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Major Storm Hits Eastern U.S.; Decoding Mona Lisa; Privacy Concerns Online; Top 10 Quotes of 2010; Breast Milk Sharing Online

Aired December 13, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, guys. Good morning. It's 9:00 on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West.

Here's some of the stories that had us talking this morning. From the Upper Midwest to the Deep South, a major storm pounding the eastern half of the U.S. Heavy snow and bitter cold grounding more than 170 flights.

FedEx says today will likely be the busiest shipping day in history. Our David Mattingly jumps on a delivery truck and takes us on a live tour at one of the hubs.

In Sweden police say explosions that killed one person and wounded two others were an act of terrorism and it could have been worse. Police believe the bomber was on his way to an area more crowded with Christmas shoppers.

We begin this morning with the raging storm and some video that's gone viral. Watch closely as the inflatable roof on the Minneapolis Metrodome buckles under the weight of the heavy snow.

First the snow streams in, then Teflon panel gives way and dumps an avalanche. More on that in just a moment. But right now that wicked weather is heading east. It's slipping south. Snowfall in Tennessee and Georgia, bitter cold reaching all the way into Florida.

And it could be an awful couple of days for travelers. Airlines canceled more than 170 flights by last night and airports are bracing for more bad news today.

We're covering all of the angles. CNN all-platform journalist Chris Welch inside the Metrodome. His colleague Patrick Ottman covering flooding and mudslides in the Pacific Northwest, and CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano has the big picture from coast to coast.

Let's go ahead and start our coverage in Minneapolis with Chris.

Chris, Metrodome officials downplaying the roof failure, is that right?

CHRIS WELCH, CNN ALL-PLATFORM CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this is quite a thing to be seeing video. The director says it looks like something that's very serious. But it's actually easier to fix, I think.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE MAKI, METROPOLITAN SPORTS FACILITIES COMMISSION: Actually, I think I'll say it looks worse than what it is. In some respects. Because the repair as I understand it will be basically to unclamp the old fabric and clamp new fabric in its place and then blow the roof back up.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right, looks like we lost our live connection inside the Metrodome there with Chris. We will try and get him back as we talk about the severe weather.

It's definitely playing havoc with travel plans as well. In Cleveland the conditions are expected to go from bad to worse. The city could see up to nine inches of snow today and that amount could be dwarfed by the end of the week.

In fact, CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano was trying to fly in to Cleveland but your flight was canceled. Right?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right over. Yes.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I know.

MARCIANO: All day yesterday. And -- but it was even before the weather got bad in Cleveland. This storm is so big, Kyra, that especially when you try to get out of a hub city it may not be what's going on in your city or what's going on in your destination but in other spots, and especially if you fly those little bitty planes, they seem to have a hard time catching up once they start slowing down.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: This will go around but there is something interesting shaping up for this coming weekend that would include the East Coast. Well, plenty of time to talk about that in the next few days.

Kyra, back over to you.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: You bet.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Well, it's not just air travel that's been stopped in its tracks. In Minneapolis city buses have also bogged down in the heavy snowfall. IReporter Peter Frye went out in the blizzard conditions to lend a hand with the help of a plow and a lot of neighbors. They were actually able to get all of the buses on the street moving again.

Here's the view from another iReporter in the Twin Cities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK PARR, CNN IREPORTER: It's really bad out. There's a car stuck. That's the best way to get around, in cross country skis right there.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: But snow and frigid temps aren't causing the only weather problems this morning. At the bottom of the house we're actually going to head to the Pacific Northwest for the latest on the flooding and the mudslides there.

All right, let's turn to an issue that affects all of our wallets. Today the Senate is expected to hold an important test vote on extending the Bush era tax cuts just days after the White House struck a deal with Republican leaders. Now the greatest rift may be between the president and members of his own party.

CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry joins us with all of the drama. Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Kyra.

