Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
The Great Deluge; Holiday Cheer From Pittsburgh Steelers; Julian Assange one-on-one interview; The Spider Man Musical; Overcome Fear Of Flying; How U.S. Stacks Up in Home Ownership; President Obama Takes a Hawaiian Vacation; Hospital Drug Shortages; North Korea Threatens 'Sacred War'
Aired December 23, 2010 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: There's blue patches in there. There's some sun. Started to see that yesterday. Southern California still getting a lot of bad weather, but there is this good news. Three other western states swamped by torrential rains this week, however, as the storm moves across the country.
A line of storms known as the Pineapple Express because they form near Hawaii. We talked about this last week, and, now, they're moving out of that area in over the coastal and continental United States.
Look at the picture of a double rain bow shot by one of our iReporters in Moreno Valley, California. May be a ray of hope the people have been waiting for?
Listen, the all clear not sounded for southern California and those three other areas taking a pounding. Western Arizona, southern Nevada, and southwestern Utah. With Christmas two days away, the timing of these storms could've been much worse for the folks out there.
Look at this. We are not talking about a little rain. Look at the stuff that we're dealing with left in the wake, towns under water. Hundreds of people forced to three their homes in lead-up to Christmas. Roads, bridges torn up.
Adding to the misery, a sea of mud covering streets and cars plus contaminated water. Polluted beaches. Twelve miles of beach from Laguna Beach to San Comenta (ph) are off limits because of overflowing sewers. Stores closed.
That's Qualcomm stadium. The site of tonight's Poinsettia Bowl. As of yesterday, the field covered in ten inches of muddy water. Crews pumped it out overnight. Officials say the game will go on as planned.
Here's what people in St. George, Utah are facing. Devastating flooding. Flood watches and warnings remain in effect for all four states. Here are some of the most water-logged towns in California as of yesterday. Look at this. Twenty-six inches of rain had fallen in Crestline. More than 21 inches in Twin Peaks. Almost 20 inches in Twin Creek. Fourteen inches of rain in Santa Barbara. Reynolds has been following this very closely for us for the last few days and he continues to do so. What - when will they get a break and where else is this going?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The break begins now. They've got a break now. The problem is that we may see more rainfall as we get into Saturday so we're not done completely yet but at least with this latest installment of rainfall we're going to get at least a couple days of a breather.
But one thing you have to know, it's not unusual to get rain this time of year in southern California. Usually, in the winter months is when we see it and then dry out for, basically, the next eight months or so. Eight, nine, ten months. That's when you try. But it's not the rain but the amount that was so devastating for southern California.
For the time being, things are relatively clear. That's the good news. The bad news is that that area of low pressure that caused all the trouble is now stirring up over parts of four corners. It seems to be pretty quiet, almost dormant, so to speak, but what we anticipate is that that low is going to get on the move and really cause a few more problems.
Let's put it into motion. You'll notice animation in this area of low pressure going from - into Friday where it's going to settle in the southern plains. Bring some rain to parts of Texas. And as we fast forward into Saturday and Sunday, that same low will kick off the eastern seaboard.
It's going to do two things. It's going to bring in very cold air from the north and then it's going to pile on the overrunning moisture from the Atlantic Ocean. That could give us some snowfall in the parts of country where we, normally, don't see this time of year.
For example, in Atlanta, we might see a dusting of snowfall in the high elevations in extreme north Georgia. Could see one to three inches of snow. So, there's uncertainty with it, but that is the latest scenario of how it may play out,.
In terms of your forecast around the rest of the nation. I know there are many people that have to do some traveling. Some people by roadway, some through the air and, of course, some people by train. What you can expect for today, if your travel plans today, is that pesky lo low is going to continue to bring some snowfall in parts of the central Rockies. We could see some snow in some places in the corn belt. Possibly up to a foot in Iowa.
And, then, of course, we get the breezy conditions in parts of the northeast. In fact, in terms of delays, that's something to see at the airports. Some of the delays, in terms of your wind, New York metros, Philadelphia, even into D.C. and Boston, anywhere from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. Philadelphia looks like it's misspelled. We'll going to have to fix that for you.
Minneapolis could see some evening snow. Anywhere from a half hour to a full hour delay. And Denver freezing fog could be an issue.
Coming up in the top of the next hour, we're going to talk more about travel troubles you may be facing for Friday and into Saturday. Yes, there will be people out there traveling on Saturday and things could get a little bit interesting, especially in the southeast - Ali.
VELSHI: We'll all into efficiency these days. Philadelphia doesn't need a "ph." Like they just change it to "f" so they can put more stuff on the piece.
WOLF: That works for me.
VELSHI: That was an evolution toward getting rid of a "ph" in Philadelphia. Because I live there half the time, I'm allowed to say that. Good to see you, my friend. Thanks for following that for us. Obviously, over the course over the next couple of days, you will see a great deal of weather and travel related reporting, so for those of you traveling, we'll give you some sense of it.
