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U.N. Security Council Meets Amid High Tension in Koreas; Yeonpyeong in the Crosshairs; Senate Debates START Treaty; Storms Slamming Pacific Coast; Search Engine Alternatives; Teens and Privacy; A Frugal Farmer's Big Surprise; The Gift of Giving
Aired December 19, 2010 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: There is a dangerous face-off between North and South Korea. The situation so tense, the U.N. Security Council is holding an emergency session this Sunday.
Live coverage from the U.N. straight ahead.
Billions of dollars in taxes piling up unused at the Department of Energy, and there's a good chance some of that money came out of your own pocket. That story at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.
And at 5:00 Eastern, forget that resolution to diet or stop smoking in the new year. You might want to focus instead on career resolutions.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Drew Griffin, in for Fredricka Whitfield.
There is no word yet from diplomats at United Nations headquarters in New York. The Security Council has been meeting in a closed-door session today on the escalating tensions between North and South Korea.
Our Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth is there.
Richard, what is taking place?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Drew, they just have taken a brief break at the Security Council following several hours of closed-door discussions. There is division in the Security Council on how to proceed on this North/South Korea debate and possible escalation of military violence.
The Russians wanted this meeting. They are angry it wasn't held yesterday. Many countries needed instructions from their governments.
What is the division about? As the Council filed in, it was somewhat predictable, considering how the Security Council debate has gone over the last few years.
The Russian ambassador who you just saw there with the glasses and the white hair, he and his nation believe that there should be an urgent statement urging calm from all sides. Now, the U.S. and other countries in the Council, according to Security Council diplomats, believe that there should be much more of a condemnation of North Korea's aggression against the South and that the South Korean government has every right under its own sovereignty to conduct planned, live-fire drills, which is what is upsetting North Korea.
So, no consensus on a statement is imminent at this hour -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: I mean, the issue here is whether or not South Korea goes forward with these military drills which include firing live rounds into the sea, and North Korea then goes through with its threat, that that's going to start a war and we are going fire back, considering that move aggressive. What I'm trying to ask of you, Richard, is, based on your experience at the U.N., they come out of the Security Council divided, with perhaps a little terse resolution. I don't see any way that that action could prevent what is or is not taking place on the Korean Peninsula.
ROTH: That's right. And we've seen many times, sometimes a country will not obey a statement or action by the Security Council. Sometimes it does happen.
Maybe there's going to be a compromise gesture. The Russians want a U.N. envoy to go to try to do some shuttle diplomacy. North Korea has rejected so many Security Council sanctions or resolutions in the past. But also, North Korea, let's remember, has threatened war, aggression, and other tough talk, and nothing really has happened. If the Security Council was to react every time, they would be here 24 hours a day, but it is a tense situation -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: All right. Thanks a lot.
We'll wait, of course, to see what the Security Council does meeting there in New York.
Thanks, Richard.
The U.S., of course, closely monitoring every move here between the Koreas, and here is the latest from Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. military -- indeed, the entire Obama administration -- trying to ratchet down tensions on the Korean Peninsula. But as long as South Korea remains committed to conducting live-fire exercises, and the North continues to say it will respond militarily, anxieties remain high.
The Pentagon is maintaining around-the-clock communications with South Korea, trying to stay on top of the situation, and ready to weigh in, in the hopefully unlikely event hostilities break out. But that effort is really aimed at trying to keep South Korea and, indeed, both sides from escalating any action to keep any military hostilities from occurring.
Several U.S. military analysts say the problem is, it's just so hard to read North Korea's intentions at that point. The regime there is focused on staying in power and retaining absolute control. The hope is that the North Korean government doesn't see military action as their means to do that.
Barbara Starr, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: There is one island at the center of this crisis. Yeonpyeong is only about seven miles from the North Korean border, but it belongs to South Korea under the maritime border set up by the U.N. It's part military post, part fishing village.
CNN's Kyung Lah was there as residents rushed to get off it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Carrying what they can, Yeonpyeong villagers head to what they believe is the last ferry off the island. Planked by armed military personnel, evacuees boarded, carrying children and helping the elderly.