You know, the president may have gotten a lift late Friday when former President Bill Clinton decided to show up in the White House briefing room as a surprise. We knew he was meeting here with President Obama but we didn't know he was going to come out and give a full throated endorsement of the tax cut plan, even stuck around, took some questions.

It was almost as if the White House staff couldn't quite shoe him out of the briefing room. The former president enjoying his time back here. But I think on the substance of all of this, it shows for the first time that President Obama has some momentum in this tax cut fight. He was certainly struggling last week.

Now all of a sudden he can see some daylight. First of all there is a procedural vote in the Senate later today. It looks like they'll have the super majority of 60 votes to clear that. That will put pressure on House Democrats to consider this as well.

And yesterday David Axelrod was on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley and was basically saying that this is not a perfect deal but it needs to move forward to make sure that the American people don't see their taxes go up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID AXELROD, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: We handled it as best as we could give at any time frame that we had. And I'm not looking for style points here. What I'm looking for is progress for the American people. What I'm looking for is to forestall what would be devastating for the American people and our economy. And that's what we should be focused on.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: The other big news to pay attention to today is the fact that you have various House Democrats now saying look, this is likely to come to the House floor in a few days. There might be some changes, they want to tweak, for example, the estate tax provisions which they think are too generous to the Republican position.

But that's a far cry from where House Democrats were at last week when they were saying don't bring this up in the House for a vote at all. They are softening that position, and so once this clears the Senate hurdle later today, you can maybe see a breakthrough in the House in the next few days.

So that means, bottom line, the president will likely get his tax cut deal and more importantly for the American people they won't see their taxes go up come January 1st -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. And obviously, we all want to know what's going to happen with regard to our taxes and our bottom line. But we can't forget that also a part of this is the START treaty and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

HENRY: Yes. There's a lot of other big issues out there, as you know, as we get closer to Christmas and a potential vacation. Members of Congress start smelling the jet fuel, as they say around here. They want to get home with their families and so there is a real time pressure to get things like that done.

Bottom line on STAR is this White House privately believes they finally have the 67 votes to pass it. It's just a matter of whether or not Republicans will block it from coming to the floor for consideration.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell," in private they're pretty pessimistic. They don't see a likelihood that it's going to come back and that they're going to overturn it. They're still hopeful here at the White House but it's going to be very difficult and the bottom line is that the time is of the essence. Democratic leaders want to wrap this session up and try to go home as early as Friday -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ed Henry, thanks so much.

And keep it right here for the very latest on the tax deal. The Senate is scheduled to hold that key test vote today, as we mentioned. It's going to happen around 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. We'll have live coverage.

All right. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is joining a new political group which actually launches today. It's called No Labels.

You're looking at live pictures from this event at Columbia University in New York. The goal, well, it's to bridge the political divide in America by promising nonpartisan solutions to some of the country's biggest problems.

The group wants to put aside party doctrine to judge ideas based on their merits. Bloomberg denies that this is part of a disguised run for president. He says that we need help to the man already on the job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: I start with the assumption that -- or with the belief that this president has to succeed. We all have an enormous amount of capital invested in his success. His success is the country's success.

And whether you like him or not, whether you voted for him or not, if you want to vote for somebody else, you'll have that opportunity in two years but right now we should all pull together, Republicans and Democrats, both sides of the aisle, the public as well as the elected officials, and make sure that this president is successful.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Bloomberg joins outgoing Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, also newly elected Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia among others on No Labels.

And as you saw from the live pictures there, our CNN contributor John Avlon is one of the driving forces behind it as well. He's speaking live and will continue to follow this throughout the morning.

Well, it's a real life "Da Vinci Code." You've read the novels. You've seen the painting. Now historians using the latest technology see something extra in the eyes of Mona Lisa -- an actual code.

So what does it mean? We've got the best person to talk about it, the host of TV's "Decoded" joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, a real-life "Da Vinci Code." Historians with high magnification techniques and some time on their hands have discovered more than just a quirky smile on the "Mona Lisa." Just like the investigators from that movie, "The Da Vinci Code," we're trying to decode the mystery this morning.