Now, this is a time of year that you find a lot of people singing or playing holiday songs. Now, two of them that caught our fancy. The Pittsburgh Steelers football team, and, separately, several members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, who, by the way, are on strike but they played for free for some of the city's homeless.
Here's today's "Sound Effect."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PITTSBURGH STEELERS FOOTBALL TEAM (singing): Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus lane. Vixen and Blitzen and all his reindeer, pulling on the reins. The bells are ringing, children singing, all is merry and bright. Hang your stockings, say your prayers, because Santa Claus coming tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED DETROIT SYMPHONY MEMBER: As long as we're out on the street, as it were, we want to spread what joy we have, what gifts we bring, whether it's just a drummer boy or a little orchestra concert to the people on the street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, you have to go somewhere and pay big, big money to see these people and we got to see them for free. That's awesome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Warms your heart. The Detroit Symphony walked off the job several weeks in a dispute over management proposals to cut members' salaries.
And to those Steelers, nice of you to come out. That wasn't very good singing, but we get the spirit and that was nice to hear them, sort of.
OK. Now a developing story out of Rome where police scouring every embassy in the city after mail bomb attacks at two of them. The day's first blast seriously wounded an employee at the Swiss Embassy. The package blew up as he opened it. We're told the hands so badly hurt, he may end up losing one.
Not long after that, an employee at the Chilean Embassy opening a package when it detonated. His hands and face were hurt but he's in OK shape. Bomb threats were phoned in to Rome City Hall and another government office. No devices were found at either location.
WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, is keeping busy while on house arrest in England. He sat down for an interview with MSNBC yesterday. A chunk of the conversation focused on Assange's loudest American critics with him weighing their actions against those of WikiLeaks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIAN ASSANGE, PRESIDENT, WIKILEAKS: It's clear that whoever the terrorists are here, it's not us. But we see constant threats from people in the Republicans in the Senate trying to make a name for themselves, to people like Sarah Palin to shock jocks on Fox and, unfortunately, some members also of the Democratic party calling for my assassination. Calling for the illegal kidnapping of my staff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Assange said it seemed more like anarchy than due process when the rhetoric is aired publicly by senior political figures.
And the curtain is due to go up Thursday on the next performance of the Spider Man Musical. The Broadway show on hold since a stunt double was seriously injured Monday in a fall.
Today, cast and crew sat down with lawmakers and safety advocates to talk about training, safety and oversight on productions with lots of aerial stunts like that production has.
Well, millions of us will be flying out of town for the holidays, but if you are afraid to book a flight because you're scared of flying, a very common fear, we have something to help ease your anxiety coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Only two days until Christmas. Many Americans taking to the skies today, tomorrow. Plains will be packed. AAA predicting a jump in air travel this holiday season. Nearly three million people expected to fly to their destination. Not everyone is comfortable boarding a plane. Some are downright scared.
Our Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff accompanied a woman on a flight from New York to Baltimore as she fought to overcome her fear of flying. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE):
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is flight day for Laura Edmonds. As she checks in and heads to the gate, she battles thoughts of disaster.
LAURA EDMONDS, AFRAID OF FLYING: Plummeting to the earth. Crashing in a fiery blaze. I mean, there's so many things that just run through my mind.
CHERNOFF: Aviophobia, or fear of flying, has been Laura's debilitating anxiety for 18 years. She even panicked about her honeymoon.
EDMONDS: I couldn't enjoy my wedding day. I had a wonderful day, surrounded by love and family but the only thing I could think about was the next day, I had to get on a flight.
CHERNOFF: This month, Laura began watching the soar video course developed we a retired airline pilot Tom Bunn. It's taught her the mechanics of flying and psychological strategies to fight fear. Boarding the plane, Laura presents a letter asking to meet the pilot.
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: You're going to be fine. We'll take good care of you.
EDMONDS: Thank you.
CHERNOFF: But take-off is a challenge. Refocusing the mind is the key to the program.
EDMONDS: Not crazy about that shake. I'm going to think of my good place. You know, I'm wondering if everything's OK with the plane.
CHERNOFF: Laura fears the engines may fall off and keeps checking to make sure they're still attached. To push away those thoughts, the program advises focusing on the moment.
EDMONDS: I feel my hands. I feel the seat against my arm.
CHERNOFF: Another calming technique, watch water in a glass as proof that the plane is barely shaking.
EDMONDS: I don't care for the turbulence.
CHERNOFF: But in a few minutes, the plane lands smoothly.
EDMONDS: That's a great feeling to be down.
CHERNOFF (on camera): Sigh of relief?
EDMONDS: Sigh of relief. Oh, yes. I did it.
CHERNOFF: How do you feel?
EDMONDS: I feel OK. Yes!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Good for her. Allan Chernoff joins me now. Allan, you know, we all fly all the time. I fly as a commuter. And what I don't tell people, I don't have that same phobia but I'm claustrophobic on planes. Very difficult to overcome the anxiety it gives you. Mental exercises or something else helped her through this?
