daytime TV is Australia is --

LEMON: I think they had gone on Australia, though, no?

ANSARI: She's in Australia.

LEMON: She's in Australia.

ANSARI: She's going to be taping her show at the Sydney Opera house, not the Oprah house, the opera house, two tapings, and they anticipate 6,000 people attending each taping. LEMON: All right. I'll have to DVR Oprah because usually I'm at work and I can't see it, so I don't know. I thought the whole thing was over with Australia.

Thank you very much, Azadeh. Have a great week ahead.

ANSARI: You, too.

LEMON: All right. So you probably think that no one but you and those closest to you know what you like and what you think. Well, think again. As CNN's Jeanne Meserve reports, what we believe is private is often not.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dick Hardt put photos of his Hawaiian wedding on Facebook to share with close friends, but when he made mention of it on Twitter, he didn't know a link would be attached. Giving more than 3,000 followers access to some rather intimate images.

DICK HARDT, PRIVATE PICTURES WENT PUBLIC: We didn't think were offensive in any way, but my wife didn't prefer for everybody to see those photos.

MESERVE: While his case was embarrassing, others are downright dangerous. Sarah Downey was horrified when a picture of her young daughter was hijacked from her Flicker account and used in a sexually suggestive Portuguese language profile on Orchid.com, a social networking site.

SARAH DOWNEY, PRIVATE PICTURES WENT PUBLIC: It broke my heart. It broke my heart.

MESERVE: Downey posted a translation to warn other Flicker users, but then she says total strangers exploited the Internet to find her phone number, and worse her home address.

DOWNEY: We would go to the grocery store and I would wonder has this person seen my daughter. Are they here, you know, trying to find us, trying to get close with my daughter?

MESERVE: Since then, Downey tried to protect her private information. Has it worked? With her permission, we gave her name to Steven Rambam, a private investigator who harvests information from the Internet. In less than 90 seconds, he turns up 100 pages of possible links.

STEVEN RAMBAM, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Frankly anything you would want to know about this young lady seems to be available on the Web.

MESERVE: On sites like YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, more and more Americans are making their private information public. Put it together with public documents like newspaper accounts and property records and a portrait emerges. Take Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Using free publicly available information on the Internet, a Fordham University Law School class came up with 15 pages of information. Including Scalia's home address and phone number, even the movies and foods he likes.

JOEL REIDENBERG, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: If we were willing to spend $100 for the project, we would have been able to acquire far more intrusive, far scarier information.

MESERVE: Private Investigator Rambam says anytime you hit the send button, your information is no longer your own. He says your frequent flier program, movie account, book purchases, even some searches can be tracked, stored and sometimes sold.

RAMBAM: I have a window into your soul. I know what you believe. I know what you think. I know who your family is. I know who your friends are. I know your politics.

MESERVE (On camera): Orchid.com says it updated its policies and tools to find and remove fake profiles like the one of Sarah Downey's daughter and Google says it gives customers the tools they need to protect their personal information. Many of us could be more careful.

In addition, some privacy experts would like to see standardized and simplified Web site privacy policies or even government restrictions on secondhand use of private information.

(voice-over) Steven Rambam sees a lot of positives to having so much information on the Internet and says the genie is already out of the bottle.

RAMBAM: Ten years from now you'll have a choice of getting used to minimal privacy or subleasing the Unabomber's cabin. That's going to be your two choices. The fact of the matter is there is nowhere to hide.

MESERVE: As Rambam puts it, privacy is dead. Get over it.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A new CNN series looks at whether it's possible to keep your identity private. "END OF PRIVACY" begins tomorrow here on CNN.

Christmas gifts have gotten a Connecticut man in big trouble with the law. The wrap gifts were delivered to the man's house, but they actually contain more than 100 pounds of Marijuana. The informant tipped off police about the pot delivery, they swooped in and also sees $23,000 in cash. The gift's recipient, well, he is in custody.

I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for watching. Make sure you have a good week. I'll see you back here next weekend.