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The Weather And Getting Back In The Air; All Night Long At The JFK Tarmac; Bad Flight -- Know Your Rights; Watch Out For The Plow; New Threat In Afghanistan; The Haqqani Network; Gas at a Premium Price; Gift Card Exchange; Raining On The President; President Obama and Michael Vick; A War Between Two Diets; Crisis in the Ivory Coast; How Innovation Can Help the Economy; Haiti One Year Later
Aired December 28, 2010 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Well, about 100 people stuck on a ski lift at Sugarloaf Ski Resort in Maine, being rescued, being lowered to the ground by ropes one at a time. Several people fell about 30 feet to the ground. Gusting winds up to 80 miles an hour. The blizzard is gone, the airports are open, sunshine and warmer weather is ahead, but the damage from the holiday snowstorm is done and it could last into the new year. It will take days to clear the backlog of canceled airline flights from the three major airports serving New York City alone.
You don't have to live in the Northeast to feel the impact of that. And I'll give you a chilling example in a moment. First, let's look at the numbers. Parts of nudge digging out from 40 inches of snow, not talking drifts. Five flights canceled since Sunday. Some stranded passengers will not take off until Friday. New York LaGuardia was hoping to handle a hundred flights in a six hour period, this morning. That's compared to a normal day with 70 flights in just one hour.
We're going to head over to Chad Myers. He has been tracking this. Boy, it just gets - it's nonstop, really. How is everything doing, in terms of getting back on track?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We're trying to put almost $200,000 people on planes that were already full. They didn't get on their planes yesterday. Their planes are canceled. Now they're trying to fly, basically, standby on planes today. And there aren't that many planes in and out because, well, it's very cold. These gate workers have to take breaks. They can't be out very long. The wind chills of zero degrees.
People are complaining that their bags are slow. Well, hey, you're inside waiting for your bags. These baggage handlers are outside trying to get your bags in. LaGuardia, Newark, JFK, open. Open, but slow.
In fact, some spots, five to eight hour delays. It's because of this. You have to shovel out Jersey. Boston, Stratford. We're talking two feet of snow. And, Deb, we're still talking very cold temperatures. I know it says 26 in New York City, but when you add in wind that's 25 miles per hour, it feels much colder than that. It's cold in Nashville, Little Rock, all the way down to New Orleans. The record lows.
Look at this, Tallahassee, 18 degrees. Jacksonville it's 21. OK, so, we're whining all about how cold it is up in the northeast, but the people don't have gloves, mittens and all these things to keep them warm like people in Europe. You don't have Sorrell boots when you live in Tallahassee, probably. You know? So, it is just a very cold event for everybody. And you have to have an awful lot - and awful lot of patience.
FEYERICK: You have to have patience and you, also, have to a backup plan. So, get those boots for the next winter.
Well, let's get back to LaGuardia airport. CNN's Allan Chernoff. And, Allan, the place may be open, but it's not business as usual, any longer, is it?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: No, not by a long shot. Deb, the people that you're looking at over here, these are the people that have actually hit the jackpot. What is that? Well, these days, it means, actually, getting on to your flight. They are about to drop of their baggage. They are the lucky few. The vast majority of people who want to get out today - not able to do so, just yet. You mentioned that statistic a little while ago, the fact is that here, at LaGuardia airport, and at the other airports in New York, only a fraction of the flights that, normally, would take place, are occurring today.
As a result, you have many stories, like the Razman family. They've been trying to get down to Dallas to visit their family there for four days. They tried to get out before the storms, Saturday night. Came here to the airport, they couldn't. They came for Sunday morning. They had a flight booked. They were supposed to get on. That flight was canceled. They went stand by, so their bags went, but they didn't. Then they tried yesterday, and, again, they're here today.
Let's hear a little bit of their story from them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDY RAZMAN, STRANDED PASSENGER: So, the first standby we tried to get on, they sent their bags to Dallas. So, right now, we don't have any stuff. And even if we cancel our flight, we still have to have someone ship our bags back to New York.
CHERNOFF: So, you're not playing to cancel?
RAZMAN: No, probably not.
CHERNOFF: It's just persistence?
RAZMAN: Yes, definitely.
CHERNOFF: You think you'll get there? RAZMAN: Hopefully, we'll try for today. But if not, maybe tomorrow or the day after.
CHERNOFF: Which would make five, six days here in LaGuardia?
RAZMAN: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Wow, what a story. Yes, the family says it has spent more than $500, using car service to come here and back, parking, add in the food that they've been eating here, the expense here, wow. Gets expensive waiting - Deb.
