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Blizzard Paralyzes East Coast; Tour Bus Stuck in Snow in New Jersey; Staying Safe in Winter Storms; Explosives Found at Greek Embassy; At Least Nine Killed in Iraq Bombings; Chilean Miners Going to Disney; NYSE Open for Business; On the Night Shift; Blizzard Strands Travelers; England Shipping Wine to U.S.

Aired December 27, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7, I'm Tony Harris. Good morning, everyone.

The big stories for Monday, December 27th.

The FAA now says it is uncertain when New York's three major airports will be up and running again. A blizzard is dumping as much as 20 inches of snow in the New York metro area. Travelers trying to get home from their Christmas holiday got stuck instead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS BOSCO, GENERAL MANAGER, LAGUARDIA AIRPORT: Overnight, we had about 250 passenger that were stranded here at the airport. We did our best to accommodate them with cots, pillows, blankets, food and water. So the Hotel LaGuardia is up and running.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: An Arizona state lawmaker recovering today from a severe beating. Frank Pratt when to check on his small business Christmas Day and interrupted an intruder. His wife found him more than four hours later tied up, beaten and bloodied. Friends are stunned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSS BANTA, PRATT'S NEIGHBOR: Extremely shocking. I couldn't believe it when I first heard it. It was just devastating news. Frank's been a good friend and good neighbor all this time, and I just can't believe something like that could happen to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Boy, boy, boy. What sad news here. Fans shocked by the death of R&B singer Teena Marie. The Rick James' protege, one of Motown's first white artists. The label kept her picture off her firsts LP, fearing an R&B audience wouldn't buy it. Lady T. reportedly died from a seizure. She was 54 years old.

Thousands of stranded passengers waking up at airports this morning.

Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff is back at LaGuardia, where he spent much of the day yesterday.

Allan, good to see you.

What about the folks who spent the night there? How are they doing today?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Well, you just heard the general manager at LaGuardia Airport say that people were put up in cots. Well, not everybody was using those cots. Some people slept on sofas, some on chairs, and some on the floor.

Tonya (ph) joins us right here with her dog, Charlie.

I guess Charlie didn't want to do a cot, huh?

TONYA (ph), PASSENGER: No. He, you know, probably wouldn't have been able to sleep, all the people, a lot of excitement. So I grabbed the mattress and came back down and found a quiet place in the hallway near an outlet so I could plug my phone in.

CHERNOFF: What was it like to actually sleep on the floor at the airport overnight?

TONYA: Well, it was better once I had the mattress. It was interesting. I was amazed I slept a couple hours. It was hard, and he moves around a lot, so --

CHERNOFF: Right.

Well, Tonya (ph) was trying to get out of here to Denver.

Now you are told your flight won't leave until Thursday?

TONYA: Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to Denver, and then I have another flight home to Bozeman.

CHERNOFF: Wow. Well, good luck to you, Tonya (ph).

TONYA: Thank you so much.

CHERNOFF: Tony, you know, we're hearing a lot of stories like this. It's going to take the airlines quite some time to get their schedules together, to get these folks out back home, where they want to be. Even the airport will be opening around 4:00 this afternoon, it's really going to take quite some time to get all the planes back and get the people moving.

Tony, a very tough follow to the Christmas holiday.

HARRIS: Yes. And adding to the difficulty, is it correct here to say that the flights, in many cases, were overbooked into the holidays to begin with? So getting folks out is going to take that much longer?

CHERNOFF: Oh yes. We're talking days and days.

I mean, some people right now, as in Tonya's (ph) case, are being told, don't even come back to the airport until Thursday. Other people, believe it or not, are actually just arriving. I have seen a few taxis outside, people just arriving.

One fellow told me that he got a call at 3:00 a.m. from the airline, didn't catch it, tried calling the airline back, couldn't get through. So he showed up. And what does he see? A board full of cancelled flights. And who knows how long it's going to be for him now?

HARRIS: Yes, absolutely.

All right, Allan. Appreciate it. We'll check in with you again next hour.

Allan Chernoff for us this morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: If you are traveling by train or car anywhere in the Northeast, you know what a mess it is. Amtrak has resumed limited passenger service between New York and Boston after being suspended overnight. But plenty of delays, you know that to be the case.

