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Digging Out, Staying Put; Terror Suspects in U.K. Court; Elian Gonzalez: A Decade Later; Suspected U.S. Drone Attacks Kill 18; Racy Photos of Miley

Aired December 27, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Well, it is now almost 2:00. It's 1:59. I'm Deb Feyerick in for Ali Velshi. You're looking at a live picture of New York City, the nation's largest city has nearly ground to a standstill.

All major airports are closed, roads are a mess. New York is not alone. If you're in the northeast and want to get out or while you're outside the northeast and trying to get in, forget Christmas. This is starting to feel a lot like Groundhog's day going over and over again in the wake of a yuletide blizzard that brought as much as 2.5 feet of snow and winds as high as 80-miles-an-hour.

Look it at there. Travel is at best strongly discouraged, at worst, well, it's downright impossible.

The three major airports serving New York City were supposed to reopen at 4:00 Eastern, two hours from now, but that has been pushed back, along with the hopes of thousands of would-be passengers trying to get on vacation or just get home. JFK and Newark are now scheduled to reopen at 6:00 p.m. No word yet on LaGuardia.

More than 2,500 flights have been canceled since yesterday. Even if the snow melted tomorrow, it would take days and days to get all the schedules back to normal.

And while the snow is not going to be melting tomorrow because blizzard warnings remain in effect in northern New England, states of emergency as far south as Virginia, here, too, timing is everything. Schools and many offices are closed anyway, so no free day off. Most stranded flyers found out their flights were canceled before they took the time to go to the airport.

Still, our Allan Chernoff has spent many hours at LaGuardia. He's been talking to a lot of people, a lot of company there.

Allan, are folks just kind of riding with this, or are frustrations mounting?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Generally, people are in a very good humor here. It's after the holidays, and people recognize that the weather has been intense and there's really nothing that can be done.

As I'm speaking, the general manager of the port authority here -- of the LaGuardia airport of the port authority -- has just begun speaking. He's addressing the news media, as you can see.

And he's saying that there is still work to be done here, so that they cannot open LaGuardia airport at 4:00, as they had been hoping. So let me just listen for a second.

He's saying -- yes, he's saying that even tonight, the airline operations are going to be limited. Not a surprise.

I mean, this storm just hit New York with such a pounding. And as a result, it's going to -- as you just mentioned, it's going to take a very long time for the airlines to get their schedules back to full schedule. And they had been hoping to do that early tomorrow morning. Obviously, it's not going to happen.

FEYERICK: And Allan, because this is one of those unpredictable events, it's weather, folks are not even getting any sort of compensation, right? They're not getting a hotel, they're not necessarily getting meal vouchers. They're just sort of making due with what they've got.

CHERNOFF: Well, what they've got are cots here, and that's what we've been telling you about all day. Folks have been staying here at the airport, the people who have been arriving. Last night, about 250 were put up over here. Some stayed on cots, others just stayed on the seats that they had here at the food court, wherever they could find a place to rest up. But it's certainly been quite an experience for some.

FEYERICK: Well, the food court, apparently the hot spot to be, and if you can get one of the few chairs that are there.

Allan Chernoff in New York City. Thank you so much. We'll check in with you in a little while.

Well, CNN's Rob Marciano is in Stamford, Connecticut, today. He's beginning to see some signs of life -- Rob.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Conditions here in southwest Connecticut beginning to improve finally after the blizzard of 2010 starting to move out.

Folks are milling about. Now they're coming out of their cocoon, so to speak, as the snow has stopped and the wind is starting to calm down, and the roads have gotten a lot better. Folks are starting to get out in their cars just a little bit.

The plows have done a fairly good job of clearing some of these roadways. Even now we're starting to see a little bit of bare pavement.

But temperatures are below freezing and will remain below freezing through tonight. So what's here will likely be here tomorrow, at least for the next couple of days. Streets are actually in better condition than some of these sidewalks. It's more treacherous getting around on foot on the sidewalks than it is on the streets.

Here's City Hall, Stamford, Connecticut. It's shut down today, one of the business office buildings that is shut down. Private businesses shut down as well. Of course the kids are out of school.

Snowdrifts in some spots pretty high because of these winds that have been so gusty. And still, in some spots there are some power outages because of this storm that's been so devastating to the Northeast.

Right now conditions are at least beginning to improve.

Rob Marciano, CNN, Stamford, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Thanks, Rob.