"I'm leaving because they said the drills are tomorrow," says 66-year- old Kim Ok Jin. She does not want to leave.
"Of course I'm angry," she tells me. "But that's not going to change anything."
(on camera): The residents who are evacuating Yeonpyeong Island on this ferry haven't left just once. This is the second time that they are evacuating. The difference now, at least they have warning.
(voice-over): Nearly a month ago there was none before North Korean artillery shells landed in a stunning attack on the village, killing two civilians and two South Korean marines. The village today, silenced. Few signs of life, except for military trucks patrolling and waiting.
Not everyone is leaving. Song Young Ok hasn't been told to stop selling ferry tickets off the island or when the military drills will be. She'll stay behind, she says. For her and the several dozen others still here, these bunkers are where the military says she can find cover.
Song wonders why it has to be this way. "If we carry out the drills," she says, "North Korea has said it will retaliate even more strongly. Going ahead with the drills knowing this is pretty much picking a fight with them."
As the ferry steams to the Korean Peninsula, these elderly neighbors reflect on their divided homeland and the cost of a war that never truly ended.
"It's OK," says 83-year-old Lee Chun Neyo, on the damage to her community and the pain of evacuating. "The soldiers need to do them, right?"
The ferry now back. The islanders on the mainland. Family awaits.
"Take care," says Lee. "Take care."
Kyung Lah, CNN, Incheon, South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: And we will continue to follow the Korean situation through the afternoon.
Back in Washington, the Senate trying to wrap up work on several critical legislative issues before the Christmas break. And right now senators are working, trying to work out the START nuclear arms treaty with Russia.
CNN's Kate Bolduan joins us live from the White House.
Kate, getting START ratified, this was a big project for the president, the deadline looming. What are chances it is going to happen?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a good question, Drew. President Obama calls the New START treaty an urgent national priority, and getting Congress to sign off on it is really his final big priority in this lame-duck session.
At the same time, the Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, he, for the first time, has voiced opposition to this very agreement. And he did that on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley.
Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: I've decided I cannot support the treaty. I think the verification provisions are inadequate, and I do worry about the missile defense implications of it.
I think if they had taken more time with this, rushing it right before Christmas strikes me as trying to jam us. I think if they had taken more time -- and I know the members of the Foreign Relations Committee spent time on this, but the rest of us haven't. And so, all of a sudden, we're once again trying to rush things right here before Christmas Eve. I think that was not the best way to get the support of people like me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: And while McConnell's opposition is not entirely surprising, it is important, Drew, because Democrats need Republican support to get the two-thirds majority vote that is needed to ratify this treaty.
New START, as it's called, it's the new nuclear arms control agreement with Russia. This is an agreement that President Obama signed off on in April. And the treaty, in essence, while it is extremely complex, I guess we could call it, it basically would resume mutual inspections of nuclear arsenals in both countries and also limit the number of warheads for both countries. Russia and the U.S. being the two largest nuclear powers in the world.
It's a key foreign policy measure for this White House, and why this White House is fighting back against Republican opposition with a very close eye on the clock in this as it ticks down in this lame-duck session.
Listen here to Vice President Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's been 18 hearings, 1,000 questions we've answered. But in others, they just simply are against any arms control agreement. That's the category that when I say "any," they're simply against this arms control agreement.
Senator DeMint is absolutely foursquare against it. It wouldn't matter what it said.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Still, Vice President Biden and key lawmakers on both sides do believe they have the votes to get this treaty ratified. The big question, as you started off this whole segment, Drew, is when will it come up for a vote? And that is still unclear.
GRIFFIN: Ah. The holiday sounds of bipartisanship in Washington.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: You can hear it ringing in your head.
GRIFFIN: Kate, thanks a lot. It's going to be a long week for those guys, I think.
In Israel, police are investigating the death of an American tourist and whether the victim was the target of a terror attack. And interesting story.