One bright spot here. Amtrak says service between Washington and New York is running normally. As for the roads, about the only vehicle we're seeing are snow plows, buses and taxis.

It could have been a holiday tragedy. A deputy sheriff follows his nose and saves a family of five.

Five trading days left in 2010. Let's check the Dow. We are trading in negative territory, down 32 points.

We're following this number and the Nasdaq, throughout the morning, throughout the day, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Treacherous conditions in the Northeast, but the big snow is also creating some wonderful scenes. Take a look at these photos from our iReporter Chris Barret. He is in Haddonfield, New Jersey, where the snow is six inches deep.

Snow emergencies in effect from Virginia to Maine right now. State police across the region want people to stay put.

Our Rob Marciano, doing just the opposite. He is in the middle of it in Stamford, Connecticut.

And Rob, my understanding is that everything is pretty much at a standstill right now. Is that correct?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Excuse me, sir, for just a second.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I'm sorry. MARCIANO: Tony, didn't quite hear that. We've got a lot of activity on this corner. And I still have a mix (ph) and minus (ph) issue, so our cross-chatter will be kept to a minimum here.

Downtown Stamford, earlier today, boy, was blowing and snowing like you wouldn't believe, with winds gusting over 40 miles an hour and visibilities were down. And when it was snowing at one, two, three inches per hour, they had a hard time keeping up plowing the roadways. But they've caught up now since the snow has abated.

As a matter of fact, the sun is trying to peek -- actually peek through the clouds. The wind, at least right now, isn't all that bad.

But you go -- a lot of people are walking around the streets. They're getting to and from where they need to get on the streets, because once you try to get -- even trying to get to a sidewalk is impossible. Or not impossible, but it's difficult. And then once you're on the sidewalk, you're traipsing through one, one-and-a-half feet of snow, depending on the snowdrift.

This is up through City Hall here in Stamford. You get snowdrifts that are up over -- well over your knees and up towards your waist.

So, it's kind of dicey going around here. They furloughed the workers for today, at least the government workers, those that aren't cleaning or trying to clean the roadways. And schools are out. So that's the good news.

The bad news is that, with this storm, has come a tremendous amount of wind -- obviously and the snow -- but the winds, especially in the eastern parts of New England, have been gusting to hurricane strength. So we have had a number of power outages in Massachusetts. Over about 40,000 people without power this morning. And here in Connecticut, over 20,000 people without power.

So, you've got stranded travelers, you've got people kind of stranded in their homes, not being able to get out of their driveways. And then you have people that don't have any power and, in some cases, heat.

So, this storm has certainly been somewhat crippling to some folks here across parts of New England. It's going to go down in the history books with snow totals in some spots, and certainly the ferocious winds that have been peppering this area. And it's no picnic even now.

So, slowly, we're starting to dig things out and have life creep back onto the streets here in Stamford. But it will be a couple of days before they get things back to normal.

Tony, I'll send it back to you.

HARRIS: Yes, it looks like it. But it is beautiful.

All right, Rob. Appreciate it. Thank you, sir. A rescue effort is under way right now on the Garden State Parkway. That's in New Jersey. State police are trying to get about 50 passengers off a tour bus that's been stuck in the snow since around midnight.

On the phone with me right now is Colonel Rick Fuentes.

And Colonel, I appreciate your time.

Can you talk about the difficulty in getting to this bus with the 50 people on board who are desperate to get off that thing and get warm at this time?

COL. RICK FUENTES, NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE: Yes, sure. Absolutely. And good morning.

Those 50 passengers you spoke about were down to about six. The bus is in about two-to-five-foot drifts, and this is part of the problem we're experiencing around the state.

We had an awful lot of snowfall, sometimes as much as three inches an hour, that came up on us and basically held that pace for about eight hours, with 50-mile-an-hour gusts, and blowing snow. We were able to get to those buses and cars.

There was about 50 cars that were initially also stuck with that bus, and about half of those became abandoned shortly. People caught rides or walked up to the service area.

But our troopers, while we were waiting for the rescue body, tows, and some of the things that are going on right now, basically kept an eye on them, checked their medical welfare, fed them, got them water. And those were the types of things they did just to basically keep them as comfortable as we possibly could while this effort is going on. And it is still going on. Like I said, we're down to six passengers.

