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Senate to Vote on DREAM Act, Repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"; Eighty-Year-Old Predictions of Future Going Viral; Snow Storms Hit Southeast; Some Soldiers Returning Home to See Families For Holidays; Over 100 Prisoners Break Out of Jail in Mexico; Alleged Mistress of Tiger Woods Interviewed; Donovan McNabb Will Not Start Rest of Season For Redskins

Aired December 18, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. A live look at Washington, D.C. and specifically there on the left, the floor of the Senate where they are working today. Why? Because we could see votes or we should see votes on two major initiatives, including the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." We are expecting that debate at least within the hour, could see a vote even within the next hour or so. But they are close to repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." We are live in Washington for that.

Also, London right now will be live for this. They're in the grip of a powerful snowstorm. That could just be getting started, however. We have extreme cold and winds causing problems all around Europe. We have problems as well in California. We're talking about eight feet of snow. But we'll keep that number in perspective for you as well. But it still could cause some issues with your travel plans.

Also, war and duty have kept them from their families, but this is a moment that played on CNN Saturday morning live just a short time ago. You're seeing a tape of it here, but it is no doubt our moment of the morning. So many of these scenes playing out at airports around the country as our fighting men and women coming home. Some have to go back out, but some coming home for good after serving. They'll be here for the holidays. What a great moment we saw this morning. We'll continue to share those with you.

But hello from the CNN center. This is your CNN Saturday morning for December 18th. I'm T.J. Holmes. Wherever you are right, thank you for joining us.

We talked about what's happening in Washington D.C. Something else that they had to be on top of was funding the federal government. We were told that at midnight funding was running out, midnight tonight. So they did something about it. They came up with a short- term spending bill to fund the government for three days. That means they have to come back and do this all again on Tuesday.

But again, live picture of the floor here. Legislation -- that spending bill passed the house and nature yesterday. President Obama expected to sign it. The bill set the stage for the weekend work going on right now. That work -- again, this is a live picture. They're working today. Senate is expected to vote on key issues, some key measures, and controversial measures.

Let me tell you what's going on. Here's what's happening. Here's what's on the agenda. A procedural vote on the DREAM act is expected to take place sometime soon, and the bill would give immigrants a new way to become legal citizens.

We're talking about young people brought here to this country as children by their parents, and this bill would allow them a pathway to citizenship if they either join the military or go to college.

The other landmark legislation being considered is the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays serving openly in the military. Let's bring in our Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keiler with the update. So where are we? They were doing the DREAM Act first, so where are they in the process?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in probably a half hour we'll see this key procedural vote. It's a big deal because the Senate needs 60 volts to pass it. They'll start with the DREAM act and it seems likely they're not going to hit that mark.

Supporters of this bill will say this is for young people who really know no other home than the United States but then could be deported. This is for young people if they were to join the military, basically be upstanding citizens who go to college, they would have patriot for citizenship.

It's not, T.J., there isn't support for this. A lot of Republicans say they're cramming it in at the last minute, and they're not comfortable with that. So some are pulling their support for this bill.

Assuming that the procedural vote for the DREAM act fails, possibly around I'm thinking 11:00 a.m., we're going to be seeing this key vote on the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," that policy that says openly gay men and women cannot serve in the U.S. military.

We are expecting that this will pass. Why is that? Because there are four Republican senators and let's sort of run through that to you can see who's joining Democrats in this effort. Four Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine as well as Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Olympia Snowe of Maine. They said they are going to support this.

And this allows Democrats a little bit of wiggle room. They can actually lose a couple of their own and still push forward with this effort that has run the gauntlet. As you'll recall last week this failed in the Senate when it was attached to a larger defense bill, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Brianna, we're keeping a close eye. Senator Joseph Lieberman is speaking on the Senate floor. They're in session, but two key votes today. Brianna Keiler is on top of things here. Let us know when something happens there. We will (CROSSTALK) check back in with you plenty throughout the morning. Brianna, thank you so much.

This special session impacting some holiday travel plans not just for the not just senators but the president and the first family. They're leaving for Hawaii for the holiday vacation. The family is leaving without the president. He's staying in Washington as law makers try to tie up the loose ends we just talked about.