FEYERICK: It does get expensive waiting. But, you know, I'm a glass half full kind of person. And I'm just thrilled they have not given up yet. That shows a lot of integrity. Allan Chernoff at LaGuardia airport. Thanks so much. We'll check in with you in just a little while.
Well, imagine flying to New York from Britain, say, or New Mexico, only to sit on the tarmac all night long because your plane can't get to the gate. Even if you could, you couldn't get off, apparently, because of customs issues.
That nightmare scenario happened to at least two international flights arriving overnight at New York's JFK airport. British Airways, Flight 183, from London, and Air Mexico, Flight 404, from Mexico City. A passenger on that flight spoke to CNN after, finally, setting foot in the terminal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRISTOBAL ALEX, JFK TERMINAL: It was terrible. Basically, what happened, was we were running out of food and water, and the pilot came on to say he was going to be - he had been arguing with the folks at the airport to, at least, let the police come on board to deliver some food and water. I guess, he lost that fight, nobody came on.
And we moved up to a gate, and spent another couple of hours at the gate, thinking we were going to come off and never did. And, apparently, what happened was the customs folks went home at 1:00 a.m. And, so, everybody coming international, kind of, had to sit out there in the snow for, you know, all night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Well, we've, since, gotten a statement from customs and border protection. An official tells CNN, quote, "At no point were customs officials sent home overnight from JFK." He says, the airport was amply staffed, even in the wee hours. But it's the airlines' responsibility to keep customs posted on incoming flights. We've got a producer at JFK who says the problem now is baggage, specifically, a huge and unexplained backlog at baggage claims.
So, all of this got us thinking, what about the passengers' bill of rights? Kate Hanni has made flyers for rights work. She's a realtor in Napa, California, who started Flyersrights.org after spending nine hours on the tarmac in Texas in 2008 and she joins me, today, from San Francisco.
Kate, thank you so much. But let's talk about this. People are so vulnerable these days when they fly.
KATE HANNI, FLYERSRIGHTS.ORG: They are. The airlines, after 9/11, for financial reasons, have had to cut back, dramatically, on the kinds of services of that they offer. And they've changed their contracts and many of the airline passengers we speak to aren't aware of many changes that have happened. So, when you're in a weather event like this, the airline has almost no responsibility to you, other than safely getting you to and from your destination, if they can do it. But they don't owe you hotels or taxis, or much of anything when there's a weather problem.
So, that's why we fought so hard for contingency plans and for the passenger bill of rights. Unfortunately, we did win the passenger bill of rights but it only applies to domestic flights. So, all of the hotline calls that we've been getting for the last 48 hours straight through solid, on our toll free hotline, have been from people on international flights and they're not covered by our rule. So, we've got some serious gaps that need to be filled, and I hope the Department of Transportation and Ray Hood are watching right now, so they can address this.
FEYERICK: What's fascinating, is that airlines - in anticipation of the storm which, of course, is a natural disaster. The airlines, really, don't have much responsibility during that. But the airlines canceled all of the flights. Would passengers have had a right to call up and say, look, there's a major snowstorm coming. I want to change my ticket at no extra cost and, maybe, fly the week later. Would that have been feasible? Or are people just left either canceling plans or eating the cost of what their ticket was?
HANNI: Well, actually, I went on to all of the legacy carriers' Web sites three days before the storm hit, and they were all offering some kind of re-accommodation up to five days after the storm. So, up until this Friday, for most air carriers, they were offering re- accommodation, and many people should have done that. I think what happened is that people flying internationally, did not get the message. They did not realize that there was a blizzard coming to New York.
Because, again, most of the people I spoke to, were on international flights. But, I do have to say, for the airlines to continue operating when they knew that these international flights could be stuck on the tarmac, that is something that, I think, could be possibly - they could be fined by the Department of Transportation.
FEYERICK: Absolutely, it has to be looked at. One last question.
HANNI: You know, I really want to make sure that your viewers know that we have a 1-877-359-3776, toll free, totally free, hotline and we're helping people get to their destinations by looking at circuitous routes, and looking at alternative transportation, all day and all night.
FEYERICK: Which is helpful. Well, Kate Hanni, thank you so much. We appreciate your joining us, certainly, a mixed bag when you're flying. And who it is you end up interacting, whether it be a nice airline employee, a grumpy agent. So, king of have to take what you get and hope for the best. Kate Hanni, I thank you so much. We appreciate it.
HANNI: Yes, absolutely. Thank you.
FEYERICK: Well, Our "Sound Effect" today is collateral damage from the storm. Last we heard, most of New York City was still waiting for snow plows. And, even, in the bureau with semi-plowed streets, that would be Manhattan. Not every motorist is happy. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Oh, my god.