HARRIS: Well, you know what, Colonel? It sounds like you have done a really nice job of keeping everyone stable at this time. So you're from 60, down to six right now.

How much longer do you think before you can sort of extricate, rescue the six who are stranded?

FUENTES: Well, our efforts are concentrating right now. We do have equipment on site, so we are beginning to clear way around the buses. My understanding is we've also commandeered a couple of other buses that we could use to offload those passengers and get them on their way, although they've had a very, very adventurous night. We've been keeping an eye on them since about 2:00 in the morning.

HARRIS: Colonel, it sounds like you guys are doing a really nice job. We appreciate your time. Thank you, sir.

FUENTES: Thank you.

HARRIS: And time to go "Cross Country" right now and check stories our affiliates are covering today.

In Scituate, Massachusetts, the blizzard pushing 15-to-20-foot waves into the coastal town, causing some serious flooding. As many as 40 people are forced out of their homes today. To make matters worse, two houses caught fire. Firefighters had to use boats to rescue people.

A San Diego County deputy saves a family of five from a Christmas morning house fire. Deputy Mike Cruz smelled smoke while patrolling a neighborhood and followed it to the source. He pounded on the door to wake everyone up and get them out in time.

In Riverton, Utah, an unforgettable Christmas visit from the stork. That's because one baby's initials spell out "ELF." Who thinks of this stuff? Is this legit? Nurses delivered baby Eva Lori Farmer (ph) to her parents in a Christmas stocking.

You know, it may look like a winter wonderland out there, but dealing with the snow can be dangerous. Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me with what you need to know to stay safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Hey, Joe, do we have these pictures from Julian? Oh, we do. OK.

Pictures from not that long ago from one of our -- are these live pictures? Hot dog. Pretty good.

All right. So Julian Cummings is one of our CNN's producers. He's obviously based in New York. And he is just driving around Manhattan right now, and we have got the hook-up so that we can show you his video live and take a look at this.

Can we put this on a bigger monitor so that I can see this? Maybe want to put it up on one of the big monitors over here?

It looks like certainly not much traffic on the road right now.

But Julian, take your time. Be careful. And give us more of these cool shots from New York City right now, Manhattan.

And you can see where the plows have done their work, pushing the snow to the side here. We have got some -- well, I don't know. I guess we can't say drifting, because there isn't a lot of wind out there. There doesn't appear to be, anyway. But people are taking their time getting across the street.

Be careful. Be careful. This is going to be with you for a while.

The winter storm obviously paralyzing the East Coast today. Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is joining us from Miami -- Miami -- with tips to keep you safe.

And Elizabeth, look, you have been looking into this. What are some common snow injuries that send folks to the hospital during this kind of weather? And I'm thinking trying to shovel it and back problems.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Trying to shovel it and also using snow blowers. Apparently, Americans are not so great at using snow blowers. People put their fingers down into chutes that they're not supposed to go down, and it doesn't always end very well, and tens of thousands of people end up with snow-related injuries every year.

And these numbers -- this first number, I've got to tell you, is pretty incredible, Tony. Six hundred-plus amputations of fingers and extremities due to snow blower issues, 600-plus. And shovel strain is 26,000-plus. And that's, as you said, mostly back, but even things like wrists and elbows and necks and shoulders and that kind of thing, too.

You know, the winter is more hazardous than you might think.

HARRIS: Boy. How about being an empowered patient and preventing injury? Can you help us there?

COHEN: Yes. Let's talk about amputations.

Actually, let's talk first about shoveling and back strain and elbow strain and whatnot.

HARRIS: OK. Good.

COHEN: All right. Think of it as a sport. That's what you've got to do. You know, you go out there, you're shoveling your driveway, you probably think, no big deal. Think of it as a sport.

And what do you do before you go on a long run, Tony? What do you do?

HARRIS: You've got to warm up.

COHEN: You've got to warm up, exactly.

HARRIS: You've got to warm up, yes.

COHEN: You've got to warm up! So, you've got to warm up just exactly as if you were going out to do a sport.

