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Health Care Mandate Unconstitutional; Motorists Stuck in Snow for 15 Hours; "Time's" Person of the Year
Aired December 14, 2010 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's now 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 7:00 a.m. out west. Here are some of the stories that have us talking from coast to coast. Much of the U.S. reeling from extreme weather, flooding, mudslides in the Pacific northwest, record breaking cold from Minneapolis to Miami.
PHILLIPS: And Republicans headed for a fight over the leadership of the national party, RNC chair Michael Steele says he is not running for a second term. Several candidates lining up to challenge him, including one of his own top allies.
And right now, the man behind the WikiLeaks scandal in a London courtroom, Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing web site, appearing in a new bail hearing over alleged sex crime. Sweden wants him returned to face those charges. He says the allegations are part the of a smear campaign.
All right. But we begin this morning with the future of your health care. It's being debated from conference rooms to water coolers. It comes after a big blow to President Obama's health care reforms. A federal judge in Virginia says it's unconstitutional to force Americans to buy health insurance. Earlier, on "CNN's American Morning," we heard from Virginia's attorney general who brought that challenge to the court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN CUCCINELLI, VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: For 45 years, we've had one solution when we've all gotten together and recognized that we had problems in health care and that was more government control and what we need is more citizen control. And going in that direction wouldn't offend the Constitution like this bill does where we're ordering our citizens to do something. You must buy this product that we have pre-approved. If they can do this, they can order you to buy a car. Heck, I own a Chevy Equinox and you don't want a Chevy Equinox and that's the kind of car they'll order you to buy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. So what does the move by the Virginia judge mean? More importantly, what could this mean for your health care? It sounds like it's getting pretty complicated, so that's why we brought in senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Hopefully she can talk more about this. The mandate was a major part of the legislation, what did a Virginia judge actually find unconstitutional? ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: OK. What they found unconstitutional is the specific part of the bill that said "hey, you, Kyra, you, Elizabeth, every American, you have to have health insurance because right now it's your choice, right? If you don't feel like forking over the money for health insurance, you don't have to have it.
So let's look closely at what happens if you don't buy health insurance under the law. If you say, if you decide to sort of buck that order and say, "I don't want health insurance, I'm not going to get it." What happens is you'll get a penalty of up to about $700 or two percent of your taxable income. So that is a pretty hefty penalty. So you have to go out and buy health insurance or face a penalty of up to $750. That is what the Virginia judge found unconstitutional. Other district court judges said it was fine but he said that it was unconstitutional.
PHILLIPS: All right. And you pointed out that Americans, you know, were being forced by the HCR to buy it. Have there been any other scenarios where government has forced us to purchase something?
COHEN: You know, it's interesting. We asked some lawyers this and they said no. This is really pretty unprecedented. I was speaking with a health lawyer named George (INAUDIBLE) at Boston University. He's writing an article on this very topic for the "New England Journal of Medicine" next week, and he said, "no, there really isn't anything else where just by virtue of being an American, the federal government makes you buy something." And so they're going to have a tough time at the Supreme Court because that is where this is headed.
You know, rationalizing this from a legal point of view because there's really no precedent and no other place does the federal government say you have to buy this, just by existing, you have to buy this.
PHILLIPS: Interesting.
So there's a couple of things that stay in effect here?
COHEN: Right.
A couple of the provisions of healthcare reform have already gone into effect. And of course, some people, I would imagine are quite nervous because there may be enjoying these benefits and they want to know if they go away. The short answer is no, they don't go away. So let's talk about two of the important ones.
PHILLIPS: OK.
COHEN:: For example, already, as of September, if your kid is up to age 26, they can stay on your insurance. So you can stay on your parents' insurance until age 26. That doesn't change with this Virginia ruling. Also, children with pre-existing conditions who are having a tough time getting insurance before now it is easier for them to get insurance. And companies cannot say no. That doesn't change, either.
So those two things, which are very helpful to many American families, those stay in effect. Now, as we go down the road years from now, those and other things may go away. But at this moment, those are safe.
PHILLIPS: Elizabeth, thanks.
COHEN: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, that highly fought over tax bill could get final Senate approval as early as today. The Senate voted yesterday to end debate on the measure negotiated by President Obama with Republican leaders. The deal includes a two-year extension of the Bush era tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year. It also would extend unemployment benefits for 13 months and cut the payroll tax by two percent for a year. Senate approval could set up a showdown among House Democrats divided over that plan.
Washington is remembering diplomat Richard Holbrooke whose efforts helped end the Bosnian war in the 1990s. Holbrooke passed away last night. Holbrooke had surgery over the weekend to repair damage to his aorta. The top U.S. envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan was only 69 years old. President Obama called Holbrooke, "a true giant of American foreign policy who has made America stronger, safer and more respected."