Well, our "Sound Effect" today is a powerhouse performer, writer, producer and arranger. That's a quote from Motown founder Berry Gordy describing R&B singer/songwriter Teena Marie.

Marie called herself the "Ivory Queen of Soul." Here's part of the reason why. Listen.

(MUSIC)

FEYERICK: Boy, you can't help but move when you hear music like that.

Teena Marie died in her sleep yesterday at her home in Pasadena, California. She was 54. On the last night of her life she tweeted a quote from jazz great Sarah Vaughn: "May you never grow old and may I never die."

We also remember the acclaimed documentarian Bud Greenspan. If you know or care about the Olympics, you know and care about Greenspan's work. He chronicled the games for six decades on film and in books.

Bud Greenspan died Christmas afternoon of complications from Parkinson's Disease. He was 84.

Nine men accused of planning terrorist attacks in Britain appeared in court today. They were all denied bail.

CNN International Correspondent Dan Rivers is standing by in London.

You were there, Dan. What happened in that courtroom?

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously, it was very heavy high security at Westminster Magistrate's Court as the nine men were brought in, in three different groups. They're from three different areas of the U.K.: Cardiff, Stoke-on-Trent, and London.

They're all brought in, and basically only spoke to confirm their identities, their addresses and their ages. They heard the charges that were read out to them.

All nine charged with two main charges -- conspiracy to cause explosions between the 6th of November and the 21st of December. So, in the run-up to Christmas in the U.K. And also preparing for an act of terrorism which included details such as sort of going online, downloading material, researching, counting out reconnaissance of different alleged potential targets, traveling to meetings, meeting one another, igniting and testing incendiary material as well.

And then eight of the nine men were also charged with possession of different extremist sort of handbooks, if you like. One of the men, though, wasn't charged with that.

So they've all had this first preliminary experience now in court. They have to appear again at a different court, the world famous Old Bailey Central Criminal Court on the 14th of January, and that will be the beginning then of what will probably be quite a long process before we get to a full trial.

The men today didn't have the chance to put in any sort of guilty or not guilty plea. This is just a very early preliminary stage.

And, of course, this all relates to dawn raids, Deborah, back a week ago when the police rounded up a total of 12 men. Three of those men were released without charge, and now this is those nine going forward.

Now, the targets, what we can say is that significant U.K. targets, including, potentially, according to the prosecution, the U.S. Embassy here in London and the London Stock Exchange.

FEYERICK: Dan, the incendiary devices that you mentioned, now, I know in the U.K. the rules are very strict about what you can and cannot say. But the incendiary materials, is there a suggestion that they were looking at car bombs or suicide bombs or anything like that?

RIVERS: No, not that we understand in court. I mean, some of the extremist literature that was referred to in court refers to pipe bombs. There was discussion of parcel bombs as well. But all this will be properly set out by the prosecution in the coming months.

Clearly, there's a massive amount of information relating to these alleged terrorist suspects. They will have the chance to counter that. But this -- we understood from previous sourcing on this story this was an intelligence-led operation that involved the domestic intelligence service MI5, who are the lead agency on this, working together with the counterterrorist unit in the West Midlands, in the center of England. They have been the lead body on this.

It's now in the hands of the court. It will then sort of process through the normal way.

These men are U.K. citizens. One of them, though, from Bangladesh. They're all of Bangladeshi heritage. But, as I say, only one of them was born outside the U.K. The rest, U.K. citizens. FEYERICK: And just very quickly, is there any information as to whether they were acting independently, or were they part of some transnational group? Or is that something you're likely to hear in January at the next hearing?

RIVERS: Yes, we'll hear that in January. I mean, there was some discussion of the nature of the booklets that they had in their possession, but that's probably something that will be explained more fully by the courts at a later date. But clearly, any potential terrorist plot in this country, you know, there is a backdrop, if you like, that forms part of these proceedings normally, which is the invasion of Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq.

Those are all subjects that are normally brought up by terrorist suspects as being a reason for them feeling that, you know, they have to go out and pursue a sort of terrorist agenda. In this case, though, that wasn't explained to us in court, so we're going to have to wait and find out what their motivation was.

And, of course, it's important to stress in this they haven't had the chance yet to enter their plea. So we've got to hear their side of how they make -- what they make of this evidence that's going to be put against them by the prosecutors.

FEYERICK: Of course.

Dan Rivers in London.

Great job as always. Thanks so much. We'll check in.