So, you need to stretch your muscles and you need to stretch your back out. That's really important.

And if you're not in good shape, you need to take it easy. Do a bit of shoveling and then rest. Do a bit of shoveling and then rest, or change the position of your arms, or something, because if you're not used to doing this, you are not going to feel great.

Now, as far as amputations go, Tony, I want you the take note of this. OK?

HARRIS: OK.

COHEN: I'm going to give a little first aid advice if you lose a finger --

HARRIS: Appreciate it.

COHEN: -- from a snow blower accident. All right. And I know it just snowed where you are, so you may need to know this.

All right. You take the finger and you rinse it off. You don't scrub it off, you rinse it off.

Then, you get a clean cloth or piece of gauze and you wrap the finger in that clean cloth or gauze. OK? So you have got this nice little sort of packet all wrapped up there.

HARRIS: Right.

COHEN: Then you get, like, a Ziploc-type bag, you put ice in it. And you put that wrapped-up finger in the ice and you seal up the bag, you give it to the person who lost that finger and you send them to the hospital. You don't give the finger to the spouse, because the spouse might get separated, and that finger needs to be with the person who owns it. And that is the best way to get reattached.

People do all sorts of crazy things when they lose a limb, and have all these sort of weird ideas of what to do with it, but that is the way to do it. And if you go to CNN.com/empoweredpatient, you'll see more details about what to do if you lose a body part.

HARRIS: How warm is it where you are right now?

COHEN: You know what? Not very warm.

HARRIS: It's not?

COHEN: We came all the way down here thinking it would be lovely, and it's cold and windy. But no snow.

HARRIS: Yay.

COHEN: Yes.

HARRIS: You're with the rest of us. Yay.

All right, Elizabeth. Enjoy your time there in Miami. Appreciate it. Thank you, lady.

COHEN: OK. Thank you.

HARRIS: "Tuesday Night Football" -- you haven't heard that in the NFL since 1946. That's topping our "Big Play."

Check it out. The NFL forced to move the Vikings/Eagles game because of the blizzard slamming the Northeast. The Eagles are already champions of the NFC East, with yesterday's loss by the Giants.

In San Francisco, Mike Singletary's two-year stint as coach ends. The Hall of Fame former linebacker fired last night after the 49ers were eliminated from the playoff picture by the St. Louis Rams.

And Ed Reed, too hot to handle, apparently. And I am not just talking about his 200 interceptions last night. The man was on fire, literally.

The Baltimore Ravens safety sat too close to a heater and lit up his jacket. He's fine. He is going to be OK. The Ravens also clenched a playoff spot yesterday.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Obama recharging his batteries in Hawaii and looking ahead to the realities of the new year.

Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry with the president.

Ed, good to see you, sir.

Five days on the island. What's the president been up to?

ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's mostly really been playing golf, hanging out with his family at their vacation rental.

He does go to a Marine base nearby just about every day for a workout, but also, on Christmas Day, he and the first lady went there to greet some of the troops at the Marine base, thanked them for their service.

And so we see a president who likes to be very private, guards his time here in Hawaii very jealously. He was born here. And when you talk to some of friends who live here year-round, they say people in Hawaii are used to celebrities coming out here, people like Oprah Winfrey, a lot of NFL stars.

So when a president comes out, especially a favorite son, they like to keep their distance. They don't really bother him.

He is at a more quiet part of the island of Oahu here. But even when he ventures out a little bit, they are not so gaga here as they may be elsewhere in the country when a president shows up. They have got the whole "hang loose" mentality, if you will. And so this is a real opportunity for him after what has been, let's face it, a pretty bruising year for this president to kick back a little bit -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. What are the realities for the president when he returns from Hawaii back to Washington?

HENRY: Well, look, he's got a pretty heavy plate. I mean, he, at that year-end news conference back in Washington, before he took off for Hawaii, talked about how he still wants to get the DREAM Act done, some immigration reform. That even though he got a lot of big wins, obviously, in that lame-duck session of Congress, there is still a lot of unfinished business. He certainly wants to talk a lot about the economy and jobs when he gets back. He's going to have to shuffle his staff a little bit, pick a successor to Larry Summers, his chief economic adviser, but then also get cracking on the State of the Union address, which we expect in late January.