CNN analyst David Gergen, an advisor during four White House administration remembered Holbrooke as a determined negotiator.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He was very tough. President Obama said today at the State Department, he was one tough son of a gun and that's exactly right. He was a man that if you were president and you had to face somebody who was a criminal or one of the really bad guys out there, you called for Dick Holbrooke.
That was especially true of the Clintons. Both Hillary and Bill Clinton loved Dick Holbrooke. Both of them groomed him to the secretary of state. Some people thought he would have won, should have won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on Bosnia and (INAUDIBLE). Other people thought he should have been secretary of state. He never got there, but he was still willing to go out and do these really messy jobs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Holbrooke was a diplomat to the very end. A senior administration official says just going into surgery, Holbrooke actually told his Pakistani surgeon, "you've got to stop this war in Afghanistan."
Well, northwest Indiana, heavy snow and swirling winds stop motorists right dead in their and stranded them for hours. The lucky ones were able to slug off U.S. Route 30 and then find refuge inside some of the businesses that kept their doors open. Two counties there have been declared states of emergency.
Well, our next guests were bogged down in that snow - you ready for this? For 15 hours. But, of course, they captured a lot of that gruelling experience on camera because that's what our I-reporters do. Scott Healy and Jeremy Pettet tried to make their way to Chicago. That's where we find them today. Thank goodness but it was not an easy haul.
Scott, let's start, for you, 15 hours, how did you pass the time besides taking pictures and detailing everything for us?
SCOTT HEALY, STRANDED MOTORIST: Well, we had plenty of things saved on Jeremy's iPad and we had our phones and I think the most fortunate thing is we had cell service. So as long as we had that, we were OK.
PHILLIPS: Yes, thank goodness. Now, I was reading a little, you know, Scott is smiling, but Jeremy, you say your biggest issue was fear. You know, on a serious note, that is a little scary just, you know, getting past one hour, let alone 15. Tell me what you were so frightened about.
JEREMY PETTET, STRANDED MOTORIST: Yes, I mean, in our first hour, we were sitting, once we got to Wanatah, we were stuck in basically a traffic jam on 30 for about an hour. For the first 15 or 20 minutes of that hour we were the last car in the lineup. So any cars coming up behind us, they couldn't see us, we were the first thing they'd hit. And we actually had a very close experience with that because a guy actually went off the road in trying not to hit us because he was probably coming too fast on the road as it was.
But then, you know, you just sit there and you wonder, "OK, do we have enough gas?" We were in a hybrid the car, do we have enough battery life? How long will we be able to sit here? How cold will it get? And then ultimately, we decided to turn around.
PHILLIPS: Wow! So Scott, you know, how did you feel - did you make any phone calls? Did you try to reach out for help? What kind of response did you get? Oh, no, you laugh. That may not be good.
HEALY: Well -
PHILLIPS: You both laugh.
HEALY: I mean, thank goodness my car made it over the median to turn around because we really didn't get much help from the highway department that we were connected to. When we said that we wanted to know whether we should wait there or try to get off the road, they said, "well, there's a weather emergency." And we thought, that's probably one of the most apparent things someone could have said to us.
PHILLIPS: That's a little obvious.
HEALY: I guess what was odd was they said they didn't have a policy of telling people either to move ahead or to try to go back. So we had to make the decision ourselves and I thought that that sounded like they didn't want to be liable for what they told us. So we went back to the closest thing that was safe, which was a gas station about two miles away.
PHILLIPS: Very smart. And Jeremy, was there any tense moment there where you and Scott were about to, you know, choke each other's necks or you know, was everything pretty calm, cool and collected?
PETTET: Funny, you should ask. No, we really did pretty well. I think that in those moments when I'm a back seat driver and I'm making sounds that he should stop or something, that's a pretty big issue for him and it doesn't help with the stress levels and all. But once we got to the gas station, I mean, what can you do except try to make the best of it and have a good time and keep a positive attitude.
So and one of the things that we definitely want to say is just how amazing the gas station service people were. They stayed there all night. They were the only two people there. It was their end of their shift and they ended up being there with just the two of them with us and probably another 100 people all night long. They kept it up and running and they could have easily gone home to their families, probably, so -
PHILLIPS: Wow! A big shout out to them.
HEALY: Yes, Francis and Mika at the Speedway on Route 30 in Wanatah, Indiana.
PHILLIPS: There you go. Excellent. Everybody stop by there and buy a cup of coffee and give them some business, fill up your tank of gas. That's really nice, guys.
Scott Healy, Jeremy Pettet, glad you guys made it to a safe location. You're dry, you're warm. And we appreciate you I-reporting for us. Thanks so much.
PETTET: No problem. Thanks.