Well, remember this dramatic scene as a little Cuban boy became the center of an international custody battle? Elian Gonzalez was just 6 years old when he was taken by federal authorities in a raid. We'll tell you how this now young adult feels about that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: The story of Elian Gonzalez captivated the United States and Cuba for years, coming to a head when the 6-year-old was seized in a federal raid in Miami. Now a young adult, Elian has his own feelings on his controversial and public family battle.

Shasta Darlington reports from Havana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You probably remember the face, Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban rafter boy at the heart of a politically charged custody battle. Elian was just 5 when a smuggler's boat headed to the United States, flipped over in the Florida Straits in November, 1999. His mother drowned. Elian was found clinging to an inner tube and handed over to relatives in South Florida, but his father, back in Cuba, demanded Elian be repatriated.

America watched as a nasty tug-of-war played out in the media and ended with a raid on his relatives' home in Miami. Ten years after Elian returned to Cuba, he says he feels no anger toward the family that tried to keep him in Florida.

"Even though they didn't help me in every possible way," he says, "they didn't help me move forward, they're still my own family. I don't have anger for them."

Now 17, Elian doesn't make many public appearances. But this summer he joined President Raul Castro on the anniversary of his homecoming.

"Thanks to a large part of the American public, and to our public, today I'm with my father and I feel happy here," he says. No longer a little boy, he attends a Cuban military academy. Two years ago, he joined the elite Union of Communist Youth.

We recently went to the modest house in Cardenas where Elian once lived. His grandmother answered the door.

"Now he's a man," she said. "A little man. He is studying, he's integrated. He has a normal life, the way he wants it."

She said he gets top grades and has a steady girlfriend. But Elian and his father have moved to a secluded house that visitors can't easily reach.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Havana

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: OK. You're spending time with friends and family over the holidays. You're looking for that perfect indoor activity, especially with the cold weather. You want to share it with the whole gang.

Well, we've got it. It's called the "Most Intriguing Person of the Year." Here's how you can play.

Go to CNN.com. That's where you're going to find CNN's list of who we consider the 20 most intriguing people of 2010. You can see some of them right there.

Your role is to narrow the list down to 10. And it's not going to be easy.

Is it quarterback Michael Vick, who went from dog abuser to top dog, or trapped Chilean miner Edison Pena, whose training in the mineshaft allowed him to run the New York City Marathon? Is Apple's Steve Jobs more intriguing than, well, let's say, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg?

You decide your top 10. We'll announce the winner this Thursday.

Next, "The Stakeout." We're going to check in with Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry. That is, if he's not busy, let's say, surfing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, the weather has been terrible in Washington, D.C., but that's no problem for our senior White house correspondent, Ed Henry. Why? Well, listen to the music.

He's hanging out with the president in Hawaii. It is a tough job.

We know you're running out of sunscreen. Ed, I hope at least they're feeding you.

ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I'm also running out of new Hawaiian shirts. So I'm going to have to start recycling them.

But I don't want you to think I have it that easy because you might not be able to tell, but there is a light rain falling behind me. And I can sympathize with my colleagues like you back east, because it plunged overnight here to about 65 degrees. So it's really dipped a lot.

It's not really that warm right now. I mean, it's OK.

But, yes, it's fun on the White House beat. You get to travel all around the world with the president to exotic locales, not just internationally, but here in Hawaii, and you get to sample the food. And one thing you learn on this beat pretty early is the president likes to eat, and so do the reporters that follow him around.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HENRY (voice-over): This president is an adventurous diner, despite the first lady's healthy eating initiative.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And then you put French fries on top of it. So we can't tell the first lady.

That is a big-looking piece of cake.

(LAUGHTER)

HENRY: But in fairness, the president usually can't say no, especially on the campaign trail, unless he wants to offend the locals.

Reporters have a choice. We could say no, but often say yes, whether it's a gourmet restaurant here in Honolulu like this, or a dive in Dubuque.

Just ask veteran correspondent Bill Plante of "CBS News," so good at picking wine, we call him our unofficial sommelier.

BILL PLANTE, CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Eating is important because you spend your whole day working and you need some kind of opportunity to relax. How do you relax? You relax over good food and good wine.

HENRY: So after a series of long days, working -- yes, that's it -- working on the beach --

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are working, just to be clear, right? TONY HARRIS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: He is White House correspondent, not a fashion reporter. Poor Ed Henry, our "Random Moment of the Day."