CNN's Paula Hancocks has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A murder inquiry is under way here in Israel after the body of a female American tourist was discovered just outside Jerusalem this Sunday morning. The search for this woman had started on Saturday, after a second woman had reached a picnic area in a forest in Bet Shemesh, just west of Jerusalem.
She had stab wounds, and she also had her hands tied. She said that her and her friend had been hiking in this area and they had been attacked by two men. They were tied up and then they were stabbed. The woman said that she had pretended to be dead so that she could then run away and raise the alarm.
Now, she's currently in hospital. We understand her condition is stable. She's a British citizen who has been living here in Israel.
Now, according to Israeli police, the deceased woman has been named as Christine Logan, an American, and the British woman named as Kaye Susan Wilson.
Now, Israeli media say that the attackers were Arab and that the police have not yet ruled out the possibility that this was a terrorist attack. But the police basically do not know the motivation behind this attack at this point, and no word on whether anyone has been arrested.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Well, they are slipping and sliding and crashing. A dangerous situation for a lot of West Coast travelers. We're going to find out when these Pacific storms are going to end.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: In Europe, weather is so brutal, it's caused chaos across that continent as well. Hundreds of thousands are stranded as snow and ice are making travel almost impossible.
CNN's Nina Dos Santos, live from London once again.
Nina, you're all wrapped up and telling us about cold weather and just a debilitating travel situation.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Drew.
Well, here, at London's Heathrow Airport, it is absolutely freezing, I will say, and the temperatures set to fall even further throughout the course of the night. That's causing problems, obviously, on the runways for ice.
One of the two runways at this, one of the world's busiest airports, is open. And we've seen about 16 flights departing.
But it's not good news for travelers who are currently stranded. Many of them, like the Suarez family, wondering if they'll make it home to their families for the holidays.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAUL SUAREZ, STRANDED PASSENGER: Well, we've been here since Friday and we're basically stuck, yes. Can't go anywhere. I just think they don't know what to do with the public.
We were told to leave the airport. The Web sites aren't working, the toll-free numbers to rebook are completely collapsed, so there's really nothing to do but wait.
LISA SUAREZ, STRANDED PASSENGER: It's very hard. We're supposed to be there already. The only thing I want for Christmas is to hug my daughter. That's all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANTOS: So, as you can see, emotions running high.
We're also seeing extreme examples of solidarity between passengers here. As I was saying, a number of them spending the night in the terminal building behind me, but in some of the hotels we've been seeing people exchanging mobile phone numbers, sharing their BlackBerry chargers. Some of them, even their rooms to try and make what is a rather uncomfortable situation slightly better.
The worst is though, Drew, is that the cold snap is set to continue with us for a number of days, perhaps even until the new year. And across continental Europe, the situation is a little bit more precarious.
In France, we've got some of the roads being described as absolutely treacherous. Trains have been halted there, and the situation is similar across much of northern Europe, Denmark and also Germany.
Back to you.
GRIFFIN: All right. Nina, thanks for the reports these last couple of days, in fact.
Well, she's 25. She's homeless. And she's a mom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHANTILLE BLUE, HOMELESS: I thought a lot of homeless people were drunks or drug addicts or prostitutes. But now that I'm here, I have found that sometimes things just happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: An Atlanta woman trying to rebuild her life. We will have her story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
GRIFFIN: "Sometimes things just happen." That's how 25-year-old Chantille Blue describes her life after a house fire left her and her three kids out on the street.
The homeless shelter where Blue and her family are now living offers her more than just support.
Julie Peterson (ph) shows why homeless doesn't always have to mean helpless.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAQUAYLA BLUE, HOMELESS: I went from one school to another school to another school to another school to another school.
JULIE PETERSON (ph), CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been a year of changes for this 6-year-old Jaquayla. A fire destroyed her family's rented house. A devastating loss for everyone.
C. BLUE: I am homeless. And I am a good mother. And I did everything that I was supposed to do, and something happened that was out of my control.
PETERSON: For mom Chantille Blue, there were few options. She and her husband lived in a car for weeks and sent two of the three children to live with relatives.
(on camera): You are out here in a car parked on a street somewhere.