And that's really an opportunity for him to lay out not just specific agenda items like what kind of job-creating proposals he's going to have in 2011, but also, what does he think of this whole new power dynamic with John Boehner coming in as Speaker, with Republicans picking up seats in the Senate? It's going to be a whole new day in Washington, and this is the first chance we're really going to see in that State of the Union address to see what his approach is going to be -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK.

Our Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry for us.

Ed, great to see you. Nice shirt. We'll see you next hour. Thank you.

The money gap between the rich and middle class is larger than it has ever been in America. So here's the question: The richest one percent of U.S. households are how much richer than the average American family, 65 times, 100 times, or 225 times richer?

The answer in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The top homes in America are how much richer than the average American family, 65 times, 100 times, 225 times? The answer is -- can you believe that? -- 225 times richer. Man.

The Economic Policy Institute says that is up 18 percent from the previous record set in 2004. A big reason? The recession. The average family's net worth has plunged 41 percent since 2007.

If you can get through the snow, a lot of you will be headed back to the mall today. Christine Romans joins us from New York with tips on trading in some of the -- I don't want to say bad gifts -- gifts that can be improved.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They're lemons.

HARRIS: They're lemons. OK.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: So, look, make some lemonade carefully, everyone.

HARRIS: There you go.

ROMANS: Let's make some lemonade, because, look, one in three will return at least one gift, according to the National Retail Federation. And Consumer Reports says most Americans expect to spend at least an hour in a line returning gifts this year.

My advice is don't do it today if you are living in the Northeast. Come on. You don't have to rush on this. And don't be dangerous about it.

But don't wait too long, Tony, because some of the return policies are pretty specific. You've got to return things within at least 30, 60 or 90 days, depending on what store it is.

Macy's has recently changed its policy to allow you a little more time to keep that gift around with a receipt before you can return it. Macy's has dropped its 180-day limit for returns.

Toys "R" Us, you now have to return a gift with a receipt within 90 days. It had been a little bit shorter than that. And Amazon, unopened books, CDs, DVDs, full refund up to 30 days.

Be careful though, Tony, of those restocking fees. I've told you about those. Some of the retailers have become a little more generous with that, but there are things that you can buy online, even you return them in the original factory packaging, you're still going to have to pay 15 or 20 percent to restock it. So I say try to fight those the best you can.

One other thing about your gift cards, you may not know this, but gift cards, you can't return them, obviously. If you get a gift for a place that is not a place you normally shop, there are some Web sites out there. I encourage you to go look around for those auction sites where you can sell your gift card back. You can auction and trade those gift cards. You're probably not going to get face value, but at least it's not going to be in the bottom of your purse or your wallet -- Tony.

HARRIS: Exactly. Yes, that's what I'm thinking, because I gave a couple. And I thought about it before giving those gifts, because they do oftentimes end up lost somewhere in the bottom of a purse. And I don't know if -- is there a time limit on those things? Do you have to use them within a certain --

ROMANS: Some there are.

HARRIS: Some are? OK.

ROMANS: Most -- there are laws now that you can't have the time limit be a month or six months. I mean, it's usually at least a year. But $5 billion in gift cards go unreturned, Tony.

Think of that, $5 billion in gifts. That's just money in the retailer's pocket and out of yours. So be careful about your gift cards. I say, use them or lose them.

Another interesting tidbit, Tony. Do you know that spring merchandise is least likely to be marked down? Spring merchandise comes right out after Christmas. Retailers want to get you to use those gift cards to buy full priced merchandise.

HARRIS: Oh, well that's smart. That's their goal. It's to get you to spend money. Absolutely.

All right, Christine. Good to see you. See you next hour. Thank you, lady.

We will be checking back in just a couple minutes with our guy stuck in the snow. That's not a good look there. Rob Marciano, live from Stamford, Connecticut. We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: New York, you know, is the city that never sleeps, even in a snowstorm. These pictures from iReporter Justin Watkins. He took them about 4:30 this morning, outside of Penn Station, walking the dog and the dog must be walked. Must be.

Trying to get around in all that snow can be treacherous to be sure. Rob Marciano can attest to that.