CHERNOFF: Right. Well, a big part of this is just being in the moment. Not letting your imagination --
VELSHI: Right.
CHERNOFF: -- run away. Another key, another exercise I just had is, think of it not as a whole but rather in steps. She made the analogy to eating a hamburger. You don't eat it all at once. One step at a time. Making the reservation. Getting to the plane. Getting to the gate. Getting on. Just remaining focusing on each little step made it less overwhelming for her.
VELSHI: That's what happens to me when I think about everything else it starts to bug me. When I can concentrate on something or distract myself, maybe you being on the plane was helpful. What is the program she used cost? The Soar Program.
CHERNOFF: The full program, which includes 11 DVDs and two hours of discussion with the captain, is $600. There are lesser portions of that, as well, that you can pay less, you can get fewer DVDs, but the entire program, the full thing is $600, and for Laura, well, well worth it.
VELSHI: Yes. It can be debilitating.
CHERNOFF: Tom Bunn has been doing this for quite a long time.
VELSHI: Great story. Thank you so much for that. Good to see you, my friend.
CHERNOFF: Thank you.
VELSHI: All right. It is not over until the fat lady sings, but what about when wall street traders sing? Trust me. Just stick around for some video after the break. And home sales are up. How does the US stack up with other major economies coming to owning a home? I'll tell you about it in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And that thing you just heard was from traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. That song became the unofficial anthem of the New York Stock Exchange during the Great Depression and they sing it every year around this time. The song was written by Harry Von Tilzer. His brother Albert co-wrote "Take Me Out To The Ballgame."
Now, for a headline by the way in business news, home sales, new home sales went up last month. The recovery is still sluggish but sales were up 5.5 percent. Take a look at this chart, by the way. October's median home price was $194,000. That's the lowest price in seven years. Last month that went up from $213,000.
Now, let's just talk about the number that affects home sales and that is mortgages. The rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage, right now, this is a rate that you can get if you have good credit and you put at least 20 percent down on your house, 4.85 percent. Why does that matter? Because mortgage rates can either entice you or deter you from buying a home.
And knowing that, I want you to look at these graphics that I have got here. This is the rate of home ownership by country. Here in the United States, the place that champions home ownership more than any developed country that I know of, home ownership is at 67 percent. In the United Kingdom, 68 percent. In Canada, 68 percent. In Australia, 70 percent.
What are these countries doing differently to encourage more home ownership? And more importantly, should we be encouraging home ownership? Let's ask my friend Christine Romans.
We talk about this a great deal. She is my colleague in business news and so there are two questions, Christine.
One is why isn't the U.S., which seems to do more than any other country institutionally in terms of government and culturally to get people to buy homes, not at the top of that list?
And number two, should we be at the top of that list? Is pushing home ownership good?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a big question right now, Ali, because pushing home ownership for 10, 15 years, successive presidencies and successive congresses and now you have this housing crisis where a lot of people are saying, you need the government to help get us out of the housing crisis, a housing crisis that we still have not fought out of.
When you look at those home sales numbers, up 5.5 percent but that's still down 20 and 30 percent from a year ago, which is a terrible year. I mean, we're still talking about housing activity that is a third off or even more off the peak so it's a big problem.
Now Ali, you have asked the question so many times. Why does Canada have higher home ownership or the same home ownership rate as the U.S. but the U.S. has spent so much political energy trying to push home ownership?
VELSHI: And money. Political energy and money. In all of those other countries, you do not get a tax credit for mortgage interest. I mean, how come it works differently? ROMANS: Right. And it does. But now in the U.K., some of the banks are looking at a new model of building to rent. In Germany, which has a lower home ownership rate than all of those places, a lot of people rent and more and more people every day are renting over owning a home.
Big conversation happening around the world and here about the rent to own scenario and at what point it might be better for some people to rent and what this big experiment in record home ownership meant for us.
I remember in 2005 and 2006, Ali, when we were hitting this record home ownership numbers, at the same time, we were hitting record number of the home owned by the bank, not by the person.
VELSHI: That's right.
ROMANS: So home ownership at what cost?
VELSHI: In a lot of these European countries, they have a sort of a futile system where a lot of people live in the same apartment or house that their parents lived in, that maybe even their grandparents lived in. You don't see the same rate increases in rent. But at the same time, sometimes those places don't get fixed up all the same so it's sometimes apples and oranges, but it is worthy of considering whether or not this is a noble goal to get people to buy houses. There are some studies that show neighborhoods where there's greater home ownership, people take care of the neighborhood better but at what cost?
ROMANS: Richard Berner from Morgan Stanley did a really interesting note to clients today, Ali, where he said that absent some sort of big intervention in the market, it will be a period of years before you break this vicious circle of a weak housing market where you will finally have demand for homes outstrip the supply of homes on the market.