C. BLUE: Yes.
PETERSON: Trying to sleep in a car with other people?
C. BLUE: That was extremely hard.
PETERSON: What happens there? How does that work?
C. BLUE: Well, mainly, I never really went to sleep. Sometimes my husband did. Sometimes he didn't. My brother-in-law, he slept in the driver's seat.
PETERSON (voice-over): But she and her husband later separated. Twenty-five, homeless and jobless, Chantille found her way to Genesis Shelter.
C. BLUE: I thought that a lot of homeless people were drunks or drug addicts or prostitutes. But now that I'm here, I have found that sometimes things just happen and there's nothing you can do about it.
PETERSON: Chantille's children were able to join her there. She found a lot of families like her own. She also found much needed help and support. The shelter offers counseling and job training, along with some of the comforts of home.
C. BLUE: I think we have 18 homes. They are by name. They're not numbered. My room is "Love." It's pretty ironic, but my room is "Love."
PETERSON (on camera): Why is that ironic?
C. BLUE: Love probably got me here. Probably one of my major problems.
Yes, we all sleep in here together. It turned out to be a good thing, because when you spend so much time with your children and you're so close to them, you learn more about them.
Where is your eraser?
This is our kitchen. Do you need any help?
I try to cook real food to remind you of home to make you feel like you're at home.
I'm not glad to be homeless, but I am glad that I gotten out of it what I have. I have a new respect for life and for people who go through things.
PETERSON (voice-over): The clock, ticking for the 25-year-old high school graduate.
C. BLUE: This is a one-time stop, six months. That's it. You cannot come back.
We got one.
At 8:30, get out. Go to the library or get online. Go take your resume.
I was just looking to see if you have any --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're taking applications right now.
C. BLUE: I was just stopping by to see if you had any employment opportunities available.
He said no.
Today would be counted as a successful day. At least we did find some places that were accepting applications. And I think one of them was actually hiring. It may not seem like much, but this is what I do every day, five days a week.
PETERSON: Julie Peterson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: We have some great stocking stuffer ideas for under $50. That's coming up right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: All right. If you need some help stuffing the stockings for Christmas, get ready. We're going to show you some ideas that maybe won't spend too much on it. You'll want to hear about some great high-tech stuffing stuffers all under $50.
Joining us now via Skype, syndicated technology writer Marc Saltzman.
Marc, the first item on your list is a new iPod.
MARC SALTZMAN, TECHNOLOGY ANALYST: That's right. This is the iPod Shuffle, the redesigned Shuffle that came out in September. And this can be found for $49 at Apple, or as low as $46 at Target. This is a little bit bigger than the size of a postage stamp, but it clamps onto your clothes, so it's super lightweight, .4 ounces. And it can store more than 500 songs. So it's got -- part of the redesign are more intuitive buttons on the front and a voiceover button on top. So when you're listening to the earphones, you can press the voiceover button and one of 25 different language languages hear the name of the song that you're listening to, the artist, how much battery left and so on so great stocking stuffer from Apple.
The, of course, very popular iPod and this is Shuffle available in five colors.
GRIFFIN: All right, $49. What else you got?
SALTZMAN: All right. Well, next up for those long distance chats and this time of year perfect for video chatting with friends and family around the world. We have a high definition web camera for under $50. This is $49.99. It's the Logitech Quickcam HD C310.
So this plugs into a net book, a laptop, a desktop via the USB cable here and you put this on top of the monitor and it lets you chat in up to 720P high definition video quality, very easy to install software.
It works with all of the big chatting software companies and the IM clients like Skype and Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live Messenger. It also takes 5 megapixel still images and has great audio quality as well. So is the new Logitech HD C310 for under 50 bucks.
GRIFFIN: How much is it?
SALTZMAN: Under $50, $49.99.
GRIFFIN: Cannon wireless printer. I don't think that fits in a stocking, does it?
SALTZMAN: Not much of a stocking stuffer, but you might be surprised that you can hear that you can now buy a wireless all in one so that's one of those printer scanner copier machines for $49.99.