A decipher? Is it a message from Leonardo Da Vinci? Well, we brought in the expert. Brad Melzter is the best-selling author, all too familiar with the codes and hidden messages. He's also the host of History Channel's "Decoded."

So, Brad, what do you think about this? I mean the headlines all over the place saying, "Da Vinci code found in Mona Lisa's eyes." Is there really something here?

BRAD MELZTER, NY TIMES BEST SELLING AUTHOR: Listen. Here's the thing. First the publisher is so excited right now they're having a heart attack because they're going to sell a couple of hundred copies from the headlines alone.

And listen, as an author who writes mysteries and thrillers, I love it but not because it's going to sell my books and my thrillers. But because it makes history reminds everyone how amazing history is.

This is one of those moments where you look and go, "You know what? Fiction's fine, but reality is so much better." And Leonardo da Vinci proves that over and over and over again.

PHILLIPS: OK, so what they said that they see in her eyes are tiny letters and numbers. And they're trying to make it out. They say maybe the letters C, E, maybe the letter B, maybe the number 72, maybe his initials, L.V. They're trying to figure out what they look like and what they could mean. Do any of these mean anything to you as I name what they think they see in her eyes?

MELZTER: Listen. It doesn't take having your own TV show to know that L.V. stands for Leonardo da Vinci.

PHILLIPS: That's a no-brainer.

MELZTER: If you watch --

(AUDIO GAP)

MELZTER: But here's the thing. One, Leonardo da Vinci never made it that easy. He was a guy who wrote backwards in mirrors and upside -- I mean, it was just incredible the way he obscured things. You're talking about one of the greatest minds of human history.

This is a man who invented the submarine long before anyone could even fathom such a thing. He invented a flying device so far before anyone could even think about air travel.

So, this is what people forget. When you decode this stuff, everyone wants to run in. But before you decode anything, and this is what we do every single week on the TV show, before you decode stuff, you've got to figure out what it says first. And that's going to be the first part of this puzzle. Before you start pulling it apart, you've got to make sure you know what the cover of the puzzle looks like, otherwise, you're building for no reason.

PHILLIPS: Well, you're one individual that knows da Vinci better than even some of the other experts out there. Why was he so wrapped up in these secret messages?

MELZTER: You know, this is one of those ones -- and you can see in this story, they want to now exhume his body, to see if it was really him, if it was him inside. They want to see what he looks like, to see if he looks likes the Mona Lisa.

It's a perfect allegory for da Vinci himself, because he took everything to the grave when it came to that. Nobody knew. He used to take the Mona Lisa and carry it around with him because he didn't want to leave it alone. OK? That's not only crazy, that is amazing to me. I love when I hear something like that.

As far as why he did those things, I think when you're that kind of brain faced with all the other normal brains like the rest of us around him, maybe you just get bored. Maybe you are writing a secret message.

But here's the thing about secret messages, and this is what everyone forgets. When you create a code, there's two people that have power over it. The person who creates it, which is the intended power. And then there's the rest of us, the person who receives it. And that person, we, also have power too. We're going to put our power into what da Vinci created and we're going to take our own message from it.

The ideal is when these two different points of view actually match up. That's when you crack the code. That's when you know that what is intended is actually received. The hard part is making those two things match.

PHILLIPS: It's going to be fun to follow this. And I know that you're obsessed with it. You bring up a good point. Some say that da Vinci created the Mona Lisa as a self-portrait. Who knows if his remains will be exhumed and we find that out. But we'll keep trying to decode. Don't want to miss your show, of course, on the History Channel, "Decoded." It's awesome. Brad Melzter, great talking to you today.

MELZTER: Thank you. And I appreciate it. I want to thank you to da Vinci himself for giving us another episode to do.

PHILLIPS: No doubt.