And that's something that really is distressing to people and I'll tell you why. We thought -- many economists thought there would be a recovery in home prices 2010, a recovery or more of stabilization in the market in 2010 and it just isn't here yet. And a lot of big economists are saying, well, we hope it's going to be in 2011. But it's tough. Your house is your biggest asset, your biggest investment, your biggest debt. This is a visceral thing for people what's happening in housing or not happening yet in housing.
VELSHI: And by the way, speaking of government intervention, that 4.85 mortgage rate is because there's all this government money in the market.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: Christine, great to see you as always. I by the way have an article in the current issue of "Money" magazine arguing that if you do have good credit and you are looking to buy a house not as an investment, as a place to live, now may be your best time to do it, but there are caveats to that.
Hey listen, you can have a lot more of this discussion with us on "YOUR MONEY." It airs Saturdays at 1 p.m., Sunday at 3. Also, tune in to "YOUR BOTTOM LINE," hosted by Christine every Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
Let me bring you up to speed on some of the top stories we're following right now, 22 minutes after the hour. Police are on alert across Rome today after a pair of package bombs exploded at separate embassies. The Chilean and Swiss embassies were targeted. Two people were hurt in the attacks. Italy's foreign minister is calling it a serious threat against foreign embassies in Rome. No one has claimed responsibility for those bombings.
Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel can officially stay on the ballot in the Chicago mayor's race. There were questions about whether he met residency questions, but within the hour, the Chicago Board of Elections ruled that he is eligible. He's considered the front-runner in the race to replace Richard Daley as mayor of Chicago.
In Iraq, fear over possible terror attacks has forced many Christian churches to cancel special Christmas celebrations. That includes traditional decorations, Santa Claus appearances and Christmas Even mass. Al Qaeda threatened more violence against Christians following an October attack on a church in Baghdad that killed 70 people.
Well President Obama is settling in for R&R in Hawaii, but we also see him surfing, playing golf and eating snow cones. Our Ed Henry with the scoop, standing by on Waikiki Beach.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: That is good. Just never get tired of reinforcing stereotypes about Hawaii and Christmas. I'm going to be very sad when the president and Ed both leave Hawaii, because we won't be able to play the "Hawaii Five-O" music when we introduce the stakeout with Ed Henry. He is live there delivering as always with a fantastic shirt that I have tried to match with my shirt and tie today but I haven't really achieved that. Ed, stand by because President Obama arrived overnight and he gave you a bit of a shout out. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know everybody is itching to get out of here and spend some time with their families. I am, too. I noticed some of your colleagues have been reporting from Hawaii over the last week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: I wonder who he's referring to. We understand, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I don't know. Do you think I've stood out a little? VELSHI: Just a little bit. Your colleagues have been reporting on all of those things that have been happening in Washington. So have you. So give us some news.
HENRY: Well, I think it's interesting, the president might be a secret fan of the stakeout. That's good to know. He's been watching it the last few days. I also like how you say you're going to be sad when the president and Ed leave Hawaii as if we're hanging out here in Hawaii. He is on the other side of the island but, you know, they have already embraced him here because they're selling these dash board dolls as you can see. We've got the president with the board shorts and the surf board and the little hang loose, the shake, but this year there's a new addition, as well which is, I told you already that Bo is here for the first time. Well they now have an official Bo thing here.
VELSHI: Good lord.
HENRY: My kids love this thing because it bounces around and does all kinds of stuff as you can see. So we've got that. But not to be outdone, my daughter got this one. She originally named it Abigail but now has the nickname of Arrow because she thought it would be Bo's friend.
VELSHI: Oh, Bo and Arrow.
HENRY: I don't think arrow has anything to do with the first family, though.
VELSHI: President, boy, he's got -- had a lot of stuff happen in Washington before he got here. Is it going to be R&R for him or are there things that he's going to be doing? I mean, I don't want to jinx anything because last Christmas Day we ended up with that terror attempt, that attempted terror attack that kept him and you busy. But what is the plan?
HENRY: That's right. Look, it's been a grueling year. Everything from health care reform to the shellacking in the election, the oil spill, even got 12 stitches in his lip after that errant elbow in that basketball game. Then he had those series of victories over the last few days in the lame duck.
But I was talking yesterday to the former mayor of Honolulu, who's a good friend of the president's. He said, look, he's just going to kick back and not really do anything. Take a listen.
Oh, OK, I guess we don't have the sound ready but bottom line is that he was talking about how this is a place where the president can come out and be very private, hang out and people largely, you know, don't bother him to keep to himself and so they're basically saying he's going to go out for snow cones with his kids, he might get in some golf, but he's not going to do any heavy lifting at all. He's got a big 2011 ahead of him.
VELSHI: Is it a big deal when he comes there? It's a place he's associated with. Does it do something for tourism? Is it the headlines in the newspaper?