So the Cannon Pixman NP560 is on sale for under $50 and it does print, scan and copy over your wireless network. So it doesn't matter if you are on an iPod touch or if you're on a laptop and it doesn't need to be tethered to the actual all in one unit.
You can print and scan back and forth over a Wi-Fi network plus it also has a memory card slot so you can pop out that postage stamp size card out of your digital camera or camcorder and punch it in and make some beautiful prints.
GRIFFIN: All right, mark. Thanks a lot. Appreciate all the advice especially I like that little iPod thing. That's pretty cool. All right, Mark. Take it easy.
SALTZMAN: Thank you.
GRIFFIN: You could call this a sign of the times. Yesterday was super Saturday. The last Saturday before Christmas and this huge digital sign tallied how many shopping bags were being carried out of four New York City stores. To add a little pressure, the sign compared this year's super Saturday tally with last year's.
World leaders are trying to diffuse escalating tensions between North and South Korea. We'll tell you what they are doing and explore possible solutions to this crisis coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: The Senate back in session today is working on the nuclear treaty with Russia. Last night, they passed a measure ending the Pentagon's ban on openly gay service members. This week President Obama will sign into law that repeal. Executing the orders expected to take several months according to the Pentagon though.
In Iran, high prices at the pump. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Iranian TV oil and gas prices could rise starting today. They apparently have. Iranians have paid relatively little for fuel because the government subsidized it, but Tehran is starting to reduce the subsidies as part of an overall economic plan in that country.
The U.N. Security Council is holding an emergency meeting today on the crisis in the Korean peninsula. North Korea's warning the South to call off planned military drills or risk igniting a war. The two-day drill is scheduled to begin this week. Tensions between North and South Korea soared after Pyongyang staged a deadly attack on a South Korean island last month.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. is in Pyongyang, North Korea, right now. In his words it's very tense out here. Richardson was invited by North Korea's top nuclear negotiator and today met with the general in charge of North Korean forces in the demilitarized zone.
BILL RICHARDSON, NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR (via telephone): It's a very tough, sobering meeting. They are very concerned, the North Koreans about the artillery drill. I told them the United States and South Korea have an alliance and they are united. The good news is that I floated a couple proposals. He didn't accept them.
One was for a hotline between North and South Korea. This has been talked about before, but it's never actually happened between the military commands in terms of times of crisis.
The second was a military commission, representatives of the United States, North Korea, South Korea, to monitor the disputed areas in the west sea to see if there are any potential altercations that can be avoided by this commission.
Now, again, I'm not an envoy of the administration. These are ideas that I floated out to them.
GRIFFIN: Richardson said he was encouraged when the general told him remains had been uncovered of several hundred U.S. service men killed during the Korean War. He promised to aid efforts to return the remains to America.
John Park joins us from Washington. He's the director of the Korea Working Group at the U.S. Institute of Peace. John, interesting proposals coming from Richardson.
He said they didn't really go anywhere but I thought it was very interesting the idea that these two militaries would have an open line between each other perhaps circumventing what is a hardening position politically speaking.
JOHN PARK, KOREA WORKING GROUP, U.S. INSTITUTE OF PEACE: That's right, Drew. You would hope these types of capabilities exist and in the past there have been hotlines, but right now we're at a pace where reaction is feeding into reaction and events are really getting out of control.
As we heard just recently with that artillery attack on November 23rd, we're now in a position where the South Koreans are really in this position of trying to make sure that their ground is firm. That their position is firm and the North Koreans know it.
Right now with these efforts the Security Council and calls for both Koreas to exercise restraint and South Korea not to do live fire exercise that puts South Korea in a difficult position. How South Korea responds to this, I think we're watching very closely right now.
GRIFFIN: Is there any indication, John, that South Korea is not going to have live fire exercises. They held them off yesterday supposedly because of bad weather.
PARK: Amazingly bad weather is what is keeping the situation under wraps. Diplomacy has been ratcheted up to another level. We see Russians convening this emergency session requesting it from the U.N. Security Council.