All right. Well, the year's top 10 quotes. Where do you think these guys ended up in the mix?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD AT CHILEAN MINE: Chi! Le! Chi Chi Chi! Le Le Le! Los mineros de Chile!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Also, the failed wannabe politician who tops the list not once but twice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC - "Somebody's Watching Me")

PHILLIPS: We're all busy. For many of us, social media has been a great way to update our friends and family, posting a status, sharing vacation details, maybe a few photos of the kid's birthday party. But who else are you updating? To kick off CNN's "End of Privacy" week, Jeanne Meserve gives us this chilling update.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND 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, PRIVACY INVADED ONLINE: We didn't think they were offensive in any way, but my wife didn't prefer for everybody to see those photos. MESERVE (voice-over): 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, DAUGHTER'S PICTURE HIJACKED: 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'd wonder, has this person seen my daughter? Are they here trying to find us, trying to get close with my daughter?

MESERVE: Since then, Downey has 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 STUDENT: 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 any time 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 has 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 website privacy policies, or government restrictions on secondhand use of private information.

MESERVE (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're going to 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's nowhere to hide.

MESERVE (voice-over): As Rambam puts it, privacy is dead. Get over it. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, Christine O'Donnell couldn't win over enough Delaware voters in the November election, but Tea Party darling and senatorial wannabe scores big on this year's top 10 quotes of the year-roundup, not only earning two of the ten slots, but the top spot as well. Without further ado, here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORDON BROWN, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: Should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? She's just a sort of bigoted woman. She said she used to be Labor.

CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), DELAWARE, FORMER CANDIDATE FOR SENATE: So you're telling me --

(CROSSTALK)

REP. CHRIS COONS (D, DELAWARE: After the Roe versus Wade --

O'DONNELL: That the separation of church and state --

COON: After Roe versus Wade --

O'DONNELL: The phrase, "the separation of church and state" --

COON: Back to Roe versus Wade --

O'DONNELL: Is found in first amendment?

LEBRON JAMES, FORMER CLEVELAND CAVALIERS PLAYER: And this fall, I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), CALIFORNIA: But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.

SHARRON ANGLE (R), NEVADA: FORMER CANDIDATE FOR SENATE: If Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those second amendment remedies.

CROWD AT CHILEAN MINE: Chi Chi Chi Le Le Le! Los mineros de Chile!

JOHN TYNER, AIRLINE PASSENGER: If you touch my junk, I'm going to have you arrested.

TONY HAYWARD, FORMER CEO, BP: There's no one who wants this is thing over more than I do. I'd like my life back.

O'DONNELL: I'm not a witch. I'm nothing you've heard --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And as you noticed, O'Donnell and Tony Hayward were tied as number one. This year's top ten list of quotes is compiled by Yale University librarian Fred Shapiro, who began his annual sound bite look back in 2006.

Got your favorite aunt's holiday gifts ready to go? Time's wasting. We're going to take you live to a Federal Express regional warehouse, where workers face the busiest shipping day of the year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right. 9:32 on the East Coast, 6:32 out west. Here's a look at some of the stories that had us talking this morning.

In France, some pretty tense moments at a kindergarten just east of Paris. A 17-year-old man armed with two swords took several children ages four to six hostage. He later released them and was arrested.

Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is in critical but stable condition at a Washington hospital. Holbrooke underwent several hours of surgery over the weekend to repair a tear in his large artery and to improve blood circulation.

In Minneapolis, the air comes out of the Metrodome. Part of the fiberglass fabric roof collapsed under the weight of snow yesterday. The collapse blamed on the arctic blast sweeping east.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: All right. We're moving toward the busiest time of the year for shipping items. Stephanie Elam just mentioned that. She talked about FedEx, saying it expects to move nearly 16 million packages today. And our David Mattingly bravely decided to go to the FedEx warehouse in Kennesaw, Georgia, that's just north of Atlanta.