The president will head to Hawaii whenever the work is done, but the Senate, the first family is set to be back in the nation's capital for New Year's Day. I believe we have the word right that the wife and daughters are heading out today or tomorrow.

Turning to North Korea now. Our former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson is there. He's trying to ease the tensions on the Korean peninsula urging North and South Korea to use maximum restraint. We need a little luck here from bad weather. The weather has cancelled the planned South Korean military drills. They were supposed to start today.

North Korea has threatened to launch a military strike against the south if those drills went forward. Earlier this morning I spoke to our Wolf Blitzer about the threat level in the Korean peninsula. He's traveling with bill Richardson there in North Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": I know they'll be very happy that the weather has delayed any South Korean military maneuvers at this point. When the North Koreans have threatened they would retaliate if the South Koreans went forward. At least it's not happening this weekend and will be delayed. What Richardson is trying to do is urge restraint on all sides to calm things down because he's pointed out repeatedly this is like a tinderbox. One miscalculation, T.J., this whole situation on the Korean peninsula could explode.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We turn to weather now. We're keeping a close eye on it, and could cause problems for travelers out there. Skiers will be happy. We're talking about eight feet of snow in some places. We're talking about Sierra Nevada. That area in particular, an avalanche advisory is in effect right now. We have flood watches at lower elevations. Bring in Reynolds Wolf now. They said eight feet, and it sounds crazy.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Perspective, high up in the mountains. If you're a skier or snowboarder, this is what you DREAM of. They have avalanche warnings. You have issues up there. Another potential problem is the strong winds. There's the possibility you could have wind gusts in the high mountain passes that could exceed 70 miles per hour approaching hurricane force.

One thing we have along the coast is mostly rainfall. We look at what's happening along the coast. Let's begin in the bay area. San Francisco, live image at this time. The bridge looks nice and beautiful on one side. You can see a little bit of a silhouette of Oakland off in the distance. And you also see nice numbers up on the screen.

Let's pop away from that and go to LAX. Conditions are nice there along the coast. How I love you, southern California, special times there, beautiful for surfers. We expect the rain to pick up in the afternoon, might have some issues there.

Some of the delays you get is due to the rough weather out west. We'll see it intensify into the afternoon hours. We have an area of low pressure that will come on shore bringing heavy rainfall and some places in the San Joaquin Valley might get rain that will exceed eight inches of rainfall through the weekend. In the mountains we see the heavy snow pile Pentagon up in several feet, some places as high as seven feet.

Other delays we expect. We run through them quickly. San Francisco and L.A., we got those of course. Atlanta could see a few backups there. Detroit and Dallas could see an hour of a wait, and Chicago, Minneapolis very light snowfall from 15 to 30 minutes. And in Salt Lake City, you got notice. T.J.?

HOLMES: Reynolds, appreciate you as always, buddy. We'll check in plenty throughout the morning.

Also, a manhunt is under way right now for a lot of men, 141 of them who escaped from a prison. How in the world did this happen? We'll give you the details just ahead.

Also, holiday reunions taking place all around the country this week, be a few more next week as well. Troops are returning home from overseas, and they make it just in time for the holidays. Some moments you do not want to miss coming up.

But first, we had the first morning news quiz in this hour for you. Today's comes from "TIME" magazine, their top ten list. According to a "TIME" survey, what is the number one most overplayed holiday song? Is it "Feliz Navidad," "The Christmas Song," or is it "Sleigh Ride"? All excellent choices. The answer right after the break. It's 10 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 13 minutes past the hour now. We asked before the break that according to a "TIME" survey what is the number one most overplayed holiday song, "Feliz Navidad," "The Christmas Song," or is it "Sleigh Ride"? And the answer is "Sleigh Ride."

(MUSIC)

"Sleigh ride" is the one you hear in the department store all the time. "TIME" says by December 1st the song had been played at least 43,000 times already. Don't know how you add that up, but the rest of the top five overplayed times according to "TIME." Number two was "Winter Wonderland," three was "Feliz Navidad," and number four was "Do they know it's Christmas," and number five "Wonderful Christmastime."