HEALY: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
For those men, the misery could be measured in hours. For much of the nation today, it's a matter of degrees. The mercury plunging and records falling. One thing that could be going up, too, is your grocery bill. Farmers in Florida doing everything they can to protect their fragile crops from a hard freeze that can dip all the way south to the Orlando area. Significant damage there could push the price of things like orange juice up pretty high.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB ROTH, FARMER: If it goes below 27 for three to four hours with no cloud cover, it could be a disaster for the whole citrus industry. It could wipe out these beautiful honey bells that are just coming in. JOE DESOUSA, FARMER: To us, you know, it's devastating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not only will you see a lot of farmers close the doors, especially us but you'll see vegetable prices go to prices you've never seen before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now, even before the overnight plunge in temps, Florida's government have declared a state of emergency. And that nervousness rippled through the investment market. Orange juice futures skyrocketed to a three-year high. Let's take a look at the big picture, shall we?
CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras monitoring all the extreme weather for us. Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Wow. It was really cold this morning in Florida. We had a couple of record lows this morning. We're not out of the woods yet. Some of those citrus areas could be below freezing tomorrow morning, yet again before they start to warm up a little bit. West Palm Beach, 32 degrees this morning. Jacksonville was down to 20, 11 degrees in Greenville-Spartanburg in South Caroline there. Paducah, Kentucky had a record low this morning of four degrees.
Now the weather is really favorable for continuing to bring that Arctic plunge down and staying cooler than normal across much of the east over the next couple of days. There you can see we're about 20 to 25 degrees below average and that's preventing the temperatures from getting above freezing, all the way down into parts of the deep south.
We're also a little concerned because there's an area of low pressure developing over here into parts of Texas. That is going to take a southerly track for tomorrow and that could be bringing some wintry mixes across parts of the Tennessee Valley. So that is something to watch for some icy conditions. Now in the northeast, take a look at the (INAUDIBLE) temperature. On the teens in Boston and 12 in New York and look at that over there to Cleveland and Pittsburgh, subzero. Lake-effect snows are continuing to turn at this hour. Those cold temperatures over those warmer lakes, we're expecting to see another foot or so here over the next couple of days.
If you're trying to travel, we do have problems in the northeast because of those winds. Under an hour yet in La Guardia and Newark and out west, we've got some problems with low clouds and fog in San Francisco. Also San Diego and, of course, the wet conditions with the flooding in the Pacific northwest. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Jacqui, thanks.
Hugh Jackman tries to impress Oprah and all her fans in Australia but well it doesn't really go the way he planned. It looks cool, but oh, the landing, a little uncomfortable.
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PHILLIPS: On screen, his character, Wolverine, heals in seconds but today Hugh Jackman shows that does bruise after he bungled a stunt during a taping of Oprah's special in Australia. Jackman who is an Aussie tried to impressed fans as he zip lined from the top of the Sydney Opera House to the stage but apparently "Reuters" is reporting he was so distracted by the view, he forgot to break in time and he hit some of the light rigging, giving himself a black eye. Yes, Jackman made it on stage minutes later, saying "that was so much fan until the end."
Big talk of tinsel town right now, besides Hugh Jackman, the nominees for this year's Golden Globe Awards. A.J. Hammer, hosts of "Showbiz Tonight" joins us from New York with all the details. Let's talk about, first of all, this Hugh Jackman stunt. Is he all right?
A.J. HAMMER, HOST "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Yes, Kyra, he's fine. But a bit bruised and shaken and probably not that happy that it went that way. But it was quite the on-stage scare. Actually, briefly brought Oprah's Australian extravaganza to a screeching halt. Watch this.
He is on the zip line making his grand entrance, as you mentioned, and boom, unfortunately he swooped on the zip line at the Sydney Opera House right into some scaffolding holding up some lights. He smacked his face there. Paramedics and Oprah herself tended to the star's eye. Jackman did return to the stage about 10 minutes later saying he was OK, explaining he forgot to put on the brakes. But nurse Oprah attending to Jackman, Kyra, that woman can do anything!
PHILLIPS: Yes, she can.
She's quite the renaissance -
HAMMER: I sound like Regis.
PHILLIPS: Yes, you do. They stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. She healed the (INAUDIBLE) Jackman. Poor guy. Zip lining is such a blast and you're right, if you don't pay attention to when you're supposed to break, you can be in huge trouble. He got a little caught up in the moment, didn't he?
HAMMER: Well, yes, he certainly did. And you're seeing some of the pictures now of his eye being attended to but before that, he had a big smile on his face before he took off on the zip line and he said, yes, the view distracted him, which is understandable. That skyline there is unbelievable. And I think he was just - you know, it was one of those moments. He was taking it all in. Oh, well.