And David, we heard earlier from I guess electronics to crickets being sent out. You want to explain that?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're seeing, FedEx is saying that today is their biggest day ever. With 16 million packages flooding their system. So a lot of people were busy over the weekend packing, wrapping, and shipping, getting their shipments out ahead of Christmas. So what we're seeing is like in the truck that we're riding in now, and throughout the FedEx system, there are packages, a lot of them -- excuse me, Kyra, a little bumpy road here. What we're seeing is that three to four -- 30 percent to 40 percent of the packages -- so three to four out of ten packages in the system are purchased online from e- retailers, through e-commerce. So we're seeing a lot of online shopping this year.

Overall what they are seeing is about 10 percent more shipping this year. And again, this is their busiest day at their busiest week at the busiest time of year. All vacations have been canceled. Our driver Kenny James can talk about that quite a bit. He's been doing this for 19 years.

And Kenny, you're telling me expectations are pretty high among the customers this time of year.

KENNETH JAMES, FEDEX DRIVER: Oh, yes they are. What we do -- our job is to pretty much receive the package from the customers, take them out, get them there on time because that's what the customer is paying for 100 percent service. That's FedEx's job to do this year.

MATTINGLY: You're talking about delivering Christmas cheer. So people want their packages on time.

So, what are they saying to you when you show up at the door?

JAMES: Good to see you, thank you, appreciate you.

(LAUGHTER)

MATTINGLY: I bet.

And with 16 million packages in the FedEx system today, Kyra, you can imagine there's going to be a lot of thankful people getting these packages today.

One important thing to tell everybody is that if you want to make sure this package gets to where it's going the way it's supposed to, shippers across the board, they have people ready to help you. They say make sure you use a new box that's really firm that can take the traveling. Also to make sure that you pack everything very well inside a lot of padding. If it shakes, rattles or rolls, chances are it's not going to get there in one piece.

So, do yourself a favor and do it right when you put it in the box the first time so it'll get there the way it's supposed to, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So you're driving along with your new best friend. Are you going to help deliver as well?

MATTINGLY: Can I help deliver, Kenny? Is that allowed?

No. He says no. We're going to leave this up to the professionals.

PHILLIPS: Can't touch the packages. I love it. Kenny's a smart man. MATTINGLY: It's like, where does this one go?

PHILLIPS: Exactly. David. All right. Appreciate it. Thanks so much.

Get that stuff over to FedEx and so your packages arrive on time.

All right. Sarah Palin makes a visit to Haiti. She's calling on Americans to help people still recovering from the earthquake. You'll hear from her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, there's some buzz out there. Howard Dean challenging President Obama in the 2012 primaries. What do you think?

Senior political editor Mark Preston all over it today. So, what's the latest on the story, Mark?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, good morning, Kyra.

Yes. Look, there's been talk that the liberal left is so upset with President Obama over this tax cut deal that it could potentially lead to a primary challenge. And a lot of people saying it could potentially be Howard Dean.

Well, Howard Dean put that rumor to rest yesterday. He was on CBS's "Face the Nation." He was asked this and he went on the say I don't think he is going to face an opponent in the Democratic primary. And the reason why, well the former Vermont governor says that it would be bad for the country and bad for the Democratic Party.

He goes on to say that look, bottom line is whenever you have a sitting president who is challenged from somebody within his own party all it does is really weaken that president and that president ends up losing. So, Howard Dean taking it off the table that he will challenge president Obama in 2012.

You know, the other big political question right now, Kyra, is what is Michael Steele going to do? Is he going to run for another term as a chairman of the Republican National Committee? Or, is he going to bow out. Well, hopefully we will have that answer tonight.

He has sent out an e-mail message over the weekend to members of the Republican National Committee saying look, I want to talk about the future, let's talk about it Monday night. In the e-mail he gives out a call-in number. So hopefully we'll know tonight at some point. Some of these folks whether Michael Steele says he is going to run or if he is going to bow out for another term -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Sarah Palin spending some time in Haiti.