HENRY: It was time to take Bill Plante's advice and get a nice Christmas meal in Honolulu.

PLANTE: There are a couple that are particularly nice where you can sit in the evening breeze, open to the sky and the sea, and sip a fine glass of wine and have wonderful food. Have Ed give me a call.

HENRY: The person to call in Honolulu is Alan Wong, celebrity chef, who has hosted the president and first lady here many times, but is still in awe of the experience.

ALAN WONG, CELEBRITY CHEF: In Hawaii, it's what we call chicken skin moments. You know?

HENRY (on camera): What does that mean?

WONG: Goosebumps.

HENRY: And you get that?

WONG: Oh, yes, every time.

HENRY (voice-over): Contrary to some of the junk food the president and the press enjoy on the road, this restaurant is known for local vegetables and fresh seafood, like the tilapia the first lady prefers. That's why the first couple keeps coming back, and so do we.

WONG: You're in Hawaii, so you should be able to taste Hawaii. A little bit of East, a little bit of West. It is kind of natural.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HENRY: Now, Alan Wong confided to me that the president actually really loves the short ribs when he goes to Alan Wong's restaurant. Sometimes he even tries to get a second helping.

Interesting though, because you would never know it, the guy is in such great shape. And that is part of the problem with having a very skinny president. You don't have to worry about this, Deb, but the rest of us were reminded we've got to get cracking on those New Year's resolutions.

FEYERICK: That's right. And your favorite food before we ask you a serious question is what?

HENRY: Favorite food on the road? Oh, gosh.

You know, out here it's seafood because it's unbelievable. They've got pink snapper, they've got tilapia. Everything is fresh -- lobster. So I guess I'm adding to -- it's going to be harder for me say that this is tough duty when I'm laying out the menu.

FEYERICK: That's exactly right. You see food, you eat it. HENRY: Exactly.

FEYERICK: But a serious question, actually. There are a couple of reports that perhaps Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is thinking about maybe making a change at the new year, Governor Bill Richardson would step in as secretary of state? Is there anything to those rumors?

HENRY: Nothing to it. I guess the initial report started with "The D.C. Examiner" there in Washington, suggesting that maybe Bill Richardson, the outgoing New Mexico governor there, might be replacing Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

I just spoke to a senior administration official who said it's just not true at all. This is essentially being laughed off by the administration.

I think it's clear there might be some cabinet reshuffling, certainly some staff reshuffling we can expect as early as the first week of January, some of the things that we've already heard out there, like Larry Summers has to be replaced, the chief economic adviser, et cetera. But the notion of Hillary Clinton leaving right now, the White house is just laughing that off.

FEYERICK: OK. Ed Henry, thank you so much. Really, we're all sitting here in complete envy.

All right. Have one for us.

So what's the latest on all that snow? Well, we're going to get the details from Chad Myers on the other side the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, the blizzard is all around us. We're feeling it here in Atlanta. Certainly the Northeast getting hammered.

(WEATHER REPORT)

FEYERICK: And a suspected U.S. drone strikes Pakistan's tribal region. We're going to tell you who the target was and whether they were successful in "Globe Trekking," coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now.

More than 250 flights have been canceled because of the blizzard gripping the Northeast. All three of New York's airports are still closed, but there's now word LaGuardia may reopen at 4:00 p.m., and JFK and Newark will be reopening at 6:00 p.m. Thousands are without power. Some places might get as much as 30 inches of snow, more than two feet there.

You're looking live at the Dow. A light day of trading is expected on the street today. In addition to the holidays, the bad weather is keeping some Wall Street employees from getting to work.

And, nine men arrested across the United Kingdom a week ago were ordered held without bail on charges of conspiracy and other terrorism offenses. The men appeared in court in London today. All of the suspects are between the ages of 19 and 28.

Time for "Globe Trekking."

In Rome, another package bomb was discovered today -- this one at the Greek embassy. The bomb was defused. There were no injuries.

The Greek ambassador says the package was addressed by hand and arrived at the embassy on Christmas Eve. Police say the device resembled those which exploded in Rome last week and at the Chilean and Swiss embassies injuring two people.

An anarchist group called the Informal Anarchist Federation claimed responsibility for those two attacks. Police say they may be behind today's incident. The group has vowed to launch more strikes to, quote, "destroy the systems of domination," unquote.

Police also responded to other reports of suspicious packages at the Venezuelan, Danish, Monaco, Kuwaiti and Albanian embassies in Rome today. Those packages did not contain explosives.