PHILLIPS: And I love the picture of him drinking a little wine afterwards, too. That probably helped a lot. All right. Let's get on to the Golden Globes, A.J.. A lot of talker films this year, made it to the short list, right? Like "Social Network."
HAMMER: Yes. And that was actually a film that everybody was expecting. We had Katie Holmes up super early today, 5:30 a.m. in Hollywood making the announcement along with Josh Duhamel and Blair Underwood. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLAIR UNDERWOOD, GOLDEN GLOBES NOMINEES ANNOUNCER:: Best performance by an actor in a motion picture comedy or musical, Johnny Depp, "Alice in Wonderland, Johnny Depp, "The Tourist."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Well, some of the highlights as you just heard there, Johnny Depp will be competing against himself in the best actor for motion picture category for "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Tourist." That's kind of cool and kind of unfortunate because it splits up the vote. Angelina Jolie, Johnny's co-star in "The Tourist" also got an actress nomination in the motion picture musical or comedy category along with Annette Benning, Ann Hathaway. Julianne Moore nominated there for "The Kids are All Right." And Emma Stone, she got a nod for "Easy A."
Moving to the big film drama category, the nominees for best motion picture, "Black Swan," "The Fighter," "Inception," "The King's Speech, and you have "The Social Network." Now, what makes the Golden Globes unique and perhaps a lot more fn than some other shows is the one show that brings film and TV stars together for really what is a huge party.
Looking at the TV nominees now. In the comedy category, you have "30 Rock," "The Big Bang Theory," "The Big C," "Modern Family" and "Nurse Jackie."
Moving to the best television series, drama category, "Boardwalk Empire," "Dexter," "The Good Wife," "Madmen," "The Walking Dead." All nods there.
I want to get to the best actor for TV drama category, Steve Buscemi, just amazing in "Boardwalk Empire." Brian Cranson nominated, Michael C. Hall for "Dexter," Jon Hamm "Madmen," of course, Hugh Laurie, he always gets nominated and nominated again for "House." The globes are handed out on Sunday, January 16th.
Ricky Jervais will host, Kyra. And it's always a fun party, as I mentioned. And if you look around on the tables, you'll notice they're serving wine and champagne and that just kind of adds to the possibility of what stars may say.
PHILLIPS: Well, oh, yes, you do never know. You need a shot of that champagne right now with that dry throat. Hey, our favorite shows made it, "Modern Family" and "Glee." So you and I are pretty happy.
HAMMER: That's right. They're both in there. Very happy about that.
Really happy to see "Boardwalk Empire" getting some attention, as well.
PHILLIPS: All right. A.J., thank so much. See you tomorrow.
HAMMER: You got it.
All right. You want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, A.J. has got it, every evening "Showbiz Tonight," 5:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. eastern on HLN.
So who has been the biggest newsmaker of the year? Tomorrow, we're going to find out whose face will be the cover of "Time" magazine's person of the year issue. But their readers already spoken. Up next, I'll tell you who they chose and not everyone is real thrilled about it.
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PHILLIPS: Now about the people that influence your life every day, family and friends, your neighbor, you know, people that have it, big effect globally. "Time" magazine names these global influencers of person - as person of the year, Gandhi, 1930, Martin Luther King, 1963, Queen Elizabeth II, 1952. But not all persons of the year were heroes. Just some.
On "Time's" cover 1942, of course, in 1938, who could forget person of the year, Adolf Hitler. Well, tomorrow, "Time" picks someone for 2010. But their readers have already spoken. They've just been polled prior to the picture and name that you'll see on "Time's" cover, the person of the year.
So what does the online say? The readers' pick is Julian Assange, Wikileaks provocateur who this morning is appearing in a British courtroom after being charged with rape.
So who do you think "Time" should pick as person of the year? That was the question we asked you last hour and here are some of your responses.
Lyrical Storm on Twitter put in her vote of who should be "Time's" person of the year, I think it should be the CEO of Facebook. Sorry, but I forgot his name." Well, that's Mike Zuckerberg. Lyricalstorm, you probably (INAUDIBLE) forgetting his name, maybe you could friend him.
Twitter named Mediatrax nominates Jillian Assange for showing the world who we really are. Viewer Brennan Lawler says "person of the year? Definitely, person of the year, definitely Lady Gaga." And a tweeter calling himself guevardjd, chimed in with his vote for "Time's" cover person.
"Kyra, you should be the one." That's great. And tomorrow, remember, we find out who "Time" has chosen for perpendicular of the year. I don't think guevardjd, your candidate has a real shot, but thank you so much for giving us a shout out. All right. Surviving the Arctic blast. A real close call caught on tape with a happy ending.
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PHILLIPS: 10:30 on the East Coast, 7:30 out West. Here some stories that had us talking this morning.