Somebody stop this music. Stop it. I'm just kidding. It's fine.

Every December people make predictions about what will come our way in the new year. Here's something new, though, a bunch of predictions for 2011 made 80 years ago. Josh Levs is here with that.

Josh, where are these predictions coming from?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're coming from "The New York Times." It's interesting, all the way back in 1931 "The Times" asked then visionaries to put together guesses what life would be life now in 2011.

So let's look at what they said. Let's start off with pictures and set the scene for you back in 1931. Let's think about where they were coming from. It was two years after the big stock market crash, and Herbert Hoover was president. When unemployment was crazy high, it was like 16 percent, when these people were being asked what life would be like in the future, they were being hopeful. They are looking toward a better future.

And it's interesting to look at this now that we've been dealing with this economic crisis in America all these generations later.

Here's the predictions. Let's start off with this one from W.J. Mayo, you know the name because he's a physician and founder of the Mayo Clinic. He guessed that the average life span in the U.S. would be 70. Well, in fact, we've beaten it. We're up to 78. Not so bad on the prediction.

The next one is from William Ogburn, a famous sociologist. He guessed population would reach 160 million. We're close to twice that. We're over 300 million right now. But my favorite thing from him -- he guessed the magic of remote control will be commonplace. You're watching TV right now. That is pretty cool. Think about how far remote control has gone in general. We have so many things we control remotely.

Time for a couple more here. Workers will be guaranteed an equitable share of wealth. A lot of you are watching this right now working hard not feeling like you get that guaranteed share equitably at least of the wealth in the U.S., so maybe not so much.

And Arthur Compton, take a look here -- he guessed that natural boundaries will gradually cease to have present importance, basically saying that a lot of the border wars we have today wouldn't be the case. So a little bit off there.

Finally, Henry Ford, one of the biggest names in the entire history of business in America, when he was asked to predict what life would be like in 2011, back in 1931 he said the only value in doing so would be for people in 2011 to look back and see what level of humility they showed in making those guesses.

A lot of people take an interest in this online right now. It's going viral. Let me show you where I posted it for you. It's up on my Facebook and twitter pages at Josh Levs CNN. You can check it out right now. Your predictions for life 80 years from now, your predictions for 2011, go ahead and post them there. Some of these people, not too bad with their guesses back then.

HOLMES: It was 80 years ago.

LEVS: Yes, 80 years.

HOLMES: Josh, we appreciate it so much. Thanks so much.

A video you have all seen. It was played and played and played again in week for those tense moments at the school board meeting in Florida. It had a lot of people talking about one woman who tried her hand as disarming the gunman. She used her purse, a very famous purse it turns out now that can fetch a good price. But there's more to the story than that. We'll explain why it was taken off auction. It's 17 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We're at 19 minutes past the hour. You get a live look at the floor of the Senate where they are in session. You see California Senator Dianne Feinstein speaking now. They are discussing the DREAM Act right now. The DREAM Act would give a path to citizenship for a lot of illegal immigrants, children brought to this country by their parents if they were little, give them a path to citizenship if they go to college or join the military. It doesn't look like it has the votes to move forward.

But also they will take up in a little bit, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." That one, the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," that vote could happen in the next hour or so as well. That one is expected to move forward and possibly see that repeal of that act some point this weekend.

I also want to look now at news polls where we monitor trending stories on CNN.com. First here, life with a possibility for parole, that's the sentence handed down to "40-Year-Old Virgin" actor Shelley Malil. The jury found him guilty of premeditated attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon in the stabbing of his girlfriend in 2008.

Some have called it the most famous purse in America. It is off the market right now. You see this scene. That was the woman who in Florida at that school board meeting tried to take her purse and knock the gun out of the hand of that gunman.

It was up for auction on eBay. She wanted to use the proceeds for them to go to charity, but eBay says she has to meet some legal requirements. The bids got to $1,200 at one point before it was taken down. Let's turn to another story. Nick Valencia is joining me here now. He's the national desk editor. We were talking about a manhunt. This is a men-hunt, 141 prisoners escaped.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL DESK EDITOR: And it could be more, T.J. Local news reporting and we found out this before coming on set they're reporting now 151 prisoners escaped. It's a little hard to imagine these people escaping out of a service entrance door. We're also hearing that local authorities may have been involved in helping the prisoners escape. Can you imagine that?