Are you out of your mind?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: An interesting question. Clearly, a guy who just doesn't care about his performance review. Well, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx, be careful what you wish for.
Attacks are on arise in Afghanistan but not from the usual suspects. We're going to find out about the new, number one, threat against US Troops there. Coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: The war in Afghanistan may be further complicated not by Al Qaeda or the Taliban, but by a group known as the Haqqani Network. We're hearing this group is responsible for dozens of attacks in Afghanistan and the deaths of many American Troops. Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In eastern Afghanistan, US Troops hope to start coming home in months. But the reality may be different. Here, attacks are rising. But it's not from the Taliban or Al Qaeda. The number one threat, fighters, loyal to this man, Taliban Haqqani, the leader of the group known as the Haqqani Network. The US commander in the east, has Haqqani in his crosshairs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJOR GENERAL JOHN CAMPBELL, REGIONAL COMMAND EAST: Our focus, really, on Haqqani Network is one of the most insurgent networks in Afghanistan, I believe, it's the biggest threat to Kabul, because of the location, how close they are to Kabul. And the objective is they want to get out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Haqqani fighters have stayed out of Kabul, lately. But their overall success at trying to control territory, and attack the Afghan government, could risk the US War plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL: They have no issues with recruiting. They're going to Miranshah inside of Pakistan. And they can come in very large numbers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Major problem, the Haqqanis also operate inside of Pakistan, sending a constant flow of weapons and fighters into Afghanistan. They control a region, running from Khost, in eastern Afghanistan, across the border, into Miranshah, and then into Pakistan's north Waziristan region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL: Last week, Pakistani's intelligence officials said they arrested Nasharuden (ph) Haqqani, the leader's son, on the road from Peshawar into north Waziristan. It would have been a huge intelligence coupe. Nasharuden (ph) is considered the money man. But a US official says there's doubt the incident ever happened, telling CNN, there's been no indication that Nasharuden (ph) was detained, recently.
A military official tells CNN there's every reason to believe the Pakistani Intelligence Service, the ISI, protects the Haqqani Network. Something Pakistani, officially, denies. But some believe there's easy proof. The arrest may have been an effort by the Pakistanis to show they cracking down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCES FRAGOS TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: The Pakistani intelligence service, at a minimum, turns a blind eye. Because if they - if they were actively fighting against them, we would have been more successful, right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr, joins us, now, live. Barbara, the Karzai government has courted them. They are linked to the Taliban. They've got ties to Al Qaeda. They're backed by Pakistan's ISI. It almost seems like they're a rogue insurgency controlling - maybe not even rogue, that entire area.
What's the solution?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Put your finger on the problem, because that is really a dilemma right now. Even if US troops can fight against the Haqqanis inside Afghanistan, which they do very successfully. The Haqqanis can keep precutting new fighters, money, funding, equipment, weapons over the border in Pakistan in those safe havens and send them into Afghanistan. The feeling is that this winter may be a turning point where, in the spring, there will be an assessment, were they really successful or have the Haqqanis really just one more year waited out the bad weather, waited out the coalition and, in the spring, they're going to be back fighting again at full force. And if you can't go across the border into Pakistan, there may not really be an answer to this -- Deb.
FEYERICK: Which is -- is the Haqqani network, is it seen as sort of this umbrella group that ultimately when U.S. troops do go home, when they move out, the Haqqani network simply sweeps in and takes over the country, incorporating Taliban, al Qaeda, IS -- all that or their element?
STARR: Well, yes. You know, this is really the issue. I mean you've just laid it out. It's a syndicate. It's a soup of organizations. By all accounts the Haqqanis don't really want to run Afghanistan. The Taliban perhaps do. The Haqqanis aren't that interested in running the government. That's too much effort for them. Intelligence experts say they are more interested in money, influence, smuggling, trying to control trade routes and making all the money they can in this part of the country. The Taliban clearly would like to see Karzai out. They would like to control the government once again. All of these group, basically, working together, at times, fighting against each other at times, but still presenting a multi laired threat to the Karzai government in Afghanistan, to U.S. troops. And unless you can deal with all of this, how do you turn over Afghanistan to the Afghan forces and try and bring U.S. troops home -- Deb.
FEYERICK: All right, Barbara Starr, thank you so much for those insights. Certainly a mixed bag and a lot of work that's going to be done. A different phase in the next year. Thank you so much, Barbara Starr, we appreciate that. Thanks.
STARR: Sure.
FEYERICK: Well, next hour, we'll hear from a reporter who went behind enemy lines to get the untold story of the Taliban. "New York Times" reporter David Rohde joins us live with more on his months spent in captivity after being kidnapped in the middle of a war zone.