PRESTON: Yes. Spending some time in Haiti. You know, our own Justine Redman (ph) was down there this weekend with her. She was down there with an organization called Samaritans First trying to do some goodwill and what have you. She said that she found that the conditions down there were much rougher than she had expected. She also said that she doesn't want Americans to forget the need that is there in Haiti. More importantly for Americans and the people across the world to know what an individual can do to make a difference.

Now, of course Haiti is still struggling from that epic earthquake that happened last January. Right now they're dealing with a cholera outbreak. And of course there is the disputed presidential election down there. So, a lot on the table down there in Haiti. And Sarah Palin down there, visiting the conditions yesterday -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Got you. Mark, thanks so much.

We'll have your next political update in about an hour. You can also go to our web site 24/7 politics.com -- CNNPolitics.com.

All right, what a newborn's mother's milk and the World Wide Web all have in common? More than you might think as the FDA weighs in on the growing trend of nursing moms buying and selling breast milk online.

But first, flashback, it was on this date, seven years ago today that U.S. forces found their long-awaited glory. Former Iraqi strong man Saddam Hussein reduced to cowering in a spider hole right there in his home town of Tikrit. He would later be found guilty of crimes against humanity by a special Iraqi tribunal and executed rather three years after his capture.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, women who can't breast feed are turning to the Web to get breast milk from other mothers. But the FDA says -- maybe that's not a good idea and that could actually put your child at risk.

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is joining us to talk about what's going on here. Wow, when I first heard about this I thought it was a bit, I don't know.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. It's kind of --

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: -- people will find it. Well, someone I know used the word freaky like women are buying and selling breast milk over the Internet. But you know --

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Maybe if you're family. Ok -- but --

COHEN: Right.

Yes it is -- it is definitely different there's no question about that. But you know women used to breast feed each other's babies all the time right, in days of yore. And so this is sort of an electronic way of doing that I guess you could say.

And actually I did a story with this woman, named Jen Connell, she lost both of her breasts to breast cancer but she knew --

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Oh --

COHEN: -- that her baby needed breast milk. That its' much better than formula.

So what she did and here is her baby right now, she's feeding her the milk from one of the 35 women who donated their milk to this baby. So she went online and she created a whole Web site and 35 women donated baby (SIC) to her child.

So that's pretty amazing. And you can -- you can -- you can find this, you know Google it it's easy to find for example, there is a Web site called OnlyThebreast.com. I just love that URL, OnlyTheBreast.com. And you can do buying and selling of breast milk right there.

PHILLIPS: But depending on -- on -- on I mean, some doctors say that the formula has become so advanced and is so good right now it's just as good as breast --

COHEN: I think even the formula manufacturers will tell you breast is best.

PHILLIPS: Really? Interesting.

COHEN: Yes, there's no question that breast is best.

PHILLIPS: Ok.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: But the question is, is someone else's breast milk going to be best for your baby.

PHILLIPS: Yes for your baby --

COHEN: Right.

PHILLIPS: -- because it's -- it's all about your -- you're -- how would I put it?

COHEN: You're stuff going on here.

PHILLIPS: You're stuff, right exactly. How do I put this diplomatically.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: I know what you mean, right?

PHILLIPS: Now why does the FDA want to stop it?

COHEN: Ok the FDA is nervous because -- how do you know that woman who you're getting breast milk from, from across the country, how do you know she doesn't have hepatitis, how do you know she doesn't have HIV.

PHILLIPS: Oh yes, right.

COHEN: And you could be getting infected milk. How do you that when she packaged that milk she didn't leave it sitting out on her counter for you know three days before she shipped it off to you?

And the answer is you don't absolutely know. And so when I asked women like Jen Connell, you know, what are you doing here? They said, look, these other women are mothers, we get to know them, we talked to them on the phone, we talked via e-mail, we chat.

And they say, you know, they are feeding their own baby this breast milk. They would never feed their own baby bad breast milk, and we trust them to package it right. So there's a high element of trust. And these women say it's worth it the trust.