HENRY: It is. It's funny, when I was talking to the former mayor, he was telling me that after all the live shots that the national media does and all the stories that were written about in the newspapers, the "New York Times," and everyone else with the president's visits, they've noticed over the last couple of years a big spike in tourism here to Hawaii from people they think and they looked at the stats who see the live shots in December and beginning of January, they're sitting there in the cold and they have a spike in February, et cetera.
Now of course, they always get a lot of people coming, February, March, when people want to get out of the cold. But the former mayor says he's looked at the stats and they believe it's been a boost. I think this year alone, it's been something like $11 million, tourism here in Hawaii and so it's already a huge business. But they think the president has been able to really boost it even more by showing, look, not just a playground. You can come here, you can work.
The president by the way is still getting the economic briefings, his national security briefings every day, so he's still going to stay on top of things. And as you mentioned last year, unfortunately, because of that attempted terror attack, he still had national security staff here giving him secure briefings so he can stay on top of things even while he enjoys the surf ever so much.
VELSHI: And as we know from last year, you stay on top of him, as well. So despite the harassment I give you for those shirts and being on the beach, I know you are working over there. Ed, we'll talk to you in an hour. Good to see you, as always. My good friend, Ed Henry, our senior White House correspondent, on the stakeout, regardless of where he is in the world.
OK, hospitals across the country running dangerously low on all sorts of life-saving drugs. Elizabeth Cohen will tell us which ones and what's being done about it when we come back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CPL. ANTHONY MCDANIEL, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I'm here at Walter Reed doing my rehab and giving a shout out to my unit, the whole 111 battalion. My family in Pascagoula, Mississippi. My best friend, Bogan (ph), in San Diego. Just wanted to give you guys shout out and I love you guys. And I'll be seeing you soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Happening now, they're starting to clean up in California after a deluge of rain that caused flooding and mudslides. As many as 40 homes were damaged -- that is not it, by the way. That's something else I'm going to tell you about in a moment -- were damaged in hard-hit San Bernardino County. Flood warnings and watches remain in effect for parts of California and surrounding states.
I think we should just get rid of that snow, because it's got nothing about any story I'm talking about.
Italy's foreign minister says there's a serious threat against embassies in Rome. Mail bombs blew up today at the Swiss Embassy and the Chilean Embassy. A man's hands were badly injured in the blast at the Swiss Embassy.
And online retailers are seeing a late surge in profits this holiday season because they're pulling out all the stops to make sure last-minute Christmas gifts arrive on time. "USA Today" reports some retailers are offering free shipping as late as today. So if you're a procrastinator, get to it.
All right, there's a major shortage, drug shortage in hospitals around the country. It's affecting everything from painkillers to chemotherapy medications. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me now on this.
Elizabeth, is this a fact?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is a fact. You know, I think it hasn't been talked about a lot and now it's becoming a big problem. Ali, as many as four people have died because of these drug shortages.
And take a look at how many drugs there are shortages. I mean, this list goes on and on. There are shortages of all these drugs. I mean, my arm is getting tired here. There we finally reach the end.
And what's happening is that hospitals are not able to use the drugs they want to use. So here's a list of bad things that are happening. For example, Propofol, which is Jackson juice, you remember that? One patient woke up in the middle of an operation because they couldn't give him enough. They went to go give him Propofol, they couldn't give the right dosage, they gave him only part of the right dosage and so the patient woke up.
And then there's things that are even worse. A patient was supposed to get morphine, didn't have it, got another drug that was much more powerful and two patients died because of an overdose. Another death because Epinephrine wasn't available and then there's a death a because a patient needed a certain antibiotic and couldn't get it and the patient died.
VELSHI: Is this a budget problem or is it a manufacturing problem? Why -- is this common?
COHEN: Ali, you try to make everything about business and I'm glad you did in this case, because that really is the answer. It's actually not a budget problem, it's a manufacturing issue. Sometimes the raw materials aren't available. Other times pharmaceutical companies are saying, hey, this drug we're making, we're not really making all that much money off of it, we're going to stop making it. And that's perfectly legitimate, they're allowed to do that.
VELSHI: OK, so one of the things that is fantastic is about talking to you is you always bring it back to what you're supposed to do if you're a patient or you're with a patient, you're related to a patient. What can you do to help yourself in a situation like in this?
COHEN: All right, the first thing you want to do is you want to go to CNN.com/thechart, because I have links to all the sites that you need to help yourself out. And so what you're going to do is you're going to go to this web site that has all the list of drugs. And if you know that you're going to need one of these drugs, you need to talk to your doctor. Cause sometimes you know in advance, like if you're a cancer patient getting chemo or whatever.
And then you go to this site over here and that site is going to show you -- whoops. I think I just X'ed out of it by accident. But anyhow, the other site that's in the blog is going to show you where they're having problems. So if you know you're going to need morphine and you know two patients have died because they couldn't get it, yes, that's something you want to talk to your doctor about.