Rob I guess you're knee-deep in this stuff. I'm wondering, is it still a giant pain in the neck for folks, or have you come across some folks who are actually making the best of it?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we haven't had too many people who have had a terrible attitude. There's been some frustrated faces, there have been some folks who have certainly been shivering. But, for the most part, the folks that have needed to get out and about have tried to do so in a fairly orderly fashion.

Traffic now is beginning to pick up. The snow, for the most part, has stopped, even some sunshine trying to get in here. And the roads, not too bad. We're getting to about the point, Tony, where you can't be doing any kind of skitching (ph) safely. You know what I mean? Back when you're young and dumb. Grabbing onto the back rear end of a car bumper and just going for a ride on your heels?

HARRIS: I love it. Yes, sir.

MARCIANO: (INAUDIBLE) bare pavement. So you don't want to be doing that. They're doing an OK job at that. But, still haven't done much as far as the sidewalks are concerned.

I grabbed this at my parent's house. This is the shovel I used to use back when I was a kid to shovel the driveway back home. Definitely old school, not as efficient. You know, it does the job. And if there's one thing that Reynolds Wolf has taught me in television, is that you got to get to work when you're doing these live checks because you don't want to come across as a television prima donna. He's done that for floods, filling sandbags, things like that. And, you know, it would go a long way here because I joke.

You know, they're trying to get back on their feet. But there's a lot of people here that are suffering at about 60,000 I last checked that are without power across eastern New England. We had winds gusting to 80 miles an hour along parts of Cape Cod. And in eastern parts of New England, it is still snowing. So even here in Connecticut, even though it's southwest Connecticut is starting to see improve, it's still cold and this now is going to be here for a while. This is town hall or city hall which is shut down at least for today. And Metro North, which is the main commuter line that runs from New Haven, through Stamford, down to New York City is shut down at least for now.

And so we just got to try to what we can here, Reynolds. How am I doing, pal? These are your moves I learned from. That's a lot of work. I could never broadcast and do that at the same time. I'm huffing and puffing already.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know you can't see me. I am turning beet red, man. Great work out there. You're going to be shoveling quite a bit. You're not alone. There are going to be a lot of people across the northeast that are going to be doing that same action.

Take a look at snowfall totals. People are going be doing that action, especially in places like New Jersey, where in Lyndhurst, 29 inches of snowfall. That was taken earlier this morning. I'm sure they've gotten a little bit more since there. Elizabeth, New Jersey; 26. About 26 in Tuxedo (ph), New York. You see Monroe. You also see Cape May. Very impressive snowfall. Well over a foot of snow there.

A few other spots that have had amazing snowfall totals we're going to follow in just mere moments. There you have them. In Newark, Brooklyn, Central Park, South Boston, at a foot or higher. In Philadelphia, not so much, 4.8 inches of snowfall but you might get a few snow showers that'll be popping through the region in just a little bit.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, the Heenes gave the media a wild ride in 2009, making us believe their son was flying around in a balloon.

So what are the Heenes doing now? Brooke Baldwin takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): October 15, 2009. If you were awake and near a television set, you probably stopped whatever you were doing and just watched anxiously. Authorities had a good reason to believe that an out of control Mylar balloon had a passenger on board. A little boy.

For two hours covering three Colorado counties that balloon spun, listed rose and fell through the air. News networks around the world carried this image live. The phrase "balloon boy" was born.

By now, you know how that flight ended. Balloon? Yes. Boy? No. The subject of worldwide anxiety, six-year-old Falcon Heene, was never in danger. He was hiding in the attic of his family home the whole time. Falcon's parents were accused of staging an emergency to get a little attention, maybe drum up a little reality show interest. No, they said, no hoax. But then this happened during the live interview on that night's "LARRY KING LIVE."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said that we did this for a show.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BALDWIN: It was a hoax and it unraveled.

Fast forward. Prosecutors charged that the Heenes' wasted public money and manpower for the publicity stunt and the judge approves a plea deal.

Falcon's father, Richard Heene, and his mom Mayumi Heene, both get jail sentences, community service, a hefty fine, years of probation and they're not allowed to make any money from the story for at least four years.

In August, the family moves from Colorado to Florida to get a fresh start settling outside Tampa.