PHILLIPS: So do these women intend on stopping or they're going to keep doing it --

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: -- no matter what?

COHEN: The women who we talked to said we don't intend on stopping, we don't care what the FDA says. We trust each other and breast milk is better than formula -- the bottom line.

PHILLIPS: Wow. What did you do for all your kids?

COHEN: Breast milk, I mean --

PHILLIPS: You went the -- you did the whole leg?

COHEN: I did the whole thing. But I'll tell you it was definitely difficult.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

COHEN: I mean I had a premature baby.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Right.

COHEN: And it's was -- it was hard. It was really hard and I was not always successful at it. And I think it's important for mothers to say that. It didn't always go very well, but eventually --

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Right.

COHEN: -- it did work out. Thank goodness.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's interesting. I never knew that this was sold online.

COHEN: That's right.

PHILLIPS: Wow. All right, good stuff. Thanks Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, school lunches are about to get healthier for millions of American kids. Next hour, President Obama set to sign into law the first major change in school lunch standards in 30 years. Among the new requirements: more fruits and veggies and less salt, sugar and fat. Next hour we're going to take a closer look as we get ready for the President's announcement.

All right. Here are some other developments that we're working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's go ahead and start with our Chris Welch who is inside Minneapolis' damaged Metrodome. Hey Chris.

CHRIS WELCH, CNN ALL-PLATFORM JOURNALIST: Hey Kyra. I'm inside the collapsed Metrodome. It's just about as cold in here as it is outside. But coming up in just a little bit we'll have an update on the repairs. The repairmen are coming in today to take a look at this and give us an update.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: What have we got? Well, record snow in Minneapolis, heavy snow across parts of northern Illinois, Indiana, now getting into Ohio and that cold air continues to drive down to the south and it's even worse than the cold blast next week. Weather is coming up at the top of the hour.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Stephanie Elam at the New York Stock Exchange. Well, we're not talking about weather but we are talking about gift cards. Millions of Americans will be handing them out over the holiday season. But are you getting the right ones?

Kyra, in the next hour, we'll look at the most requested gift cards and the new consumer protection rules that go along with them.

PHILLIPS: Thanks guys.

Also in the next hour, celebrities and the charities they support. We're going one-on-one with Nicole Kidman.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As cold as ice? PHILLIPS: You're as cold as ice.

HARRIS: How can that be?

PHILLIPS: Because you won't talk about what I want to talk about.

HARRIS: What do you want to talk about Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Are you going to let me -- are you going to let me start.

HARRIS: What do you want to talk about? Hi Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I want to set the story straight on what came out on the Internet.

HARRIS: So, so, what came out on the Internet?

PHILLIPS: That you and I are having twins.

HARRIS: We're having twins? Does J.R. know anything about this?

PHILLIPS: I want to set this straight ladies and gentlemen. I love Tony Harris, but that was a typo.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

PHILLIPS: I'm turning red.

HARRIS: J.R.

PHILLIPS: I'm turning red thinking about it.

HARRIS: Maybe. Yes. Good. How are you? Are you good?

PHILLIPS: I'm doing great.

HARRIS: It's good to be back. I got the Google alert and everybody was laughing hysterically.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Tony Harris is having twins with Kyra Phillips.

HARRIS: Right. Right. Well, things happen. We're a close family here in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: We get along very well.

HARRIS: Yes, we do.

PHILLIPS: The big chill at the big house.

HARRIS: Yes. Oh, that's the music.

PHILIPS: There you go. It wasn't about you.

HARRIS: Have you seen this? Because I don't know anything about this story.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Phil Riley our producer --

HARRIS: Yes, loves this story.

PHILLIPS: First thing he came in he goes, Oh my gosh, you have to see this video.

HARRIS: Ok. This one is the big house, right. And this is in Michigan State. They're playing hockey, which is why I don't know anything about it because it's hockey.

PHILLIPS: Oh, but see my better half is a Canadian.