VELSHI: I love that you tell us and sometimes when I talk about business stuff and people ask me questions, I wonder, how did you not know that. Everything you tell me falls into the "how did I not know " category. It's like, I would never have thought that a hospital wouldn't have the drugs or have access to the drugs that I need. So if you think you're going to the hospital or you're under treatment, check that out.
What's the address for the blog?
COHEN: All right, CNN.com/thechart.
VELSHI: CNN.com/thechart .
Elizabeth, thanks, as always, for bringing us such important information.
A man jumps more than 20 feet from a balcony in Romania's parliament, not by accident but in protest as a camera rolled. What upset him enough to risk his own life? We'll tell you and we'll bring you the video next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: A Romanian man went to great lengths to draw attention to spending cuts in his country. He jumped 23 feet from the balcony in that country's parliament to protest those government spending cuts, according to local media, and it was all caught on tape.
Now I have to warn you, you might find this video disturbing, but we want you to know before you see it, that he wasn't seriously hurt.
(VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: The 40-year-old state TV engineer was apparently upset about losing health benefits when he leapt while, as you can see, the politicians all watched. Local media is reporting the man has a son with autism. Again, he did not suffer any life threatening injuries. Time now to go "Globe Trekking." Our first stop today, the Korean peninsula.
North Korea is now talking about launching a so-called "sacred war" and using nuclear weapons, if necessary, against South Korea. The threat follows the South's completion of military exercises this morning that it billed as the largest wintertime land and air drills ever. Pyongyang, the capital of the North, accuses the South of provocation. Seoul, the capital of the South, says the drills were defensive.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson tells CNN the two nations were close to war when he arrived there last week for talks.
Our Wolf Blitzer was the only television journalist to travel there with Governor Richardson. Wolf shows us a different side of the reclusive communist nation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM" (voice-over): The North Korean capital is a lot different than I thought. Take, for example, the subway system. It takes forever to get to the underground station. I never saw such long escalators, even longer than the ones at the Washington D.C. Metro. So deep that it could and does double as an underground bunker.
(on camera): We're here at the Prosperity subway station. It's deep underground. You saw how long it takes to get through that -- those escalators. We are really, really deep underground.
Patriotic pictures all over the place. As we're speaking right now, also very patriotic music going on. It's the nature of Pyongyang and North Korea, a lot of the patriotism, a lot of propaganda music, and a lot of propaganda pictures all the time.
(voice-over): New Mexico governor's senior advisor is Tony Namkung. He has been to North Korea 40 times, going back to 1990.
(on camera): All right, we're here on a subway train. It's still in the station, we're about to take off. We'll see where it goes. I have no idea where it goes. So far, so good.
Tony, what do you think about this subway?
TONY NAMKUNG, SENIOR ADVISER TO GOV. RICHARDSON: It reminds me of an underground bomb shelter. It's so deep.
BLITZER: That's what I thought, yes.
NAMKUNG: A very colorful station with all the paintings and the color. It's very crowded for midday. A lot of people moving forwards, moving backwards.
BLITZER: Do people pay for these?
NAMKUNG: Yes.
BLITZER: How do they -- I didn't see.
NAMKUNG: Five -- five won.
BLITZER: How much is that like in the U.S.?
NAMKUNG: Very little.
BLITZER: Like a few pennies?
NAMKUNG: A hundred won to a dollar now.
BLITZER: So it's like five cents.
NAMKUNG: Five cents.
BLITZER: So it's a nickel?
NAMKUNG: But most people use six month passes, which they buy for about a hundred won.
BLITZER: So that's a dollar.
NAMKUNG: Just a dollar. Very cheap.
BLITZER: So a dollar they can basically ride for six months.
NAMKUNG: That's right, as much as they want.
BLITZER: That's a pretty good deal.
All right, we're moving now. It's pretty smooth.
(voice-over): But sometimes it goes dark. Electricity shortages are always a problem in North Korea.
We went to this high school where the students were in cold classrooms with overcoats. So cold you could see their breath. The rooms were not well lit.
(on camera): All right, here we are. This is Kim Il-sung's square. As you can see, it's really huge. It's magnificent. And they often have events here, which is totally understandable.
These are all government buildings over here, and this is a magnificent palace right in front of me over here if you want to flip over you can see the foreign ministry, and then you see this marvelous structure over here.
This is a brisk cold day on this Friday here in Pyongyang, but it's nice. There is not a whole lot of traffic here. It's icy, the streets are icy. It's snowy, you see a lot of people shoveling.
And there you see the hammer and sickle of this Communist government. You see Lenin, you see Marx manifestations of the Communist philosophy.
Then you see a lot of young people and some not so young just shoveling snow, which is totally understandable given what is going on.
But it's brisk, it's lovely. It's a nice day here in Pyongyang.