And is gasoline headed to $5 a gallon? Could be. We'll find out why and when in "Your Money" coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Well, in "Your Money," if you're struggling now paying $3 a gallon or more for gas, get ready because the situation is going to get a whole lot worse. Maybe. We hear that we might be paying $5 a gallon before long and that's just for regular unleaded. Let's not even get into the cost of the premium grade stuff. CNN's Christine Romans join us now with more on this.
Christine, $5, that's going to put people over the edge.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's a blockbuster prediction from the former Shell president, John Hofmeister. He's predicting that gas will go to $5 a gallon by 2012. Two main reason. One, demand. And not from the U.S. From the rest of the world. The so-called brick countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China. Their middle classes are growing strongly. Millions of people are entering the middle class. They're driving cars. Factories are humming around the world. And you still have the same amount of oil being drilled and produced. That's the big reason there overall.
The second is every critical of American energy policy. He says that we're frittering around the edges about renewable resources that we still don't have a big enough, bold enough plan to both -- he's a former energy industry guy, don't forget -- to drill more but also to do more on solar, to do more on wind power, to do more on renewables and new technologies. This is -- I mean this is sort of how dire he gets. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN HOFMEISTER, FORMER PRESIDENT, SHELL OIL: I'm predicting the age of the energy abyss hits this nation between 2018 and 2020. If we just do the math, do the curves (ph), on what we're not doing and what we should be doing and we just overlay a normal, typical economy, the 20th century energy system was great. But it's old. And we're not replacing it with a 21st century energy system, which needs a combination of old and new.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: A combination of old and new, again advocating for more drilling. He's concerned that there's not enough, you know, new leases, not enough new drilling that will be going on in the Gulf of Mexico. As you know, the big BP disaster has really dampened sort of an appetite for more of that because of the environmental concerns there and the like. But really weighing in here with a pretty bold prediction of $5 a gallon gas, he says, if we continue on this path here.
Pretty dire stuff. I'll tell you, I talked to some other analysts who say, look, $5 is not out of the realm of possibility. They don't think it's going to happen by 2012. They think it's something that happens much further out.
FEYERICK: It's not out of the realm of possibility, and yet at the same time you can talk about solar, you can talk about wind power, you can talk about -- but it really -- it boils down to energy consumption and exactly what everyone is collectively willing to do in order to basically cut down on their consumption, on their use.
Now, some good news, if you do need a little more cash for gas, for example. Now, what about those trading cards if you don't want them. Can you trade them in for cash? Is that a good option?
ROMANS: Can you believe this? So now we're talking about the return season at the mall after the holidays. People returning their gifts. But you can't return a gift card, right, or can you? Believe it or not, there are new websites, several websites where you can trade or cash in a gift card you got. Imagine grandma gets you a Williams Sonoma gift card, but you really want to just buy more songs on iTunes. How can you make that swap? There are actual websites that will let you swap it out or cash it in.
Now, here, let me be very clear here. You end up paying -- there's some of them there, plasticjungle, cardpool.com, giftcardrescue. There's also something called Swag (ph), which is an iPhone application. It downloads the -- you know, how much you have on your card and it makes it much more easier to spend it. There are other places where you can swap with somebody else for a $3.99 fee. You're not going to get your face value, probably. You're going to have to use -- $25 or more has to be on the gift car. You're probably going to get 90 percent to 92 percent of the value of the card.
Someone's making money along the way. Let me be clear. But it is a way for some people who maybe have a pocket full of those gift cards to be able to get some cash out of them if they don't want to use them.
FEYERICK: And, listen, at least you get a little bit of what you want, as opposed to a lot of what you don't want. So, Christine Romans, thank you so much. Be sure to turn in to "Your Bottom Line" with Christine Romans. She's also got a great book out. Her show is Saturday morning, 9:30 Eastern. And, of course, "Your Money" with the host of this show, Ali Velshi, Saturday's at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Sundays at 3:00 p.m.
Well, checking the latest developments in our top stories.
A rescue operation is wrapping up at a ski resort in Maine after a ski lift malfunction left about 200 people stuck high above the slope. A CNN employee was among them and says several people were thrown off -- imagine that -- after the lift lunched to a stop. Five chairs fell to the ground. Six injuries are reported. They fell between 20 and 30 feet.
Well, the misery is far from over for thousands of passengers stranded at snowed in airports in the Northeast. While the weather is improving today, many passengers are being told they're going to have to wait several more days before getting a flight home. More than 5,000 flights have been cancelled since Sunday.