HOLMES: Whatever happened to the prison director who has disappeared? Do you have any idea where he's at yet?

VALENCIA: We don't. We hear he's missing as well. He's the equivalent of what would be a warden in the U.S. prison system. He's gone, and 141 prisoners have escaped, 58 of which are violent criminals and have been incarcerated in the federal penitentiary here.

HOLMES: We say it's a Mexican prison. It doesn't affect us, but this is right across --

VALENCIA: This is ten minutes way from the border from Laredo, Texas. This is a state that's had a long history in the last six months of prison breaks. They've had three high profile prison breaks, nothing more high profile than in Mexico where prisoners were released, carried out a mass killing spree, and came back to the prison there in that case as well. The prison guards there were complicate implicated.

This brings in a larger question here in the drug war fight in Mexico, the trust in institutions there, the trust in the justice system, and the trust in the state institutions. In fact, the public secretary Antonio Garcia has actually pleaded with the federal authorities to help the state run their prisons because they say essentially they don't have the capacity to do it.

HOLMES: We had the number at 141, but they're reporting now 151.

VALENCIA: Locals are reporting 151. CNN has yet to confirm that, but it could be more.

HOLMES: Nick Valencia, we appreciate the update there. Fascinating story out of Mexico. Thank you so much.

A quick break here. We're going to come back with the homecomings taking place all across the country. This was one we saw play out live this morning just a little while ago. This is at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport. So many of our fighting men and women making it home for the holidays.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: -- greeted by their family members. Seeing those scenes play out at airports as well, including at Atlanta as Hartsfield- Jackson airport, thousands of troops coming through there this weekend. And our Catherine Callaway is there live. Catherine?

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., we are here inside the USO center at the Atlanta airport. Hundreds of military personnel have been passing through here this morning. You can see some of them behind me.

Most are heading home for two weeks after before going back to training or active duty. Some, though, are heading back to duty after ending their two-week leave.

We have had some incredible reunions this morning here at airport of some of the soldiers who just arrived back home from Afghanistan and Iraq. We want to show you one right now, the Woods family. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I cannot wait just to have him with us. This is like -- this is a gift from god. This is our Christmas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I'm relieved. I'm just so glad he's here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And safe. A lot of our prayers are answered.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The whole family is here to greet him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a little dirty and dusty. We'll get him cleaned up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: That was the Michael Woods family. He's been in Afghanistan on active duty, home for two weeks. He will leave again in two weeks back if Afghanistan.

Here at the USO, look, it's Santa Claus. Yes, he's here. He's greeting the military personnel as they come through here, and as I said, about 3,000 expected today.

Here is a reminder of what is also happening here on this holiday. All of these bags sigh behind me, beside me, all of these officers will be heading out very soon, going back to Afghanistan or Iraq. So our thoughts are with those families as well, but we like to bring you as many happy reunions this morning as we can. We'll be here all day. Back to you.

HOLMES: And we appreciate Catherine Callaway at the Atlanta international airport for us.

And I want to remind you something I really want you to see. Tonight and tomorrow night you have two chances to watch a special documentary event, "A Soldier's Story." These are unbelievable stories, because our Jason Carroll was able to follow three soldiers from basic training to the battlefield. It's just remarkable stories he's been reporting on throughout the year, but put together a documentary for you. You need to see this. "A soldier's Story" airs here on CNN tonight and Sunday night at 8:00 eastern time.

Also, getting close to the bottom of the hour. We told you, the Senate is in session. A live look once again on the Senate floor. Senator Kyl there speaking. They're debating the DREAM act, talking about it right now, the one that would give a path to citizenship for young people that came to this country if they go to college or join the military. But that is being discussed now, expecting a vote on that.