In a decision issued just minutes ago, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange granted bail in a London courtroom. An attempt to get released on bail earlier this month was turned down. Assange is wanted for alleged sex crimes in Sweden.
Almost nine months after President Obama signed a massive health care reform bill, one key part of the measure has been declared unconstitutional. A federal judge in Virginia ruled that Congress cannot force Americans to buy health insurance.
Now, watch this video ought of Australia. Ooh, yes, did you hear the ouch? That's Aussie actor Hugh Jackman on a zip line at Oprah Winfrey's ultimate Australian adventure show. The take from the Sydney Opera House roof was fine. The landing wasn't. He hit the brakes too late, slammed into the lighting rig just above the stage. Jackman later appeared with Oprah sporting a bandage under his eye.
The stock market bell - the stock market opening bell, rather, rang just about an hour ago. Here's your numbers. Dow Industrials up almost 62 points.
Glass ceiling no longer a problem for female executives, but a study suggests the path to the top is not always clear. Business correspondent Stephanie Elam joining us from the New York Stock Exchange. So, Steph, the study says some female executives get stuck in the corporate merry-go-round and can't move on up, right?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. They get somewhere mired in the middle somehow, Kyra, and if you take a look at 2009, for example women made up 50 percent of the workforce. Think about it, that's a lot.
But take a look at how far up the chain they get. Fifteen percent had board seats. Thirteen percent were executive officers. And then just 2 percent were CEOs. So, it just shows you that overall, even though they're making up half the workforce, women are not making the levels that men are doing there.
So, one of the things that this survey looked at here, the catalyst of study said was how much is mentoring playing a part in this? And they're saying it's definitely better to have a mentor than not having one. But it depends on the level of the mentor because that mentor usually helps with promotions and also getting higher pay, as well, and to help you move up. And the higher up that mentor is, then the better pay and level of employment that the mentee will get.
So, that's part of the issue we're seeing here, Kyra, is that the issue isn't that they're not questing after these jobs. It's just that women aren't getting the same opportunities.
PHILLIPS: So, if women don't have mentors, does that hold them back, bottom line?
ELAM: Yes, well, it's not necessarily just about that. It's not a lack of mentors. The difference is that men get mentored and then they also get sponsored and promoted, as well. And they're developed along their career. Sponsorship really means you have someone who is an advocate. They're going to tell you, this is what you need to do. This is what you've done wrong. It's more than just saying, this is what business is like. And so that's the difference that we're seeing with men.
Also, men start out of business school with higher job levels than women do. So, they start out with a disparity that women just have a hard time making up, and oftentimes don't ever get back to a level where they're on par with men.
Also, one other thing I want to point out. Male pay raises when they're promoted, about 21 percent. For women, they're about two percent. So, you show there there's a big disparity when it comes to even things that have to do with the wallet.
PHILLIPS: Wow. Interesting.
All right, I also hear you can get a new deal on a new Jetta from a Web site.
ELAM: Yes. If you're just crying your tears away because you don't have the level of job that you want, perhaps you can make yourself feel better and sporty by logging on to gilt.com because if you go to the Web site tomorrow, Thursday and Friday, they are going to sell a Volkswagen Jetta, 2011 Volkswagen Jetta, for get this -- $5,995. Sell one a day. The first day is just for people who go on gilt.com by their phones. After that, everyone can get one on the Web site. The proceeds are going to be donated to Dress for Success.
So, get your fingers ready. Go for it. See if you can get yourself a little $6,000 car. What do you think, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Well, I'll tell you what. Dress for Success is a fabulous charity. I think you and I have both donated to that charity. I'm glad you put a plug in for them.
ELAM: Great stuff.
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ELAM: It's a great thing they're doing.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Exactly.
ELAM: $6,000 a day, woo-hoo, yes!
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Steph.
Take a look at those temperatures. A deep freeze covering much of the nation. You know it's cold when it's the 20s in Florida.
But it's not just the horrible cold. In Washington State, the problem is rain, which triggered mudslides sending hundreds of people to shelters. Hillsides washed away. A lot of areas flooded out.
In Indiana, the problem is snow. Sheriff's deputies in northern Indiana rescued 100 stranded motorists trapped by more than two feet of snow. So far, that extreme weather is blamed for 16 deaths across four states.
And take a look at this incredible video from Cincinnati. Icy roads to blame for this motorist slamming into a car on the side of the road, actually pinning a police officer. He had stopped to investigate an accident when another car lost control, crashed into him, sending him hurdling over a concrete barrier. Amazingly, everyone in that accident is fine.
People in Ohio still dealing with some nasty cold and snow. And that's where we find meteorologist Rob Marciano. It's beautiful background, though, Rob, I got to tell you.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. You know, it's tough not to get in the spirit of things here when you're in the town square here and a cute, little quaint town. And it's snowy and you have the Christmas lights up. But the fact of the matter is, this is the second week in a row they have got hammered with a tremendous amount of snowfall.
