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California Facing Mudslides; MTV Show on Abortion Stirs Controversy; Ski Life Derails, Injuring Some; Ford's New Feature Allows Parents to Block Radio Channels From Teen Drivers; Actress Leaves Spiderman Broadway Musical; Many Aging Baby Boomers Do Not Have Enough Saved to Retire
Aired December 29, 2010 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Good to be back with you.
And we have a lot going on this hour. Here's a quick preview.
We're going to be talking this hour about this controversial new documentary -- perhaps you have seen it -- perhaps your children have seen it -- which follows a teenage couple choosing to end a pregnancy. Stick around for that.
But, first, look at this. Have you seen these pictures? In Michigan -- now, this is the right-hand side of your screen -- a furniture store explodes, and only the owner escapes. Look. It's just a pile of rubble. They are still searching for two victims. We're told those are employees of the store. We will have an update on that.
Also, the mountains of Utah are under an avalanche warning at this hour.
And California bracing for walls of mud to come sliding down.
But I want to begin this hour here in Michigan. Take a closer look with me at this flattened building, and rescue crews just combing through this mess.
Here's what happened. A gas main was leaking just before it exploded. Just for some perspective, this is a Detroit suburb. And people as far away as two miles said they could feel the blast, feel it, hear it, right around 9:00 this morning. Two people are believed to be inside that furniture store still.
The owner, Paul Franks, was able to escape.
But I want you also to check this out. These are photos -- look at this -- this is from a CNN iReporter who lives just a couple of blocks away. Look at that plume of smoke. He says firefighters had just arrived there on the scene of this collapsed building when he, you know, whipped out his cell phone and started snapping these pictures.
Well, that iReporter is Don Nicholson. He's good enough to hop on the phone and join me here live.
And, Don, if you're with me, I want you to just take me back to this morning. I understand you were, you know, as you normally do, driving your son into work, and then boom. What did you hear, what did you feel, Don?
DON NICHOLSON, CNN IREPORTER: I -- quite honestly, I didn't hear and feel anything. I saw fire trucks and police cars rushing by me.
BALDWIN: Huh.
NICHOLSON: And I saw the black smoke straight ahead.
So, I am very involved in the community as it is, so I -- I followed up just to see if I could help out and see anything. And there was -- there was nothing for me to do. The fire trucks were there. The -- the fire department is only two blocks away from where the explosion happened.
BALDWIN: Really?
Well, you know, I had heard from the city manager this morning saying he was two miles away and described it as a loud thud. That's amazing. Perhaps in your car, you just wouldn't feel it.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: But I want to, if we can, guys, pull back up your -- your iReporter -- your -- your photos, because I want you -- I don't know if you're near a TV. But, you know, we're looking at picture. Describe it for me, what you saw. I mean, it looks like the roof is just totally caved in.
NICHOLSON: It's -- it's actually one very large building. And the center building is the Franks Furniture company. And it's one of the very high-end furniture stores in town.
And -- and it's -- they -- the center of the building just collapsed with the explosion. The glass, as you can see, has blown all the way across the five lanes of road. And the building, on the west side, it -- it has windows. There's a large hardware store there. And it just blew the windows right out of the hardware store.
BALDWIN: So, not only this Franks Furniture store, which has been in the community for some 44 years, not only is that --
NICHOLSON: Right.
BALDWIN: -- totally collapsed and shattered, but nearby businesses shattered the windows.
NICHOLSON: Yes. There's probably four -- probably four businesses that were -- were completely -- all the windows shattered in their buildings. There's actually two other businesses in the same building that Franks is part of -- or actually -- I'm sorry -- three buildings. There's one around the side that's a sign company. BALDWIN: Hmm.
NICHOLSON: And I understand he got blown off of his feet, but survived.
BALDWIN: Thank goodness.
NICHOLSON: And the -- and a car was driving by, and I guess, from what I had heard from other people, this car was actually blown off of its tires. You know, it actually went up in the air.