Alfred Kahn, known as the architect of airline deregulation, has died. Under the Carter regulation, Kahn spearheaded the U.S. Deregulation Action of 1978 which opened the way for low-cost airlines, among other things. Cornell University, where Kahn was a professor emeritus, says Kahn died of cancer at his home in Ithaca, New York, yesterday. He was 93.
President Obama vacationing in sunny Hawaii. The only problem, he's getting rained on. So what's he doing? Ed Henry's going to have that and much, much more next in this stakeout. And he's got a little dancing action, too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: If it's "Hawaii Five-O," it must be Ed Henry. As you know, President Obama is vacationing in Hawaii with Mrs. Obama and their two daughters. When it comes to sunny, balmy weather, the 50th state, well, it's not being very accommodating. Our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry, is on the stakeout in Hawaii.
Ed, does the president ever really relax? Does he just basically put the Blackberry away? What's he doing? How are they dealing with everything?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's funny, they have these what they call dashboard dolls here in Hawaii that they sell of the president. They're sort of like the big bobble heads but they're just a little smaller and people actually do put them on their dashboard. And they have several of the president. And one of them has him in like golf attire but he has a Blackberry on his belt. And I think that does sum him up. I mean he's still, as president, you're never fully off, obviously. But I think this year is the vacation the president really wanted last year at this time, but instead, with that attempted terror attack in Detroit, which you covered and you'll remember, it clearly -- it kind of threw off the vacation plans.
So this time he's really, finally, kind of just hanging out, hanging loose. He played a little bit of golf then yesterday. Did a little bowling and basketball because it was raining a bit. Played with his daughters and some family friends.
And then he took the kids out for shaved ice. Now, this is a big Hawaiian tradition, which is -- it's sort of like a snow cone and they take that sort of shaved ice and they put all kinds of syrup on it. They can throw ice cream in there. They can throw these really sweet Asian beans in there. There's all kinds of stuff and it sometimes -- just becomes this big mess. The kids love it, but, you know what, the adults like it too.
And another Hawaiian tradition is hula. And I got a hula lesson yesterday. And you're not going to believe this, Deb, we filmed it and you're going to see it next hour.
FEYERICK: You know, I've been looking for some new moves, Ed. I didn't think I'd be getting them from you, but I will pay attention to that.
HENRY: I'm not sure I'm going to be able to give you that.
FEYERICK: Well, what do we -- first of all, what's also this that we've been hearing about the president. He called the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles football team. What kind of a call was that?
HENRY: Yes. Well, it's interesting, because the headline about all of that is that on that phone call, the White House confirms, and we've got an item posted on our blog that our colleague, Suan Ti (ph) wrote up, that basically says that they talked about Michael Vick, you know, the very controversial quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, having a phenomenal year after spending time in prison. And that President Obama, on this call, the White House confirms, you know, said, look, he's having a great year. Everybody deserves a second chance. That obviously caused a huge headline.
Now, the White House explanation is that he is actually calling the owner of the Eagles to talk about alternative energy. A lot of people rolling their eyes at that and saying, no, he was really -- he's a sports fan, he was calling about Michael Vick. But the bottom line is that the Eagles recently announced that their -- Lincoln Financial Field, where they play there in Philly -- and, by the way, it was delayed because of the snowstorm.
They finally going to play their game against the Vikings tonight. It was supposed to be on Sunday night. That snowstorm delayed everything -- is, they've just announced that their field has something like 80 percent of the stadium is now fueled by alternative energy sources. A big initiative for the president. Allegedly that's why he called Jeffery Lurie, the owner of the Eagles, and then they started talking about Michael Vick as well. So bottom line is, it certainly caused a little bit of a stir that the president was weighing in on this whole controversy. But he's a sports fan and he thinks Michael Vick deserves a second chance.
FEYERICK: Absolutely. Michael Vick, he did a crime. He served his time. So, you got to say, OK, if nothing else, he's got his talent. And he did was he was supposed to do.
Anyway, OK. But I'm sure they were talking about the solar energy. Ed Henry, we're going to get those hula lessons. I just really want to see you in the outfit. Anyhow, we'll check back with you --
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: Just wait until next hour.
FEYERICK: That's right.
Well, if this week is the last big hurrah before making a new year's resolution to diet, you're not alone. But which diet is the one for you? Important thing us should know before you stop eating. After the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Happening now: the northeast blizzard may be over but airports are still struggling to return to normal operations. The general manager or New York's LaGuardia Airport says it will probably be two or three days before the airlines there are back to a regular schedule.
At JFK International Airport, a little further away, hundreds of travelers leaves passengers stranded in planes stuck on the tarmac. It's not immediately clear why the people were not allowed to get off that plane.