They do pretty good clearing the roads, the sidewalks here, so traffic is moving. But other issues with the cold have come to light. A couple of water main breaks have caused some roads to flood and freeze and also caused some communities just south of Cleveland to have to actually boil their water to make it safe to drink. So, it's not just the snow. It's the bitter, bitter cold, the dangerous cold that has been affecting this area.
When we woke up in Cleveland this morning, real close to the lake, those winds were howling, 30 to 40 miles per hour and wind chills well below zero. The snow continues to fall. The big freeze is on.
But as mentioned, it's been ongoing, and we're not even through the month of December. We caught up with the mayor of Chagrin Falls yesterday and here is what he had to say about that streak.
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TOM BRICK, MAYOR, CHAGRIN FALLS, OHIO: This is -- this is very severe. It's as severe as it gets. We had a couple of feet of snow last week and then partially melted over the weekend. And now, we're in for it again. So we are used to winter, but this is peak.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: You get used to it, I suppose. But when it comes at you early on, and when it comes at you two weeks in a row, it can wear you down rapidly. As Jackie has probably been telling you, but don't see a huge, huge warm-up anytime soon. As a matter of fact, there's still a winter storm warning in effect for this area until 7:00 in the morning.
But you know, Chagrin Falls, not bad. Check out this gazebo. Just to give you a little idea. They have a volunteer group that decorates all this stuff. Big old wreaths and some nice Christmas lights. We haven't run into too many people that are really looking badly at this, but they could stand it to be a couple degrees warmer, that's for sure. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, you are getting into the spirit, Rob. Are you going to go and have a nice lunch now?
MARCIANO: We just had a nice, cozy breakfast. Time to get back to work, so here we are.
PHILLIPS: OK, very good. We'll keep checking in. Thanks, Rob.
Well, up to the moment weather, breaking news, video and more. We're going to take a second or two - well, probably a lot more than that, because I'm with Michael Holmes - to tell you exactly -
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PHILLIPS: No, when you and I get going, it's all over.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is true.
PHILLIPS: We were talking about the newest edition to the CNN family. Our iPad app is actually up and running. We've been talking about it all morning and our buddy, Michael Holmes is here to walk us through it.
HOLMES: I don't know how I ended up on this. I go from war correspondent to geek guy because I love all this stuff as well.
PHILLIPS: You are a little techno geek! You got it all going on.
HOLMES: It was my birthday yesterday, thanks for the card.
PHILLIPS: Oh, happy birthday!
HOLMES: And my kids gave me an iPad. So, I'm all over this now.
This is great. The iPad app has launched. Everyone has been using the iPhone and the iTouch. This is the bigger, brighter one. This is actually a blown-up iPad itself. Different ways of looking at the news. You've got it all laid out like this. If you want to watch something, you just touch it.
But also, we can go to the list view. If you don't want to have a look at all the pictures, again, just touch. If you -- I like this one, actually, because it's full of pictures and that's what we're about. You just flip through the stories of the day and -- oh, that's an attractive one. And then you touch on whatever --
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: We need to talk about that one, it caught your attention.
HOLMES: I'm not sure we should. Very neat. But if you want to see the story, bang.
PHILLIPS: Now video, too, right?
HOLMES: Oh, yes, you've got video, too. Let's go back and find one that's got video. That's me! How is that on there?
PHILLIPS: Check that out. Let me hit that. Oh, look. A Cartier watch, how lovely!
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Did I just screw up your apps?
HOLMES: No, not at all!
PHILLIPS: Oh, look at this!
HOLMES: Right here, yesterday. That's almost weird, isn't it? We did this for CNN International. They're running this all night describing the app. So, you can do that for any news story that's on the app and there is a million of them, of course. And the other thing, too, you can do, you can check out your featured stories. Then you've got a whole option of videos.
Who is that bloke? I haven't seen him before.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: What a handsome man. He needs to close his mouth.
HOLMES: Some might say, yes.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: And of course, I know what you'll be doing. You'll be switching your preference to International.
PHILLIPS: Of course. And can I get your show, "BACK STORY"?
HOLMES: I don't think you can get the show, but you can get that on the Web site, CNN.com/backstory.
PHILLIPS: Or maybe you can get segments and clips of Michael's show.
HOLMES: You really can't miss. That's out now. It's free. It's just for the iPad. Everything -- all of the apps are now free for everyone all around the world. And this is going to be pretty popular, I hope. It's now released. I was sweating it last night waiting to get to the apps story, and it hit.
PHILLIPS: And you got it on your birthday on your new iPad from your kids.