But how the diplomacy will play out is very difficult because even among the 15 members of the Security Council they are divided. One group wants condemnation from Russia and China of North Korea's attack last November and frankly the sinking of the ship in March and other groups led by Russia and China are seeking restraint so a very divided group right now.
GRIFFIN: Yes, but Russia and China seemed to have the power to tell North Korea just to settle down, but it seems like all the effort is ongoing to be on getting South Korea not to engage in any kind of military exercises trying to appeal to the calmer heads as it were in this standoff.
PARK: That is one of many messages that are being sent right now, but if you look at it, there are two factors at play. One is an effort to find a face saving way for various countries to back down specifically South Korea with their live fire exercise.
But the second part is that every country feels that they are making statements that are very clear and that should be understood by other parties and these assumptions are quite strong.
Right now as we are seeing the events unfold, the South Koreans are very firm. They will conduct these exercises once the weather gets better.
GRIFFIN: Yes and when is that going to be, John?
PARK: Right now, the earliest is Monday, but I've also seen reports saying Tuesday. All of the preparations are there. The other thing that I think is different is if you look at the photos of the South Korean Marines stationed as they are doing their patrols, they have yellow headbands with a word written in Korean which means reunification. The South Koreans have other thoughts and objectives in mind in terms of the larger goals and objectives here at stake.
GRIFFIN: All right. John Park, U.S. Institute of Peace. Thanks for joining us again, John. Appreciate it.
PARK: My pleasure.
GRIFFIN: Just ahead, looking for information on the web. We're going to show you some interesting search engine alternatives.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: We're now going to go to weather. Karen McGinnis tracking these storms out in the northwest and Karen, you've seen those pictures out of Spokane where cars are just bouncing into each other. It's crazy.
KAREN MCGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is and this is a very powerful Pacific storm. It's one of the most powerful that we have seen in the last five years or so, but still this moisture plume subtropical moisture streaming in off the Pacific is called the "Pineapple Express."
We talked about this yesterday. Right now it looks like between San Francisco and Los Angeles that looks to be where the deepest moisture is presently located and some of the rainfall totals are very impressive. They've already said mud and debris has been falling on Mohalin (ph) Drive and some areas. None of them had been very drastic.
But that's expected to worsen as we go over the next 24 hours. There could be some down trees because the ground is so saturated. Some of the rainfall totals as I mentioned very impressive, Van Nuys reporting more than 2 inches, Los Angeles just under 3 inches.
Before it is all said and done, 3 to 6 inches, those are some of the common amounts over the next 24 hours and the snowfall totals headed up towards the Sierra, Nevada, well, in Mammoth Lakes these are 24- hour reports. Twenty four hours at Mammoth Lakes, 37 inches, but over the last 48 hours-56 inches of snowfall.
Let's show you pictures out of Colorado. They too are seeing significant snowfall. These pictures are coming in from Dylan and Silverthorne area. If you make a left, you head to Keystone. If you keep going straight ahead, you'll run into Vail and into Aspen.
And right now, the snow there accumulated to just under 10 inches of snowfall. If you travel along that Interstate 70 route, they're saying it's icy. It's slick in spot. It's pretty treacherous if you are headed in that direction to the west of the Denver area.
Heavenly Valley already 20 inches of snowfall reported there. General amounts above 7,000 feet could be up to 10 inches of snowfall, but not just in the Sierra, Nevada. We're looking at as I mentioned about 10 inches possible of those higher peaks.
Also the Wasatch and the winter mountains across northern Utah and into the San Juan Mountains the front range of the Rockies looking at significant snowfall there as well so It looks like, Drew, that we're going to be watching this for at least the next 24 to 48 hours and it is going to be very dramatic over the next several days. We'll have those pictures for you.
GRIFFIN: Wow, there's some dramatic skiing going on out there too, Karen. All my buddies out at Mammoth Mountain, enjoy Dave's run today. It looks terrific.