And, a rescue operation is wrapping up at a ski resort in Maine, after a ski lift malfunction left 200 people stuck high above the slope. A CNN employee was among them, says several people were thrown off the lift after it lurched to a stop. Six injuries were reported. Those falls, reportedly about 30 feet.
It's that time of year when many of us make a new year's resolution to go on a diet. But if choosing which plan to follow isn't confusing enough, 2011 brings something new: a diet war between two unlikely adversaries.
Here to break it down for us is senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
Elizabeth, battles?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: A battle, yes. Yes, Deb.
Remember the Atkins people? We haven't heard much from them in the past few years. But they are now out with -- they're armed. They're really armed for bear about this diet called the Dukan diet. Now, many people haven't heard of it, but when I show you this picture, it might ring a bell.
This is Carole Littleton. She's the mother of the future Queen of England and she's been telling people how much weight she lost on the Dukan diet. It's a high protein diet just like Atkins, in fact, many people would say that the differences are very subtle. But the Atkins people are not very happy about how much attention the Dukan diet is getting. And they put out a statement that says, "The Dukan diet has nutritional recommendations that simply don't make sense or are guaranteed to fail."
My goodness. To fail. So here you have it. I think we'll be hearing more about this battle in the coming year -- Deb.
FEYERICK: All right. So they're guaranteed to fail. I don't know, it's called a diet, isn't it? But, what are the differences, really between the two? The physical -- what can I eat, what can I not eat?
COHEN: Well, they're both high protein diets. And according to Atkins, the big difference is that the Dukan diet is more casual, it sort of allows you to eat more of what you want. And Atkins says that that simply won't work.
Now, we tried to get a hold of the Dukan people and we couldn't get a hold of them. But, I'll tell you, having covered this for 20 years, I will say, you know what, the diet is not what determines your success. It's the dieter. You go on Dukan, you go on Atkins, you go on Weight Watchers, you go on Jenny Craig, whatever. It is all really up to you whether you're really going to follow that diet or whether you're going to let it all go.
FEYERICK: And, realistically, how can a dieter just make sure that they're going to keep the weight off regardless of whether they choose Dukan or Atkins or whatever else is out there?
COHEN: Right, exactly. Choose the diet that you want and then you got to come up with skills and tactics in order to stick with it.
There's this great study they did out in Colorado of 6,000 successful dieters who lost a lot of weight and kept it off. And I'll tell you, I think those are the best people to ask for tips because they're the ones who actually did it successfully. And what they found when they looked at these 6,000 people is that they had certain things in common.
For example, they tended to eat breakfast because that seemed to control their hunger throughout the day. If they skipped breakfast they kind of loaded up on calories too much later in the day.
Also, weigh yourself once a week. These folks were really pretty rigorous about knowing what they weighed. And they could tell if they gained a couple of points, they needed to do something differently.
And, also they tended to make healthy friends. And, Deb, what I mean by that is they surrounded themselves with people who ate right and who exercised. If you surround yourself with people who are eating poorly or who don't work out, or don't do any kind of exercise, well, you're going to tend to follow that pattern. So, surround yourself by people who you want to be like. If you want to look like them, you want to be their friends.
FEYERICK: Sure. And the truth is, frankly, if they're outdoors, you're more likely to be outdoors, you're more likely to go on a walk, you're more likely to do healthier things.
But, also this week, Jenny Craig, she's announcing a big change to her program and that also takes in exercise.
COHEN: It does. It's really interesting. Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers really haven't changed their programs all that much over the years. But this year Weight Watchers announced a difference in how they count their points and Jenny Craig announced that they have this new arm band.
And it's interesting. You wear it and calculates how much you're moving throughout the day. So if you're moving a lot and you've got a lot of activity going on, then they'll let you eat more. If they find that you're kind of a slug and you're not really doing very much, they may decrease your caloric intake.
And it really, actually, when you think about it, it makes sense. That, you know, how many calories you need to take in, is really pretty much based on what your size is, how much weight you want to lose, and how much activity you do. So they're trying to put that into the equation.
FEYERICK: All right. Well, Elizabeth Cohen, certainly lots to think about. I'll going to have a diet soda when I'm done.
Thank so much for joining us.
Moving on. Killed in the line of duty. The latest in the Afghan war. Next, in Globe Trekking.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Time for a "Globe Trekking." Our first stop, war in Afghanistan.
Two NATO troops killed in the southern part of the country. NATO says both were killed by improvised explosive devices in separate areas; the coalition did not release their nationalities.
In another report, NATO said more than 15 insurgents were killed in separate operations by NATO and Afghan forces. Those engagements occurred in southern and eastern Afghanistan over the last 24 hours.