Next up: Egypt and the bus crash that killed eight American tourists, 19 other Americans and two Egyptians were injured. One side of the bus was completely sheared off. Look at that picture. It happened yesterday when a tourist bus slammed into a parked dump truck in Aswan, about 600 miles south of Cairo.

The bus is one of three carrying 116 Americans to the popular tourist spot. The bus in the middle of the three-bus convoy is the one that crashed. No word on the possible cause.

And now to Pakistan -- two suspected U.S. drone strikes killed 18 alleged militants today. It happened in the tribal region of North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan. The attack just the latest aimed at insurgents suspected of using Pakistan as a base to attack U.S. and NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

CNN's Chris Lawrence joins us from the Pakistani capital Islamabad with more.

This is an area where there are a lot of sanctuaries, right, Chris?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, deb. And if you believe, you know, the U.S. military and the intelligence officials, it's an area where a lot of the insurgent leadership is also based, where a lot of the attacks are supplied, they're planned and then the fighters cross over the border into Afghanistan to carry out the attacks on both Afghan forces and NATO troops.

So, it's a very, very important region. And up until now, it has been one where the Pakistani military has been unable or unwilling to put ground troops in in great numbers to sort of mount a ground offensive. So, U.S. drone strikes have been really the only way to go after insurgents in North Waziristan. Two Pakistani intelligence officials tell us these were two drone strikes today. The first fired about four missiles at an insurgent vehicle and the second fired two missiles at what they believe is an insurgent hideout. Death toll now at 18 from those drone strikes, could go up as well.

It really shows just the expansion of the U.S. drone program under President Barack Obama and especially this year. By our count, this makes the 108th drone strike already this year. Compare that to only 52 all of last year -- Deb.

FEYERICK: Chris, Pakistan does not necessarily support this, correct? So, is that creating tensions? Or are these necessary as far as the U.S. is concerned?

LAWRENCE: Well, it's sort of a game that's played publicly and privately. U.S. officials almost will never even talk about drone strikes. Even on background when you're talking to officials, they rarely if ever will discuss drone strikes. It's just deny, deny, deny.

Pakistan publicly will come out and condemn a lot of these drone strikes. President Zardari has come out and said that he -- that they're counterproductive, that they cause civilian casualties. But we know from some of the leaked WikiLeaks documents that came out that Pakistan has given a sort of tacit approval to these drone strikes privately, even though they may condemn them publicly, for reasons because they are so unpopular among the Pakistani people.

FEYERICK: OK, Chris Lawrence, spending the holiday in Pakistan -- we appreciate it. Thank you so much. We'll check in with you a little later on.

And first, the bong. Now this -- some pretty racy pictures of Miley Cyrus have gone viral. You'll see them next. Plus, and what to do when your teen idols aren't so perfect?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, we want to warn parents out there you may want to get your children out of the room before this next story. It involves Disney Channel superstar Miley Cyrus and she has some more explaining to do.

There are new controversial photos of the 18-year-old on the Internet. Again, not exactly appropriate for children to see. This is the picture that's getting all the attention. We're told that it's Miley's assistant. And we're not sure where or when these photos were taken, but this is the other picture and it shows Miley with a group of people.

We thought this would probably put some parents of young kids in a very difficult position. What do you tell them when they ask about these photos?

Well, we've asked an expert to give us some help here. Clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Gardere joins us from New York.

And, Jeff, this is tricky. My daughter picked up a magazine. And to try to explain how a good Disney star goes not bad necessarily, but how do you explain that to children?

She's entitled to live her own life certainly. But for the rest of us having to sort of pick up the pieces, what do we do? How do we explain?

DR. JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST (via telephone): Well, one of the first things you have to do, Deb, is hear what it is your child has to say about the photos. If we have get into a diatribe or get into a lecture as to how bad that role model is or that teen idol, all we end up doing is turn our kids off or, as you know as a parent, whatever we tell them, they'll do the opposite of that.

So, if you put down that teen idol, all your kid will do is tend to admire that idol more. But, again, the bottom line is gauge from your child what it is that they think about that idol before you go into your conversation.

FEYERICK: Is it -- you know, what's so interesting also is there are so many questions. I mean, when you think about these new pictures with Miley Cyrus, this Disney star -- also Demi Lovato who got into some trouble as well. I assume that honesty is sort of the best policy, explaining to your children that, in fact, these are teenagers. They're growing up. They're trying to express themselves but you don't agree.