HOLMES: Exciting. Isn't it exciting?
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Michael.
HOLMES: You have all of this ahead of you.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: I can't wait. Yes. Exactly. I'm going to try to keep away from technology for a long time. All that texting and driving and everything else we have to worry about.
HOLMES: Indeed.
PHILLIPS: All right, Michael, thanks.
All right. Miley Cyrus, making headlines. This time we're looking at the controversy surrounding video of her reportedly partying with a bong. Reports are it wasn't pot. It was salvia. Do you know what that is? Well, we had to do a little research.
Yes, Michael is shaking his head, too. Yeah, you better be checking in with your kids, son.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: We're going to be talking about it, coming right up.
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PHILLIPS: Well, late night comics took little time to jump on the Miley Cyrus story with both feet. Here is Jay Leno.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": Have you heard about this? Apparently think a video of Miley -- I saw it. The video, Miley Cyrus, smoking what she -- a psychedelic herb. Salvia. That's it. Salvia!
Although Miley says it wasn't her, it was her alter ego, Hannah Bongtana.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: That was pretty good. I hadn't seen that. Jay having a little fun at actress Miley Cyrus' expense. She was reportedly caught on tape smoking this bong, and it has heartbroken some fans and concerned a lot of parents. Reports are that it's all legal. It wasn't pot, but something as Jay mentioned called salvia. Karen Miotto is an addiction expert. Karen, first off, we want to know, what is salvia?
DR. KAREN MIOTTO, ADDICTION EXPERT: Salvia is a potent, hallucinogenic plant.
PHILLIPS: OK. Bottom line, so - all right. How does this compare to, say, peyote, that Native Americans smoke during their spiritual ceremonies?
MIOTTO: Very similar. It's been used by the Maztaca people in Mexico. The shamans have use it for a healing and ritual ceremonies. So, it is considered a sacred plant.
PHILLIPS: OK. Here is what's interesting, though, Karen. Seven years ago, we did a little research. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta, actually did a segment on salvia. And he quoted the DEA on this, and this is what the statement read. "This as dangerous as cocaine, heroine and LSD." That was coming from the DEA seven years ago.
Do you agree with that? I mean, what do we know about how dangerous it is? Can you compare it to as dangerous as cocaine or heroine?
MIOTTO: It is dangerous because when users smoke it or chew it, they enter a different reality. So, the effects are uncontrollable laughter, loss of sensation, feeling you're merging into a different world. But people don't use their rational minds. So, they may drive without having coordination or control, and they may make decisions that are harmful to themselves or others. So in that sense, it's dangerous.
PHILLIPS: OK. And where could you line it up, say, comparing it to marijuana, smoking pot?
MIOTTO: Well, marijuana is considered a recreational or a fun drug. And many users say this isn't necessarily fun. It can be a bad experience. So, it's very different.
It's a fascinating molecule. We don't have another drug or substance that acts as the opiate receptor the way this one does. So, we don't have a lot of information about what could be the long-term effects. Many scientists are interested in it medically because it is part of the opiate family. So it may have potential uses for pain or to treat other disorders.
PHILLIPS: So, are you concerned about teens seeing Miley Cyrus doing this? And because apparently the word out now, and it's creating a bit of a buzz among teens wanting to try it, asking about it. Are you concerned about that, and what should parents do now as we see this video and we're talking about it?
MIOTTO: I am concerned. I think parents should ask their children, ask their teens about the substance.
Some states have actually prohibited sales. There's no federal regulation against the drugs. But in certain states, it is illegal. So, not only are we concerned about the effects on a teenager, but also there may be some legal repercussions for sales or use.
PHILLIPS: Karen Miotto, appreciate your insight. A lot of concerned parents out there. Thank you.
MIOTTO: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, before he can convince voters he should be mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel has something to prove: that he's a resident of Chicago.
But first, take a look at these pretty incredible pictures from Voyager I. It reached a new milestone. Scientists believe it finally reached the edge of the solar system. It's been more than 30 years since Voyager was launched. The probe's initial goal was to get a look at the planets like Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune, but Voyager wrapped that up in 1989. Now it's making the move to deep space and the center of the Milky Way.
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PHILLIPS: Rahm Emanuel may be leading the polls in the race for Chicago mayor. But he has a huge question to answer before election day.
Deputy political director Paul Steinhauser has that story for us from the CNNpolitics.com desk. Hey, Paul.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Kyra. You know, there's a new law that says if you're running for mayor, you have to be a resident of the city for the year leading up to the election.
Well, remember, Rahm Emanuel was right here in Washington D.C. all of last year and most of this year until October. He was the chief of staff to President Barack Obama. So, right now, we have live pictures in Chicago, Chicago board of elections. He is testifying and trying to prove that, yes, he was a resident. He said, listen, while I was in Washington, I continued to pay taxes on my house. My car was registered there, and I voted in Chicago. So, he is trying to prove that he is a resident in Chicago so he can stay on the ballot.