And they're voting on the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." That's happening today. Quick break. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, bottom of the hour here now. We have been reporting on the U.S. Senate which is in session right now. Live picture here. We're expecting a vote shortly on the DREAM act. That's the first thing they're taking up this morning. This is the one that would grant legal status to illegal immigrants brought to you U.S. when they were children.

Our congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar is joining me once again from Capitol Hill. Brianna, we were expecting somewhere maybe around now that vote to get going. So where are we in the process right now?

KEILAR: This should begin here in just a moment, T.J., maybe in a few minutes. This is a controversial measure related to immigration. And you have a lot of Republicans, some of whom support this whole concept, but they're saying, you know what, the Democrats are throwing all of this stuff to be voted on here just in the final days before Congress wraps up, and that's why we're expecting that the bottom line is this vote is probably going to fail.

Let me tell you about this measure. This is a measure that would allow a path to citizen ship for young people that come to the U.S. illegally. They're brought here illegally by their parents. They have to be here before they're 16 years old and have to be in the country for five years, and they would have to do certain things to get conditional immigration status, a six-year conditional immigration status.

They would have to graduate high school or get their GED, and after that there might be a path for citizenship if they do some things. They have to go to college or join the military, have to show they have strong moral character.

But what we've seen and I've covered a Congress for a couple of years, we've seen so many different events over the last couple years where there's heart-wrenching stories of young people who come to the U.S., the only home they know is the U.S., and then they find themselves deported. So supporters of this bill will say that is the reason that they're trying to protect some of these people who can really contribute to society, but we've heard some Republican objections saying that these qualifications aren't stringent enough and, of course, some Republicans who just are objecting to the idea that there would be this path to citizenship for an illegal immigrant, T.J.

HOLMES: Brianna, we appreciate you. And the other one today is the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" taken up after that. Brianna, we will continue to economic in with you at CNN. We're never going to go too far from that story. When that vote starts on the DREAM act we'll certainly let you know about it. And then, of course, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," we could see a repeal of it this weekend.

Today's special session affecting the president's travel plans for this holiday season. The first family leaving for Hawaii today minus the president. The president is staying in Washington as lawmakers try to tie up all these loose ends up there. The president will head to Hawaii after that. The first family is said to be back in the nation's capital by New Year's Day.

A long list of earmarks helped kill a massive spending bill, and Republicans, who had their own pet projects in that bill, turned against the bill, some say because of threats by the Tea Party in Washington now. Paul Steinhauser is here with a look. This could be called another victory for the Tea Party, keeping these folks in check.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, another notch on their belt.

T.J., a bunch of Tea Party groups are taking creditor taking the bill down. Freedom Works and the Club for Growth. John McCain, Senator John McCain, the Republican of Arizona, he's been against earmarks for a long, long time, very, very vocal about that. He was big-time against this spending bill as well. He gave credit to Tea Party groups as well. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: I'd like to extend my gratitude to the American people, the Tea Partiers, those that aligned themselves with the cause to stop the spending and the mortgaging of our children and grandchildren's future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: One Tea Partier told me he was surprised by how quickly Tea Party activists and others were angry and how quickly the anger happened against the spending bill.

HOLMES: Paul, can we say that they made specific threats, if you will? Were they threatening some of these Republicans?

STEINHAUSER: They were threatening primary challenges. A couple of these groups said, listen, if you vote for this bill and up for reelection in 2012, watch out. We will challenge you. We will find candidates to challenge you in the primaries.

Remember, Tea Party groups were successful in this year's primaries knocking out a few Republicans they didn't think were fiscally conservative enough.

HOLMES: Paul, we appreciate it. Some interesting stuff going on in Washington these days and specifically this day as well as the Senate is in session. Paul, we appreciate you as always, buddy.

Also, Christmastime, going to be heading over to somebody's house maybe for dinner, maybe the in-laws, maybe friends, maybe other family members. Who knows what it is? But there's certain etiquette you need to have when you get there.

Also you have questions. What do you bring? Do you always bring something, and how do you act when you get in the house? Our etiquette expert Peggy Post has the stuff you need to hear. She'll be joining me next. It's 36 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 37 minutes past the hour. A lot of parties and a lot of dinners you'll be going to over the holidays. Some rules to keep in mind. There are rules of etiquette to follow. You know you're going to have these conversations, but what do I do? What should I bring? How do I act? If you're throwing an event, there's certain ways you need to treat people that you invite to your home.