Time for a CNN Equals Politics update and there's a big deal happening this week that could change the phase of the next round of the elections. We'll get more from CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Some questions for you. How many people live in the U.S.? Where do they live? How many states will gain congressional seats and which ones will lose them? We'll find out Tuesday when the U.S. Census Bureau unveils the results of the country's 2010 census.
The findings will kick off a battle next year between Democrats and Republicans over congressional redistricting. The results of the census could have a big impact on the next fight for control of Congress and next battle for the White House. Drew --
GRIFFIN: All right. Thanks, Paul. Most of us use Google as the main search engine for just about anything, but if you are not always getting the answers you want, here's a list of some alternatives.
Reddit.com, a community sharing social news site with a dedicated user base. Most questions and content are on the lighter side and may be interesting, funny, important or controversial. Quite a spread there, Karl, would you say.
Wolframalpha says it's full of information on calculations. If you're look to solve equations or get statistical data on any topic, this is your site.
And DuckDuckGo bills itself as a clever search engine that provides shortcuts to help you find what are looking for very quickly. It has less clutter so you get your information without needing to click around too much.
Just ahead, looking for some quick answers on the web. Well, how about some alternatives that the big three Google, Bing, of Ask.
All right, these guys are called digital natives. Kids who never used an audiotape or known a day without the internet. What are their expectations of privacy in the digital age? CNN's Student News Anchor Carl Azuz recently asked -- do they have any expectations of privacy? Because my kids pretty much don't.
CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: No, and the short answer is no. I mean, I asked them about that and when it comes to what they post online, these students have been raised and having been raised being the keywords there. Not to expect any privacy at all on the web. They had some different expectations when it came to their phones and their numbers being given out as you'll hear the first part of my report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: As far as phones go and sharing your numbers with people, how many of you expect your numbers to remain private?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phone number?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
AZUZ: And have you ever gotten a text or a call from a number that you didn't recognize?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ADAM VRTIS, STUDENT: But that is normally from someone who has given my number to someone else. Not that I approved it. Never mind. Hand goes down.
KATHERINE THORNBURGH, STUDENT: I tell my friends not to give away my cell number, but it still happens.
AZUZ (voice-over): These suburban Atlantic teenagers may want their phone numbers to be private, but I found their expectations were very different when it comes to the internet.
(on camera): Do you expect what you post online to be private?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not really.
AZUZ: I know it's not. Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone sees it. The internet is a worldwide web. Everyone in the world can get to it. I'm pretty careful about what I put on there.
HANNAH GALT, STUDENT: I know nothing is really private.
AZUZ: So how does that affect what you post on Facebook?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't say anything that I don't want anyone to hear.
AZUZ (voice-over): It's a caution instilled by their parents.
(on camera): How much privacy do you give him on Facebook?
LORI VRTIS, PARENT: Very little. If they do want privacy, they can get a journal. They can write in it. Keep it in their desk drawer. I will never read it. But when you're post something that everyone can look at, I'm going to look at it also.
KAREN THORNBURGH, PARENT: And I think you are willing to put out there in either a written form and be willing to stand up in front of the whole high school and announce this --
ARIA GALT, PARENT: I teach in a school so we deal with a lot of these issues each day and so I sometimes talk about situations that I've encountered at work. Hoping that maybe something would be learned from those as well.
AZUZ (voice-over): And while all three students said they have texted something they wish they could take back, they were far more reserved in their internet behavior largely because of their parents' involvement.
JOE VRTIS, PARENT: Not monitoring them you are setting yourself up for failure as a parent because I think the kids definitely need guidance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: You know, we heard over and over again that students whose parents are engaged in their education generally get a better education and from this report, Drew, I pretty much found that students whose parents were engaged in their online behavior generally were more likely to behave online.
GRIFFIN: How do the kids feel about that? Did they expect privacy at least from their parents?
AZUZ: They wanted it. They didn't always get it. There was one student said it was kind of weird to post something on Facebook like I got a lot of homework tonight and immediately have his mother chime in saying why aren't you doing it? There was the general recognition --
GRIFFIN: Good one, mom.