(voice-over): We drove all over the North Korean capital, saw lots and lots of buildings. Some looked impressive from afar, but I couldn't help but wonder if they were just for show. Were there really people living inside? I couldn't get access to find out.
We also went to the national library where they have lots of less than state of the art computers. They have a music room with old school boom boxes and headsets. Folks could listen to their favorites. I was surprised by some of them.
(AUDIO OF KENNY ROGERS SINGING)
BLITZER (on camera): Who would have thought, Governor? We are here at a library in North Korea in Pyongyang and we're listening on this big box over here to Kenny Rogers.
How are you?
(voice-over): I had some fun when I saw the North Korean girls National Ice Hockey Team jogging outside the ice rink.
(on camera): We're running. We're running. Everybody is looking good.
(voice-over): I couldn't help but join them, with my hand held camera shooting away.
Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Wolf, if you don't know, is from Buffalo, New York. He is not scared of a little bit of cold weather.
Governor Richardson will be on CNN in the 3:00 p.m. hour right here and T.J. Holmes will have a discussion with him more about what he did and what he saw in North Korea and what he makes of these new developments with North Korea threatening war on South Korea because of the new tests that took place.
OK< coming up next, see what's some super smart Berkeley students came up with in this year's Business Innovation Challenge. It's today's "Big I" and it just might keep your car from breaking down.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. With the holiday season comes traffic madness all across the country. According to the Department of Transportation, there are more than 4 million miles of roads crisscrossing the country. Now, that means billions of miles traveled every month. And on those roads, there are more than 255 million registered cars. And probably some unregistered ones. We are a car driving nation like no other.
And in today's "Big I," I want to tell you about brand new technology developed to help you track the maintenance of the car you drive. It was developed by a group of business school students at University of California-Berkeley. Just in the last week, the technology won the Annual Innovation Challenge, giving them the title of America's most innovative MBA team.
The group leader joins us now live from New York City. Scott Van Brunt is with us.
Scott, tell us about this. What's innovative about a system that helps you maintain your car properly?
SCOTT VAN BRUNT, GROUP LEADER FOR WINNING TEAM IN ANNUAL INNOVATION CHALLENGE: Yes, well, we were working with Jiffy Lube, which is the biggest oil change provider in the U.S. And what they really wanted to figure out is how to help consumers like myself, Generation Y consumers - so, those 16 to 30 - really do, a better job of maintaining the vehicle and how Jiffy Lube can work with them.
And what we helped them develop was an online portal to really simplify the car management process and the maintenance process by taking the records online, by creating a personalized game plan for your car and your vehicle, and giving you the tools via online tools, text messaging, et cetera that lets you know how and when to maintain your vehicle.
VELSHI: Tell me what the innovation here is. I mean, look. I know most people don't look in their manual, which should tell you exactly when, based on either time or mileage, you change your oil or keep your tires inflated or take it in for a service. When's the big advance here?
VAN BRUNT: Yes, that's exactly right. I think most consumers think of it as a bit of a chore. So what we wanted to do was really simplify the process. And the way that we did that is we created this online portal that has two sets of features.
So, the first is around personalization based on your vehicle, your vehicle's history, your current vehicle's current state as well as you as a driver yourself. How is it that you drive your car? Where do you drive it, how much do you drive it, what are the conditions? What is the specific maintenance plan that we can lay out, kind of the road map over time for you to properly maintain your vehicle and maximize the value of your vehicle? So, that's part one.
VELSHI: Now, Scott -
VAN BRUNT: Part two -
VELSHI: OK, go ahead. Tell me about part two. VAN BRUNT: Sorry. I was going to say part two is the set of interactive features that go along with that. So, that is the reminders in terms of text messages and e-mail reminders of when to actually go do that as opposed to just a sticker in your window. But also features such as multiparty maintenance of a car.
So, for example, if you are an adult with a child at college and they're away somewhere else and you're worried about maintenance of that vehicle, our system really allows multiple parties to have ownership of that. For example, I can go on as a parent, see that my kid's car is due for an oil change, actually prepay for that service, and they'll get a text message alert or what have you to let them know they just need to stop by their local Jiffy Lube and get that service taken care of. And it's already been paid for.
So, it's advances like that that we really think that change the way that consumers interact with the way they maintain their car.
VELSHI: Excellent. Scott, thanks very much for joining us. Congratulations on winning the Innovation Challenge. And check out the Innovation Challenge that the students won. Head over to my blog, CNN.com/ali.
Let me bring you up to speed with some of the latest developments in our "Top Stories." The storm system that's pounded southern California with torrential rain all this week is finally moving out of the state. In its wake, destroyed or damaged homes, streets covered in mud or water or both and torn-up roads and bridges. Some areas still remain under flood and mudslide warnings.
Turning to the economy, new home sales edged higher last month, but the recovery remains sluggish. The Commerce Department says sales increased 5.5 percent. Still, they're off 21 percent compared to a year ago. The median price of a new home in November was $213,000. That's up from $194,000, so it's a big jump. But remember, new homes are still a very small part of the population of homes.