Guest etiquette, that's our offer this morning with the offer of Emily Post's Etiquette. Peggy Post is back with you. Peggy, you have been really helpful over the past couple of weeks teaching us all. Let's start with general things. If you're a houseguest over the holidays, what are some of those general etiquette tips to keep in mind?

PEGGY POST, AUTHOR, "EMILY POST'S ETIQUETTE": Right. The whole idea is to have happy reunions and to make everything go as smoothly as possible. So the first thing to do is when you're invited to go somewhere, talk to your host right up front and figure out what a good arrival time is and a good departure time is. So many people say that's the biggest pitfalls of visits. It's nebulous and nobody knows what's happening. Figure out when you're arriving and leaving and talk to your host to see what's convenient for them.

HOLMES: That's a very good point. I never think to do that. That's a very good one, just to talk ahead of time.

This is the one everybody is curious about. What do I bring? Are you supposed to entry an actual gift over to someone's house when you're a guest?

POST: When you're a houseguest generally, yes. That's a custom in the U.S. If it's your family member, you go there all the time, maybe every other time, but definitely you want to give them something. It might be a gift of your cooking dinner for them or taking them out for dinner, or you might want to take something. Or if you don't know what -- if you haven't stayed with these people before, you may not know what they like and have in their house. So you might select something while you're there or even send something afterwards. Always, always thank them.

HOLMES: What's a good, general, safe gift to take? If you're not familiar with the house or something, you want to show up with something. What's something general and safe to go with?

POST: The safest thing is what you're really sure your host would like. A lot of people take houseplants, good food items, something really special. If you know your host likes wine, a really fine wine they may not go out and buy.

And you can take it from there. You might want to take a picture album and then take photos while you're there that they can put in the album or a picture frame. Those are generally pretty safe and pretty welcomed.

HOLMES: Something we just put up on the screen. I'll put it up again. Some people offer to bring and pay for the groceries or the liquor. Is that a good idea?

POST: Yes, it's always a good idea. Your host may say absolutely no way. You are our guest, or they may say thank you so much. We really appreciate it. It's really good to offer.

HOLMES: One last thing I got to get to. They're wrapping me. This is all important. How do you tell family or friends, "you cannot stay with me"?

POST: Very delicately. Be honest. We very, very tactful and say, we would love to have you. However, we don't have enough room, or we have a sick child, or we're working and we'll be coming and going so much. Some hosts will actually offer to help the guests find a bed and breakfast, a motel nearby. But communicate clearly. Give a reason and make sure that you see them a lot.

HOLMES: So you can lie? Lying is OK?

POST: No, lying is not OK.

(LAUGHTER)

Find something -- definitely have very benevolent honesty and tell them.

HOLMES: Because we don't have a sick child in the house and we've got plenty of room. We have to come up with something here. Peggy, good to see you as always. Thank you so much. Enjoy your holiday, all right?

POST: Thank you, T.J.

HOLMES: Take a look at this. This is coming to you out of London. A tower cam, see what we see here. Snow is really blanketing London and other parts of Europe. We'll take you there.

First, though, he's never lost a fight in the ring. Floyd Mayweather Jr. has to see if his luck conditions in a Las Vegas courtroom. It's 42 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, 43 minutes past the hour.

Take a look at this picture. A lot of people get snowed-in. That's one thing. But they got snow in the house. One particular family -- this was in Iowa. Betty and Steve Aylers (ph), they were out. They returned from a visit to Chicago to this.

What happened here, blizzard-like conditions, it actually blew open the doors and it literally -- I shouldn't say snowed in the house, but the snow came into the house, Reynolds. They say the only real damage they had to deal with, the kitchen faucet and some flooring, but that was ate mess to try and clean up and clean out. But the door swung open and they were gone. Iowa, when would this snow have been?

WOLF: Take your pick. They have snow right now. The worst of it was really last weekend and the week before they had quite a bit of snow. Winter really came on hard there. Now winter is really beginning to develop towards the west.