And an update on a story we told you yesterday. In the second straight day, suspected U.S. drones have attack Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region. Intelligence officials tell us that the two separate strikes killed total of 10 militants. U.S. military officials say the attacks are necessary because Taliban, and other insurgent groups used Pakistan as a base to launch attacks into Afghanistan.
Based on CNN count, today's attacks raised the number of drone strikes to 110 this year. That's double compared to 52 in all of last year.
Now to the Ivory Coast and rising concern the Afghan country could soon be engulfed in civil war. Leaders from three African countries held talks with embattled President Laurent Gbagbo today in the latest bid to get him to step down. Gbagbo is refusing to make way for his opponent who is internationally recognized as president elect.
Ouattara's victory in last month's election was overturned by the Constitutional Council citing claims of vote rigging. The Council is headed by an ally of the sitting president.
Supporters of the president accuse the U.N. of interfering in the crisis. Here's what the president had to say about the U.N.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURENT GBAGBO, PRESIDENT OF IVORY COAST (through translator): We have a problem with United Nations operation in Ivory Coast. It was considered here like an impartial force . Since we noted that this partial force took sides with Ouattara, we are against them, because they are against us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: As for Outtara, he's demanding Gbagbo to leave office now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALASSANE OUTTARA, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF IVORY COAST: Mr. Laurent Gbagbo risks exposing our country to new violence. I would like for one last time to ask him to bend to the choice of Ivorian people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: And the U.N. says at least 173 people died in violence, triggered by the election in the Ivory Coast.
Next, outrage in Bolivia triggered by the government's big hike in fuel prices. These demonstrators in the streets of the capital, La Paz, are just the latest protests against the government's move to raise gas prices 73 percent and diesel by 83 percent. Bus drivers have called an indefinite national strike. There are now reports of people waiting in line for hours to buy food because of fear that a hike in food prices will be next.
The government defends the hike saying they've been kept artificially low for years. Officials say it's a bid to crack down on the illegal smuggling of gas and diesel to neighboring countries where fuel prices are much, much higher.
And from brainstorming to taking society and the business world by storm, in today's "Big I" we'll find how our universities are inspiring innovation from one of the brightest minds in the business.
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FEYERICK: Well, in today's "Big I," we're going to be talking and looking at how innovation and entrepreneurship can help improve our economy and create jobs.
The University of Southern California make it their business to find new innovative ideas and turn them into profitable businesses that service the public. They're also working on strengthening the relationship between universities in the government.
Joining us now is Krisztina "Z" Holly, and she's the USC's vice provost for innovation.
Christina, first of all, let's talk about this. Is the USC acting as a lab, or are they acting sort of as a clearing house, finding new ideas, the ones that are profitable?
KRISZTINA "Z" HOLLY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, USC STEVENS INSTITUTE FOR INNOVATION: Well, universities, the main mission of universities, is to discover new knowledge and teach new knowledge. And as part of that mission, it's really part and parcel to it to try and make the greatest impact possible to serve society's needs.
So what we do, and the Institute for Innovation, the USC's Institute for Innovation, does is we help serve as that catalyst to try to connect people and to indentify some of the most exciting things that are happening in the labs.
FEYERICK: So you're also working with the governor -- I'm sorry, with government, but how are you helping innovators and entrepreneurs actually get their business off the ground? Is it seed money? Is it idea development?
HOLLY: Well, it's a whole wide range of things. We, as taxpayers in the country, we spend $40 billion to $50 billion a year in research every year. There's a huge amount of innovation already happening in the laboratories, and part of the challenge and part of the opportunity is to really help nurture a culture of innovation and to help develop skills that enable researchers and faculty students to identify opportunities and to learn how to apply those new ideas to real sustainable businesses, sustainable ideas, nonprofits.
FEYERICK: When you say it's a culture of innovation, which is terrific because the mood is obviously towards creating new business, to get the economy back on track, but what are some examples? What have been the best ideas that you're seeing?
HOLLY: Wow. Well, there's a whole -- there's a whole range, and that's one of the most exciting things, is how many different disciplines are coming together and converge. But some examples are restoring sight to the blind. There's a company called Second Sight, for example, that's using this retinal prosthesis that you put it in the eye and it enables people to start seeing again.
And you might have language translation software. A company called Language Weaver (ph) was just acquired earlier this year and a similar company Alelo (ph) that's using language translation technologies to teach culture. So for folks that are going into Afghanistan and in Iraq, to learn a bit about the culture in a gaming environment.
So you can approach these virtual humans in these environments and speak a little bit of the long and take off your sunglasses. And if you do things right and if you have started to learn how to, you know, speak in that culture, then the people in the game start to be a lot more helpful and then you can win the game.