What is the nature, the direction of the conversation that should be taking place?

GARDERE: I just love the way that you've done that. And you seem to be a very good parent in that this is what I advise parents to do. You can let your child know -- be honest that you're not particularly thrilled with what this teen idol is doing.

However, you would understand if your child happens to still admire that individual. But there are lessons to be learned. First and foremost, that a lot of these teen idols are playing a role. They tend -- our kids tend to like that character that the actor or actress is playing on TV. So, we need to let our kids know that it is more a one dimensional character and these people who are the actresses or actors in fact have much more complex lives.

The next thing you need to let them know is: it's OK for them to admire these teen idols, but they should take the best out of several of these teen idols and look for the more positive messages that these kids are giving.

And finally, as you said, that people do make mistakes and that the idols are not perfect. We're not perfect as parents. Our kids aren't perfect. But they really should learn more of what the positive lessons are and certainly not try to repeat some of those mistakes, and that these teen idols actually do grow up and do turn into individuals who are not the constant figures that our kids are used to seeing on television.

FEYERICK: You know, and it's interesting to watch these young teenagers. They have challenges that are unbelievable, the fame, the popularity, the sort of ever-present figure, especially when you're -- when you're a Disney star.

Is it unfair of parents to put a higher expectation on these young people than possible? And should we be letting our children know that in fact they live a little bit of a different life simply because they're exposed to so much?

GARDERE: I don't think it's unfair for us to set high expectations. Really, the bottom line is when you become a Disney star or you become any kind of a star, you kind of make a deal with the devil. And that is, even if you don't want to be a role model, you are a role model. And there are a lot of other teen idols and a lot of other actors and actresses who have done better.

But your point is well taken. And we have to let kids know that we're all human. We're not perfect. And some of us, including these Disney stars and others in the media, have a lot more pressure.

But that being said, Deb, kids have pressure on themselves to try to be perfect. And, therefore, instead of harping or jumping on these teen idols for bad behavior, we can use that as an example for our kids, asking them when do they feel like perhaps they've made a mistake or that perhaps they could have done better, and spring boarding off of that as learning from mistakes as one becomes a young adult going through the teen rebellion years.

FEYERICK: Well, Jeff Gardere, thank you so much. We did reach out to Miley's camp. We have not heard back from them yet, certainly a lot of pressure. Not easy to be a parent. Certainly, not easy to be a teenager and I guess learning from mistakes that you make.

Jeff Gardere, thank you so much for joining us today.

GARDERE: Thank you so much.

FEYERICK: Well, coming up on 2:50, here's a look at the top stories this hour.

An Arizona state legislator is recovering after he was severely beaten at his business about an hour south of Phoenix. Police say they're looking for the person who tied up Frank Pratt, beat him and stole his truck from his swimming pool business. At last check, he was in stable condition.

At nine people including four police officers are dead after suicide bombings in western Iraq. At least two explosions hit a government complex in Ramadi. Forty people were wounded in those attacks.

And the actor injured on the set of the "Spider-Man" Broadway musical is recovering after surgery. He's expected to begin rehabilitation today in New York. Thirty-two-year-old Christopher Tierney was hurt after he fell during a performance last week. He fell 30 feet -- look at that -- into the orchestra pit. Tierney suffered broken ribs and a back injury.

It just may be the best way of all to see New York City and it will only cost you a couple of bucks. We'll take you on a spectacular ride in the sky. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: One of the most spectacular ways to se the New York City skyline may also be one the cheapest. You can hop on the Roosevelt Island tram for about 2 bucks. And one of the guys who works the night shift on the tram says, after dark, it's the best time of all to ride.

Photojournalist Ethie Needham (ph) takes us along on the scenic ride as part of CNN's "In Focus" series.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL FINNEN, CABIN ATTENDANT, ROOSEVELT ISLAND TRAMWAY: As I said, the city never sleeps. There's always action.

My name is Michael Finnen. I'm a cabin attendant for the Roosevelt Island Tramway.

It's the public transportation between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island, which is an island in the middle of the 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 more so at night when all the buildings are lit up and reflected on the East River. Tonight, it's pretty calm. Other nights, it could be a little foggy and very quiet and mysterious.

I prefer the night shift. I'm used to it now. My whole life is geared around it.

Let's go, please. We're late.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry.