HARRIS: Oh, he is?

PHILLIPS: Oh yes. Apparently my kids are going to coming out being pulled by hockey skates.

HARRIS: Way to circle back to the initial story at the top of this segment. Yes, let's reaffirm that once and for all and again and again.

PHILLIPS: World record attendance though.

HARRIS: 130,000 for hockey.

PHILLIPS: That is amazing.

HARRIS: Ok. So can we talk about real Sunday sports?

PHILLIPS: Oh, come on now. Come on now.

HARRIS: The National Football League.

PHILLIPS: Every hockey player is going to come after you now, pal.

HARRIS: Well, like I'm not used to that.

PHILLIPS: That's true.

HARRIS: So here's the thing. We have a couple -- the Ferrari of quarterbacks in the NFL. We've been talking about quarterbacks who have made a nice statement on Monday night football like Michael Vick and it goes on and on in San Diego.

The Ferrari of quarterbacks in the NFL, Tom Brady. Take a look at what this guy did yesterday in Chicago. He is not supposed -- they play in New England, but this is the field -- this is soldier field. This a mess. Bone-chilling cold and what does this guy do? The good- looking Ferrari, perfect life, married to Gisele Bundchen -- right a supermodel --

PHILLIPS: Beautiful kid --

(CROSSTALK) HARRIS: Beautiful -- yes, and he goes out, he plays an amazing game. The Patriots look unbeatable at this point. They look to be the best team in the NFL right now. They beat Chicago in Chicago on their field, their conditions, 36-7.

Here's what I loved from the "Chicago Sun-Times." Here's the headline. "Patriots make Bears fans endure frozen day in hell". Is that good? Is that good? Yes, this is ridiculous.

PHILLIPS: I remember seeing the snow flurries yesterday and I thought, it reminds me a little of Lambeau Field and Green Bay.

HARRIS: That's right.

PHILLIPS: I don't know how these guys play in this kind of weather.

HARRIS: I forget -- I meant to bring up the newspaper clippings from Minnesota with the Metrodome.

PHILLIPS: Oh, we have -- we've got the video.

HARRIS: You're got some of that? You've got that? Ok.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Do you want the avalanche video in the Metrodome?

HARRIS: No, no, no, no. You've got it though? You have it in this show?

PHILLIPS: Yes. We've been talking about it all hour. I'm glad you're watching.

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: Well, you know, show prep.

PHILLIPS: You're a busy man. You're a busy man. I hear you.

HARRIS: One other game I want to highlight for you. That's the Miami game and the Jets. Take a look at this play. All right. This is -- did you see this yesterday?

PHILLIPS: I did not see this. I did see Chicago and Patriots.

HARRIS: This is an illegal tripping, going back to hockey. A little unnecessary roughness. This is not how you play the game. This is the Jets' strength and conditioning coach, Sal Alosi (ph) -- all right.

PHILLIPS: He was just doing lunges. That's all. He was practicing his strength and conditioning and he kind of stretched --

HARRIS: So here's the thing. The focus in the league this year has been about player safety.

PHILLIPS: Ok. HARRIS: And you've got a strength and conditioning coach doing this to an opposing player as he's running down the sideline on kick (INAUDIBLE).

PHILLIPS: It's not cool.

HARRIS: It's not cool.

PHILLIPS: No, it's not cool.

HARRIS: And here's the thing. He was on the field for a while but he's fine. The coach has apologized to everyone they need to apologize to but expect fines and suspensions to come. He's going to miss a couple of games here down the stretch.

All right. So how are we feeling? We're good?

PHILLIPS: I'm feeling good. Ok.

HARRIS: Our babies good?

PHILLIPS: Yes. Our babies are great. Got to love it.

HARRIS: Got to go.

PHILLIPS: Got to make news, you know, however we have to do it.

HARRIS: You need numbers. Let's go.

PHILLIPS: Great to see you Tony. Love you.

HARRIS: There. Let's get it on, huh?