But it appears that Richard Heene is an eye on the money kind of guy. He is pitching again. Not phony, terrifying stories about kids in balloons but a got to have it product he invented.

And young Falcon Heene, now seven-years-old. He and his brothers still being home schooled by their parents, helping dad move some of that product.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: So all week we are taking a look at the top 10 most intriguing people of 2010. Go to CNN.com to vote on who you think should make the top 10 list. Voting will close tomorrow at midnight and the big reveal for the top 10 will be Thursday.

It is too early for happy hour, but check out this piece of video here. Look at that there. You see it? No spill, no excess foam. A perfect head. It's got bartenders are trembling across the country and bar owners thinking, ka-ching. How does it work? A plastic cup with a hole in the bottom is coupled with a magnetic disk that seals the hole after the weight of the fluid is pumped in. You follow me on that one?

And here's another pretty good one. A woman out in Texas says she lives too far off the main road for her neighbors to enjoy her Christmas lights so she is turning her car into a moving snow globe. It is fully loaded with lights, snow, Santa, even Frosty.

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HARRIS: Top stories right now. Italian police say they found explosives today in a package at the Greek Embassy in Rome. They are investigating suspicious packages found at the Venezuelan and Danish embassies. This comes just days after package bombs detonated at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in the Italian capital. An anarchist group claimed responsibility.

At least nine people killed today when a pair of explosions hit a government compound on Iraq's Anwar Province. Four of the dead were police officers. The compound was hit first by a car bomber and about 10 minutes later by a bomber wearing an explosives vest.

They've been to Universal Studios. Now the Chilean miners who spent more than two months trapped underground are going Disney World. They will serve as grand marshals at a parade there next month.

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HARRIS: The New York Stock Exchange is open for business for those few who were able to make it into work this morning. Our Alison Kosik couldn't get there for all the snow so she is covering the action from the New York Bureau.

Good to see you, Alison. Is the snow having any kind of effect on the trading today?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it definitely is, but, you know, even without the snow today the trading volume at the New York Stock Exchange would have been light.

Now, of course, with all the snow we have had it is extremely light, but the New York Stock Exchange is open for business. You know, we haven't seen a trading session shortened by snow since 1996 and the NYSE has not had a full snow day since 1969. Now the market is taking a hit from a surprised interest rate hike in China so that kind of surprised investors today. Tony --

HARRISON: Alison, the retailers taking a bit of a hit today. Can that be?

KOSIK: We are watching retail shares. They are mostly flat today. There are some reports saying that snow is digging into the holiday sales because it's keeping everybody home. But overall, it has been a good holiday season for retailers especially online. Also, Home Depot is telling us there has been strong demand, no surprise here, for snow related product.

HARRIS: Yes, I can understand that. What are the chances for something of a Santa Clause rally later in the week?

KOSIK: You know, history, Tony, says that they are pretty good those chances. You know, since 1950 the markets have had an average of 1.5 percent gain in the last five days of the year and the week between Christmas and New Year's day, you know, that time period tends to be good for stocks because investors are dressing up their portfolios.

Last year though, that went against the trend in 2008. The Dow gained more than 3 percent. As for this year the Dow is up about 10 percent, Nasdaq up by 17 percent and this one we really keep an eye on, the S&P 500 up more than 12 percent. Of course, we watch it because that's what our 401(k) pays. We're happy to see that it's up 12 percent for the year, Tony. HARRIS: Believe that. All right, Alison. Good to see you. See you next hour. Thank you.

The founder of "Playboy" magazine Hugh Hefner got engaged this Christmas Eve. This will be the 84-year-old's third trip down the aisle. His fiance is former "Playmate of the Month," Crystal Harris.

Age, wait for it, wait for it, 24. Heff's first marriage ended in 1959, his second earlier this year. This got us thinking, among Americans who have been married. How many have tied the knot at least twice, 2 percent, 12 percent or 24 percent? The answer in a moment.

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HARRIS: So here's the question, how many Americans who have been married have gotten hitched at least twice? Now the answer is, there it is, highlighted, there you go, 24 percent, almost one out of every four and 5 percent of those have married three times or more.

On the night shift now a New York Tramway attendant, part of our "Favorites In Focus" CNN's look at stories behind the headlines. Photojournalist takes us for the ride.