AZUZ: They were closely monitored. I would ask if there was any sense that they understood what was happening was for their own good and they said yes. They said yes through gritted teeth, but one girl said it's nice to think of my mother thinking of me. They did recognize their parents were -- they had their best interest and looking out for them.
GRIFFIN: My kids say we creep on their sites. We're creepers.
AZUZ: Well, but your kids aren't making mistakes online you hope. GRIFFIN: Well, let's hope not.
AZUZ: You hoe.
GRIFFIN: All right. Carl, thanks a lot. We're going to take you to a small town where they are still talking about the penny pinching farmer.
very frugal.
watched his pennies.
it's what this frugal farmer did that has them talking that will have you talking too. Affiliate in Minneapolis.
reporter: there are people in big cities who would consider this harsh, unwelcoming country. People who wouldn't give a nickel to live in Leroy, Minnesota, and wouldn't pay the quarter they charge for coffee at the Leroy Senior Citizen Center.
if they take a cookie, it's another quarter.
we never had this kind of money.
as Leanne tells the story of small town values and a check.
we didn't know what to do.
the envelope arrived from the estate of 94-year-old Lauren Krueger. A retired farmer who had seen his share of sadness having lost his first wife and then his second. Having lost his only child, a teenage son, to cancer but long before he passed away last year, Lauren gained a reputation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very frugal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Watched his pennies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very frugal.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): It's what this frugal farmer did that has them talking and it will have you talking too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Harsh, unwelcoming country. People who wouldn't give a nickel to live in Leroy, Minnesota who wouldn't pay the quarter they charge for coffee at the Leroy Senior Citizen Center.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And if the take a cookie, that's another quarter.
GRIFFIN: People who need to pull up a chair and listen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My God, we've never had this kind of money.
GRIFFIN: As Aileen Evans tells a story of small town values and a check.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We didn't know what to do, you know, $20,000.
GRIFFIN: The envelope arrived from the estate of 94-year-old, Lauren Krueger. A retired farmer who had seen his share of sadness having lost his first wife then his second, having lost his only child a teenage son to cancer. But long before he passed away last year, Lauren gained a reputation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very frugal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was very careful with his money.
GRIFFIN: Apparently so, for as he humbly lived out his days in this white frame house on Main Street, Lauren quietly amassed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We held on to it for a while.
GRIFFIN: -- a fortune.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said let me see it. I never saw a check like that before.
GRIFFIN: That first $20,000 check was followed by two more $100,000 each.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My God, look at this. Look at this.
GRIFFIN: Up until then the seniors had been getting by on what the county gave their center, $600 a year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We got 220,000 total.
GRIFFIN: Lauren wasn't done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He loved this church.
GRIFFIN: Lauren willed roughly a million dollars to St. Patrick's Catholic Church.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He came here for many, many years.
GRIFFIN: Then he revealed an ecumenical streak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think we're very blessed.
GRIFFIN: When Lauren left the Presbyterians more than $400,000 too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking at the new steel roofer we put on thanks to Lauren.
GRIFFIN: Checks for the same amount were delivered to a bible church and Lutherans who used some of Lauren's gift to repair the bell tower.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were notified through his attorney.
GRIFFIN: That old pumper truck -- plans to replace with a in one thanks to $220,000 Lauren left the fire department.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our crew quarters.
GRIFFIN: Another $220,000 allowed the ambulance service to build an apartment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to get another bed in here.
GRIFFIN: For its on-call EMTs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, honest to God, nobody had no idea.
GRIFFIN: All told, Lauren spread $3 million. Frugal was the word pinned on Lauren Krueger in life. Generous is the way he'll be remembered.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's astounding what he did.
GRIFFIN: There are still people who wouldn't give a nickel to live in Leroy, but folks around here prefer to put their faith in the kind of person who would give everything.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Nice story to close on. I'm Drew Griffin in for Fredricka Whitfield. "YOUR MONEY" up next here on CNN with a look at how much you'll be paying in taxes next year and at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, Charlie's Christmas miracle. A young Georgia boy who loves to read books. He's getting his wish granted. We'll have an interview with him. An amazing third grader.