FEYERICK: So really, you're looking for ideas, you're looking for innovations that fill the need, that fill a hole, providing culture, for example. Or clearly, sight, that's got to make a lot of people excited about prospects.
HOLLY: Definitely, and it's -- it's -- there's so many benefits that we're talking about. There are the societal benefits and, of course, there's the economic benefits.
And everyone today is really talking about how can we improve our economy, how can we create new jobs. And if you think about it, we, you know, if you think about $40 billion to $50 billion a year in research, that's the real feed stock for new companies, new businesses.
And last year, universities across the country had created over 500 new companies, brand new companies, and over 500 new products went to market and those are creating new companies, new jobs. That's the sort of thing that's really going to be getting the economy started. There's a study done by the Kaufmann Foundation that showed that all net new jobs are created by companies that are less than five years old.
FEYERICK: Well, it's certainly very exciting, new terrain and something to look forward to in the future.
Well, Krisztina Holly, thank you so much. We appreciate your joining us.
More information on this program is on our show blog, CNN.com/Ali.
And checking developments in our top stories, rescue operations wrapping up in a ski resort in Maine after a ski lift malfunction left about 200 people stuck 30 feet above the slope. A CNN colleague who was among them says several people were thrown off the lift after it lurched to a stop. Imagine that. Six injuries are reported.
Authorities are waiting autopsies to confirm whether carbon monoxide poisoning killed five teenagers celebrating a birthday at a hotel in Hialeah, Florida. Police say the teens had left a car running in a closed garage below their room. A motel housekeeper found the bodies yesterday afternoon.
And for the first time since 1946, the NFL will play Tuesday night football. It's to make up the Vikings/Eagles game that was snowed out Sunday in Philadelphia. The NFL says the delay allowed enough time to ensure the stadium, roads and parking lots are cleared.
Nearly a year after Haiti's devastating earthquake, the country is still struggling. Gary Tuchman has a report from Port-au-Prince after the break.
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FEYERICK: And you're seeing some live pictures of one of our crews there driving in Brooklyn. When you talk about New York City, New York City is made up of five boroughs, Brooklyn being one of them, and sometimes the tow trucks do not get to what's known as the outer boroughs as fast as they get to places in Manhattan. They've got a little backpack with them and are broadcasting those pictures live.
Just so you know, the snow on those cars, if it's not dug out, the cars could be there for a couple weeks or certainly longer, if it snows yet again. Those are some of the conditions there in Brooklyn.
Well, it's been nearly one year since a magnitude 7.0 earthquake slammed into Haiti, leaving an estimated 230,000 people dead. The earthquake displaced 1.2 million people and left many parts of the country paralyzed, even now.
CNN's Gary Tuchman takes a look at the devastation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Gary Tuchman in Port-au- Prince, Haiti.
When we arrived here in Haiti the morning after the earthquake, we had no idea how catastrophic this disaster was. We saw the prime minister of the country on the tarmac. He told us the presidential palace was collapsed. He also estimated the death toll to be in the six figures. He was right about the palace and also right about the death toll. At least 230,000 people died, that's literally one out of every 45 Haitians.
In the last few weeks, there's been a cholera epidemic and much violence in the streets after a presidential election that many thought was fraudulent.
This was a terrible tragedy and it continues to stay bad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Gary Tuchman there in Haiti.
Well, the international community pledged billions in aid for Haiti, but the country has expressed frustration over the slow trickle of money that it has actually seen coming in.
And the classroom of the future is already here. We'll meet the robot teachers next.
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FEYERICK: Well, almost 30 robots have started teaching English to youngsters in a South Korean city. Education officials said Tuesday in a pilot project designed to nurture the nascent robot industry, Anki (ph) a white egg-shaped robot developed by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, or KIST, began taking classes Monday at 21 elementary schools in the southeastern city of Dagu (ph).
The 29 robots are about one meter, that's 3.3 feet, high with a TV-display panel for a face wheels around the classroom while speaking to students, reading books to them, dancing to music, by moving their head and arms -- danger, Will Robinson.
The robots, which display an avatar face of a Caucasian woman, are controlled remotely by teachers of English in the Philippines who can see and hear the children via a remote control system. Cameras detect the Filipino teacher's facial expressions and instantly reflect them on the avatar's face, said Sang Day (ph), a senior scientist at the company.
And on this frozen pond in the Watonga, Oklahoma, that's where the pilot of a local TV chopper found this calf slip sliding away to safety with a little bit of help from his friend. The helicopter pilot used the downdraft from the chopper blades to actually push the little guy out of harm's way.
The blizzard's gone and the airports are open, the calf is apparently safe.