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MICHAEL FINNAN, CABIN ATTENDANT, ROOSEVELT ISLAND TRAMWAY: As I say, the city never sleeps. There's always action. My name is Michael Finnan, cabin attendant for the Roosevelt Island Tramway, public transportation between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island, the island in the middle of east river.

Please hold on while the cabin is docking. My shift is from 10:00 at night to 6:00 in the morning. The skyline of Manhattan is always overpowering, but I think mostly at night when all the buildings are lit up and reflected on the east river.

Tonight is pretty calm. Another night it could be foggy, quiet and mysterious. I prefer the night shift. I'm used to it now. Let's go, please, we're late.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry.

FINNAN: OK. Closing my doors. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. If you are standing, please hold on while the cabin is in motion. Thank you. It is a different lifestyle in reverse. Eating patterns are all off. Our sleeping patterns are all off.

The best thing about the job is it leaves my days free, especially, and the warm weather, you know, you get out and walk around. The downside is you lose contact with a lot of friends and family.

Working nights is a sort of pleasant to have the sun coming up. Some people say I have one of the nicest jobs and I tend to agree with them.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS: "Favorites In Focus" brings you the stories behind the headlines. Don't miss this compelling hour of television hosted by our Tom Foreman, 2:00 p.m. Eastern New Year's day. It is quality storytelling, the award winning "In Focus" CNN photo journalist team is known for.

Some of the stories we're working on for next hour. What a way to end the Christmas holiday, thousands of people stranded at airports because of this east coast blizzard. We will take a live look at the mess and you may be looking for even more store discounts over the holidays. We will take a look at how much Americans have spent on gift giving. We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: The Brits know their tea, but lately they've been getting a claim for an activity traditionally left to their European neighbors, making wine. CNN's Jim Bolden reports.

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JIM BOLDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On this Monday, back in September, Ridgview Winery Southern England packed up 400 cases for shipment, not unusual for this 14-year-old winery, but this was Ridgview's first shipment to the United States.

And Ridgview says the first English sparkling wine ever shipped to the U.S. in bulk. England, a country not known for wine, shipping to a country with its own thriving wineries, it's a far cry from when Ridgview and a handful of other English wineries started up in the 1990s.

MIKE ROBERTS, RIDGVIEW WINERY: English as a marketing adjective was actually a pretty negative word to be honest and in fact for many years the word "English" didn't appear on our bottles.

BOLDEN: How that has changed. In August, family run Ridgview won an award for the best sparkling wine in the world, hands down, beating every French champagne for its 2006 whites.

ROBERTS: Absolutely astonished.

BOLDEN: Those shipments back in September were so Ridgview wine would be on a few American Christmas tables. It's 2008 sparkling rut on "The Wall Street Journal's" wine club list at about $30 a bottle.

ROBERTS: We actually have the wine on trade, the on trade, the off- trade in the supermarkets, and importers in other countries knocking on our door saying we really must have an English wine on our list.

BOLDEN: Not to be undone, the U.S. State of Virginia has been coming the other way since 2009. There are more than two dozen wineries in Virginia. A number now sell their more expensive bottles into the U.K. for between $20 and $40 a bottle competing with new world wines from Australia to California, not to mention French and now of course, home grown wine. CHRIS PARKER, NEW HORIZON WINES: Entering any market with a new product is an uphill battle. That, you know, don't shy away from that. The fact is the U.K. market is the single largest importer of wine in the world. Yes, it is a complicated market but the U.K. wine consumer generally is an exploratory wine consumer.

BOLDEN: Parker recently took Virginia Wines to Paris and he says it got a thumbs up from the French wine media. And he says new wines benefit from one drink (ph) shared between young drinkers, whether in London, Paris, or New York.

PARKER: The younger wine consumers, say in their 20s, 30s, are interested in learning more about wine. It's not just grabbing a bottle of wine off a supermarket shelf.

BOLDEN: Virginia hopes wine tourism will follow new drinkers.

Back at Ridgview, the Roberts family will have to wait until the new year to see if their sparkling wine brings any American tourists to the Sussex Coast.

Jim Bolden, CNN, London.

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