We've showing you radar on and off all morning. Probably one of the most compelling ways to tell the story is with video. Take a look at this video. We have this video from the west of Tahoe. We see the skiers are very happy, skiers of all ages, moms, dads, kids, great times, not only skiers but snowboarders out there.

It's fun up there hitting the slopes, but if you're driving it's not so much fun. It's dangerous near places near Truckee or Diner Summit. You have the heavy snow coming down, but wind gusts topping 70 miles per hour by late in the day. It's a huge mess.

This is the reason we see the mess. This area of low pressure is a giant atmosphere conveyor belt pulling in moisture from the pacific. When it hits part of the San Joaquin valley, it will be rain. In the higher elevations you'll have the snow. Currentville could get close to 10 inches of rainfall. Into the high elevations it interacts with the cold air. The snow comes down. We see the darkest purple. That's where it's in excess of 20 inches of snowfall.

Between this point now all the way to early Monday morning, some places, the highest parts of the sierra Nevada mountains could get up to eight feet of snowfall, very brutal to say the least.

If you travel in the country, you might have a few delays. Atlanta with delays? How could that happen? Anywhere from 30 minutes to a full hour due to the rainfall. San Francisco and Las Vegas, visibility and low clouds. Detroit and Dallas could wait until a few hours also. In Chicago and Minneapolis it's all snow, but in Salt Lake City it's snow. It's light in Salt Lake City, in some places possibly several feet. People will smile at snow bird.

That's the latest. T.J., lets kick back over to you and Joe.

HOLMES: Reynolds, appreciate you, as always.

And speaking of Joe, Joe Carter from HLN Sports. I know you'll get offended. He's here with me. A couple of sported-related stories. This has a lot of people in sports world, one of them at least -- we're talking about a possible hall of fame quarterback getting benched with three games left in the season.

JOE CARTER, HLN SPORTS ANCHOR: Three games left for the Washington redskins, and head coach Mike Shanahan deciding to send Donovan McNabb to the bench for the next three games and wants to see how backup Rex Grossman and third string John Beckwith join the season.

Shanahan brought Donovan McNabb to D.C. around Easter time. They gave up two draft picks, and they signed him to a contract extension worth $78 million. People in the D.C. area are scratching their heads, thinking what are we doing? Are we going to keep him or let him go?

Because of all the money he could earn next year if he stays with the team. And in fact he's turning 35 years old next year. It looks like they're probably going to let him go based on the performance he had this season, which was 15 interceptions, a five and eight record, and no playoff force the redskins.

HOLMES: Give a little perspective on who the backup is, Rex Grossman. He hasn't had a hall of fame career.

CARTER: Not like Donovan McNabb had. I mean, 11 seasons with the Eagles and McNabb was only benched one time. He took them to the Super bowl once, had six Pro bowl years. Rex Grossman has been to the Super bowl once, but has not had anywhere near the career that Donovan McNabb has had.

HOLMES: Let's turn also to the baddest man in the boxing ring, Floyd Mayweather Jr. He has not lost a fight. He's beautiful to watch in the ring. Some problems outside the ring, though.

CARTER: Floyd let out of a Las Vegas jail yesterday morning on misdemeanor assault charge. According to police he was poking a security guard in the face back in November several times.

But he's the got major, major legal issues ahead of him come January 24th when he goes to court to face several felony charges in regards to take dispute with the mother of his children. These felony charges if convicted could put him behind bars up to 34 years.

Yesterday, Manny Pacquiao turned 32 years old. Consider the two paths they take. We'd like to see them fight. It's probably not going to happen this year, and maybe not in 2012.

HOLMES: That's the only fight in boxes that's relevant that people want to see. They could make $40 million to $50 million bucks apiece if they fought each other. We're waiting on it. Joe, good to see you.

Coming up, she says she was the other woman. She was upset, but maybe not so much anymore. An exclusive interview with one of Tiger Woods' alleged mistresses.