Kyra, let's talk about Mitt Romney. I'm going to ask (INAUDIBLE) our cameraman to zoom right in here to CNN Political Ticker. Mitt Romney with an op-ed this morning in "USA Today." You know what? He doesn't like that tax cut compromise between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans. He calls it a bad deal and he cites the deficit. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, how do Americans feel about the tax cut deal? I know you've been checking those polls, as well.
STEINHAUSER: Two new polls out this week. They both came out yesterday. Check this out. Here is one of them from Pew, the Pew Research Center. And six out of 10 people in that survey say they support or approve of the tax cut compromise, which of course extends the tax cuts for all Americans for two years and extends the unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed for the year.
ABC/Washington Post also had a similar poll out yesterday and a majority, a little over 60 percent, almost 69 percent in that poll, approve of it, as well. We'll keep an eye on the public opinion, Kyra. Back to you.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Paul.
An annoying orange, a double rainbow and an inconsolable three- year-old coming up on YouTube's 10 most popular viral videos.
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PHILLIPS: Well, every day at this time, we honor the men and women in uniform who have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan for all of us. And we call it "Home and Away."
Today, we're lifting up Specialist Chad Hayden Drake from Garland, Texas. He was killed in action in Baghdad on September 7, 2004. Former comrade Michael Grady wrote us about Chad. "When I heard he was killed, it hit me like a ton of bricks. To you, Chad, I salute you, and you will never be forgotten in my heart."
Well, if you have a comrade or a loved one that you would like us to honor, here's all you have to do. Go to CNN.com/homeandaway, and we'll guide you through exactly how you can put in your memories, your pictures. We promise keep the memory of your hero alive.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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PHILLIPS: Well, with 2010 on the way out, the folks at YouTube have released the top ten videos of the year. Did any of your favorites make the list? Well, let's see what Jeanne Moos has to show us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Forget cats playing patty cake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Patty cake, patty cake --
MOOS: There's not a single adorable animal video in YouTube's top ten most popular videos this year. Number ten showcases extreme driving. The number nine video featured a 3-year-old heartbroken over heartthrob, Justin Bieber. UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because I love Justin Bieber.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're crying because you love Justin Bieber?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Yes.
MOOS: So, Jimmy Kimmel invited Cody on his show and surprised her with Justin Bieber. The group, OK, go, took eight place with their Ruth Goldber like music video. Talk about the pot at the end of the rainbow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Double rainbow, oh, my God.
MOOS: Many who saw the rainbow guy video that came in six were suspicious. Whatever he was smoking, I want it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
MOOS: But the rainbow guy told Jimmy Kimmel he hadn't ingested anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely not. Completely sober in that video.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: One kid posted that his parents wondered if he was watching some kind of porno stuff.
Speaking of spicy, number five. It's the old spice web ad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He could smell like he's me, look down, back up, where are you? You're on a boat with the man your man could smell like.
MOOS: The number four video made a fruit famous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up?
MOOS: The annoying (INAUDIBLE) dozens of sequels. The number three video made a star out of a 13-year-old singing a Lady Gaga hit.
(SINGING)
MOOS: Viewer discretion, the number two video might make you gag. Actually, we've edited out the gross parts. It's a parody of this music video by the singer, Kesha.
(SINGING)
MOOS: And the number one video, the Bed Intruder song. Antoine Dodson got famous when he appeared in a TV news report after interrupting an intruder who climbed in his sister's bedroom window. His reaction to being the global number one video?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God, it's so exciting. MOOS: From his half of the proceeds from auto-tuning the song, he bought his mom --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A whole house.
MOOS: And next, he's buying himself a Mercedes.
MOOS (on-camera): Based on the top 10 YouTubes, you might think our culture is going down the tubes.
MOOS (voice-over): Jeannie Moos.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm on a horse.
MOOS: CNN --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is this -
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: She left out the best part. Tony Harris is the Old Spice man.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. How did that happen?
PHILLIPS: Yes. How did that happen?
HARRIS: Don't you hate when that happens?
PHILLIPS: Yes. He gets all the credit.
HARRIS: Don't you hate when that -- what happened to my guy, the leader of the "Rent is too damn" party?
PHILLIPS: Oh, that's right. We forgot him.
HARRIS: Where's my guy?
PHILLIPS: "Too damn high." We'll bring him back.
HARRIS: Please.
PHILLIPS: We'll have CNN's top 10 viral videos.
HARRIS: Have a great day.
PHILLIPS: See you, Tony.
HARRIS: See you tomorrow, Kyra.