If you use Skype, you know it's been a devil of time. The free Internet phone service is working to get back to normal after crashing and bringing down connections yesterday for millions of people around the world. Skype blames the problems on failure of supernodes. Those are part of Skype's peer-to-peer network that facilitates calls between users.
A lot of people stressing out this holiday season as usual, but has the economy played a bigger role this year than last? We'll take a look in our CNN Political Update, coming up after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. What kind of toll is the economy taking on your holiday season? We'll have some new numbers in our CNN political update. Our chief national correspondent, John King joins me now from Washington. Hey, John.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Ali, hopefully most people are in good spirits out there as the holiday approaches. But if you are, be careful because many around you might not be.
Look at this in our new polling. Has the economy made this holiday season more stressful than in previous years? Forty-four percent of Americans say yes. More than 40 percent of Americans, more than four in 10, say yes. That's up a little bit from last year. The toll of the recession, even though the economy is starting to grow now, still hanging over people this holiday season. Be mindful of that.
The lame duck session is over. I heard you talking to Ed Henry about the president's accomplishments this year. One of the guys who helped shepherd a lot of that Democratic legislation through the Senate was the Senate majority leader Harry Reid. We had an exclusive conversation with him last night, and he says, Ali, he believes this bipartisan spirit can carry over next year. He promises to work closely with the Republican leader Mitch McConnell. And Harry Reid told us divided government doesn't mean you can't get things done. We'll see how that plays out.
More of our conversation with Senator Reid tonight, including some very interesting things about Rand Paul and the Tea Party.
Lastly, the Senate race in Alaska is just about over. Remember, Lisa Murkowski ran as a write-in candidate. Joe Miller the Republican challenged her victory in the courts. The state's supreme court has now said it sees no reason by this race to not be certified as a Murkowski victory. The last step is a federal judge lifting his order, holding up that certification. Ali, the Miller campaign says it's still looking at its options. But this goose appears cooked.
VELSHI: All right, John. Thanks very much. John King, we'll check in with you again. Our next political update from The Best Political Team on Television is just an hour away.
All right. I got some breaking news for you right now. I want to tell you about a mine collapse. I just want to ask my executive producer where this is. What state this is in? I do not know what -- okay.
This is in Florida. We have a mine collapse in -- on State Road 50 in Sumter County, Florida. On the phone with us right now is Chief Bill Gulbrandsen of the Sumter Country fire department. Chief, we understand -- we are look at pictures right now. We understand there is a rescue under way?
CHIEF BILL GULBRANDSEN, SUMTER CO. FIRE DEPARTMENT (via phone): That's correct. We were notified shortly after noon of a mine collapse. The type of mine here is an aggregate mine, rock and material that makes cement, so it's an open mine.
What happens is blasting occurs, and then the aggregate is mined out with crane-type devices called backhoe and a drag line. A gentleman that was inspecting after the blast occurred actually collapsed as the shore of the -- of the mine fell in on top of him. So, we've compounded rescue efforts with not only earth but also the water that surrounds the mine. So we're looking at about a -- a pit that varies in depth from 50 to 100 feet.
The gentleman was inspecting the blast site when the shoreline collapsed. And the shore is unstable at this time. We have an underwater rescue team from Sumter County sheriff, two engine companies from the Sumter County fire and rescue, and a paramedic equipped advanced life support transport unit from Lake Sumter EMS standing by until we can make entry.
The mine officials tell us the shoreline is unstable at this time. And until we can make entry, we're actually going to use a crane to lift a boat over the unstable with rescue divers in place. We're waiting on the arrival of that boat at this time.
VELSHI: So when you say the shoreline, you're saying it's aggregate, which a lot of people will associate as being like gravel, basically. So it's loose. It's skreed. So, you've got to place something -- some distance away from that shoreline to get -- get a rescue unit above it to get to this person who has become trapped?
GULBRANDSEN: You're exactly right. And the -- the situation is there's a berm that's created around the mine of the loose aggregate. The same stuff that goes into making the concrete and other, you know, building construction materials. So, that's in a loose, granular format around the lake, which is created from the mining operation. So, that's going to be an engineering feat as we wait on the arrival for the crane to actually lift a rescue boat up and over that berm into place.
VELSHI: Chief, do we have contact with this person who has become trapped?
GULBRANDSEN: No, we don't. We received a call shortly after the -- shortly after the collapse of the shoreline occurred. Our first arriving fire engine companies were on scene about 11 minutes after receiving that call.
Our hope is that the cool weather that we've had here in Florida and this is a very deep existing lake that the patient is going to be in hypothermic conditions. So, our medical director has given us full authority to commence resuscitation efforts on the hypothermic concept that --
VELSHI: OK. I think we may have lost contact with Chief Bill Gulbrandsen.