Also, take a look here. Look at these thugs. Look at these hoodlums. Who would behave in such a way? Oh, these are lawmakers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's nine minutes now to the top of hour. More than a year after the scandal that derailed his public image, one of Tiger Woods' alleged mistresses doesn't want an apology anymore. I spoke to former porn star Veronica Daniels. Here's how she described their relationship to me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: It has been a very successful year even though it was a painful year as well.

VERONICA DANIELS, ALLEGED MISTRESS: I don't think he really is sorry. I think he's sorry he got caught.

HOLMES: Former porn actress veronica Daniels was one of the women who came forward with claims of a relationship.

DANIELS: I was so madly in love I couldn't walk away. We would text every day throughout the day.

HOLMES (on camera): How often would you see him after that initial meeting?

DANIELS: A few times a month. He would either come to Vegas or he would have me come out to wherever he was playing.

HOLMES: Did you feel like you had a boyfriend?

DANIELS: Yes, I did. I stopped seeing other people. I got out of the adult business because it was something that really bothered him.

HOLMES: Why were you making these types of sacrifices and changes in your life for him? Did you ever ask him to make any kinds of changes in his life for you?

DANIELS: The only thing I told him was to be honest with me. You tell me I'm the only other woman in your life besides your wife. Just don't break my trust and don't hurt my feelings.

HOLMES (on camera): And when Tiger Woods came forward and admitted cheating on his wife, Daniels learned she wasn't the only one.

DANIELS: I was like, I knew it. I knew it. I was like he bold- faced lied to me. He lied through text message and to my face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We did reach out to Tiger Woods, his management company. No response to veronica Daniels' claims. We're taking a look back. It was Thanksgiving night last year when all of this started for Tiger Woods.

You can see our special, "Downfall, the Tiger Woods Scandal" tonight at 10:00 eastern. In addition to Daniels you'll also hear an exclusive interview I had with Tiger Woods brother Earl woods Jr. Again, 10:00 eastern tonight here on CNN.

We're going to show you as well as what happens when you fish where you're not supposed to fish. It does not end pretty.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, travel chaos going on -- excuse me -- across much of Europe today. Frigid arctic temperatures made getting anywhere a problem on the ground and in the air as well. Take a live look at London where more delays and cancellations are expected. Nina Dos Santos is live for us in London with the update. And hello to you. Well, it appears that Nina --

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, T.J. I'm standing outside Buckingham Palace where as you can see a number of tourists have braved the arctic conditions. It was supposed to be the great winter get-away and instead across much of Britain and northern Europe it has turned into the great winter gridlock has the whole region is covered with about 25 centimeters worth of snow.

That has caused the main London airports to close their runways. British Airways is saying it will cancel its long haul flights up to 7:00 p.m. tomorrow. For anyone planning to travel from the United States to Britain in the next 24 hours, do consult your airline before going to the airport.

HOLMES: All right, we do appreciate that. We had a bit of a delay there. We appreciate that update there. We continue to watch international weather as well. We'll tell you what's going on in California with all that snow. They have problems out there.

We want to give you a look now at the latest international video we're getting off of our CNN satellite. South Korean coast guard trying to board a Chinese fishing boat that was caught poaching. Fight is breaking out. Anything they could use as a weapon they used. South Korea's news agency reporting the fishing both eventually capsized and one man was killed and two others were missing and four coast guardsmen were injured trying to arrest the boat's crew.

OK, well, no matter what you see going on in Washington, D.C., at least we can say they don't do this. These are lawmakers, yes, elected folks acting like this. You have heard people call politics a blood sport. Yes, in the Ukraine it is literally a blood sport. My goodness, look at this. What's going on? This is a fight in parliament, a lot of blood and bruises, quite frankly. They were punching and kicking and throwing furniture. You can see how it all went down here. Five of the lawmakers ended up in the hospital.

What are they fighting about? The fight broke out when members loyal to the prime minister tried to stop a criminal investigation into the alleged abuse of power.

We'll take a look now at some of the stories making headlines. The Senate heading toward a vote "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". You see the Senate majority leader Harry Reid speaking at the time being. They're actually taking up the DREAM act first, but they're talking about as well, we could see the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which, of course, bans gays from serving openly in the military. We are live there in Washington. We will have a report for you coming up in just a moment.