FINNEN: OK. Closing my doors.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Please hold on while the cabin is in motion. Thank you.

It is a different lifestyle in reverse. Eating patterns are all off. Sleeping patterns are all off. The best thing about the job is it leaves my days free, especially in the warm weather. You know, you get out, walk around. The downside is you lose contact with a lot of friends and family. Working nights is 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)

FEYERICK: A great ride and a great island, especially during the summer.

Well, you can see more of the year's best stories from CNN's award- winning "In Focus" photojournalist team in an hour-long special on New Year's day 2:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

And who are the year's most admired man and woman? Here's a hint: Less than three years ago, they were debating each other. We'll have the answer in our political update.

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FEYERICK: There's a new poll out all on this year's most admired man and woman.

Time now for a CNN political update. CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar has the very latest -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Deb, I think we just really like to rank people here at the end of the year. This is a Gallup survey of the most admired former presidents, cultural icons, religious leaders.

And let's go with ladies first here. Hillary Clinton topping the list for the ninth year in a row. Check this out on the Ticker.

President Obama topping the list for men for the third year in a row. Right behind president Obama, you have former President George W. Bush. Right behind him, former President Bill Clinton. And they have some pretty serious company here with Nelson Mandela, Pope Benedict.

You can see how all of these ratings come down on the CNN Political Ticker at CNNPolitics.com.

Our next story on the Ticker, a very big milestone for the mayor of Chicago. Can you even fathom this that Mayor Richard Daley as served now for 21 years and eight months? So, who is he knocking off the throne for being the longest serving mayor of Chicago? His father as it turns out.

He's got a few more months to serve, Mayor Daley does. He's going to be leaving as mayor of Chicago in the spring.

And then also on the CNN Political Ticker -- we have a female senator who has hit her own milestone for being -- or she's going to be hitting her milestone next week when the new Congress convenes, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland. This is a really cool story that my colleague Dana Bash, our senior congressional correspondent, put together. You really get a flavor for how times have changed in the Senate.

Senator Mikulski very frank in her comments, talking about when she came in as the first Democratic woman to be elected in her own right in 1986, that she really rocked the boat -- Deb, if you can get this -- by wearing pants. That it was kind of expected that women in Congress wore skirts and that was really kind of the first ways that she sort of made some waves there.

FEYERICK: Wow, I like it. Pants, imagine that. What --

KEILAR: I know.

FEYERICK: It's crazy. How crazy is that!

What were the reasons that people said that they really like just President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton? Did they connect? Did they appreciate their accomplishments? What was it?

KEILAR: Yes. I think it was that they appreciated the accomplishments and I think it's also so interesting when you look at the top rated, certainly on the men's side, you have three former presidents in the one, two, three spot. Behind them you have Nelson Mandela, the Pope, and a number of other notables.

Certainly people ranking their presidents pretty high, don't you think?

FEYERICK: Absolutely. Well, listen, a little thanks is due at this time of year anyway.

Brianna Keilar, thank you so much. We'll check in with you a little bit later on. Thanks so much.

Well, your next update from "The Best Political Team on Television" is just an hour away. So, stay tuned for that.

And what could be more miserable than being stranded at the airport in a blizzard? Well, a lot of things. Maybe sleeping on the floor with a few thousand close friends isn't as bad as you think. I'll tell you what I think. My "XYZ" is next.

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FEYERICK: Well, time now for the "XYZ" of it.

The people who fly these days can't seem to catch a break between terror threats, body scans and now, the snow.

But I noticed a few things flying on my way here to Atlanta this morning. The airlines get it. They know what you're going through.

For example, I was on two planes and the pilots and flight attendants were cracking jokes, trying to lighten the mood as if it's a mandate now. The pilot out of New York said, I know we're a few minutes late, but, folks it's better than the four passengers who got left behind. They're going to be really late. I also noticed a certain camaraderie between passengers. One dad with teenage kids actually gave up his aisle seat to help a mom traveling with smaller children, because he didn't want to divide up the family. Another parent jokingly offered a young family a sedative.

Sure, there were lots you lots of opportunities to get upset, get angry, be frustrated, but the people I saw let it go, counting their blessings. Sure, they may have wanted to misbehave, act out. But they didn't.

It's like the advice I give my kids: sure, it's been a long, long day. We're all tired. But let's try to leave with as much dignity as possible.

On that note, I take my dignity and I hand over the next hour to Don Lemon.