BALDWIN: Wow. How about that?
NICHOLSON: Yes.
BALDWIN: And I'm looking at the pictures, is one perspective for me. But you sort of living through this and seeing it firsthand, I know, is quite another.
Let me just end with this. You -- you -- I don't know if -- you know, how long you've -- you've lived in Wayne, if you knew Paul Franks, the owner of this furniture store --
NICHOLSON: I --
BALDWIN: -- who has been in town for 44 years.
How is he doing? Do you have any idea? What -- what kind of guy is he?
NICHOLSON: He's a fantastic guy. And I'm the president of (AUDIO GAP) club in Wayne. And they have been very helpful to us.
BALDWIN: Hmm.
NICHOLSON: The last I heard, he's not doing well at U-of-M Hospital. We're -- we're praying for him (AUDIO GAP) family, who are the ones that are still in the building.
And, hopefully, something good will come of this. It's a very small community. And the community does come together. It's a population of under 20,000. And whenever there's been a damage or an accident or something, we have -- we have never had anything of this magnitude, but the -- the community always has come together to help out.
BALDWIN: Of course. And that's such a wonderful -- wonderful thing when they do. We're -- we're thinking about you and, of course, Mr. Franks. And we will wait to -- to get a status update on these two people still inside that mess.
Don Nicholson, thank you so much for hopping on the phone.
NICHOLSON: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Also -- thank you. We're also watching round two. Can you believe heavy rains in Southern California? You remember round one. I was talking about this, what was it, last week. It caused big problems late last week, especially right here. This is Highland, California, inundated by mud.
And Casey Wian is back out there for us today.
And, Casey, do I dare ask, has the rain begun again?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Actually, the rain has stopped, Brooke, for the time being. We're not sure if we have got more coming this afternoon or not.
But what's amazing is, since about 3:30 in the morning, local time, we have had between a half-an-inch and an inch of rain, which isn't a lot of rain. But if you look behind me at this mess, you can see what any rain can do now, because the ground is so saturated.
We have had crews out here all morning trying to clean up this mess. We have had California Department of Corrections inmate volunteers out there placing those sandbags that you see over here behind me to try to prevent more water from running into these homes.
Over the last week or so, we have had 150,000 sandbags put throughout this small town here in San Bernardino County. What homeowners are now telling us is they're very, very frustrated.
We have got a couple of homeowners in -- behind us here who backyards are under -- and I think we have got some pictures to show you -- between four and five feet of mud. And that's from last week's storm.
Today was the first day many of them were allowed back in their homes to start cleaning them up.
And we spoke to one homeowner here. And she is very, very frustrated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LESLIE BEST, HOMEOWNER: My priorities, I know, are different than the city's priorities. And my priority was to get as much damage and mud out of the house.
And I had volunteers yesterday, but only for four hours. And, essentially, they're not letting volunteers in today, all things considered. So, you know, any of us know that you have got to take -- make use of daylight and without any rain. And we have had five days of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIAN: You know, we have got storm drains that were apparently clogged before that storm last week, and that's what folks are very angry about. Local officials have cleared those over the past several days.
And the -- the water, despite what you're seeing behind me here, throughout most of this community is not causing as much damage as it has in the past. A lot of cleanup ahead of us and a lot of questions to be answered by local officials, because residents say that this storm was a lot more devastating than it needed to be -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Yes, I can't believe the pictures inside that home, just the chunks of inches of mud. And that was from a week ago.
Chad Myers, jump in here, because I know the big problem is mud. And, hopefully, they're getting, you know, some help that they very much so need.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, this wasn't even a big storm. This was two inches. Like Casey said, this was nothing. This -- this storm would have meant nothing, had we not had 10 inches of rain last week.
BALDWIN: Hmm.
MYERS: So, all of a sudden, you have ground that just cannot hold any more water.
Literally, when you step on that land --
BALDWIN: Look at that.
MYERS: -- it just sloshes. That's all it does.
There's no place for water to go, except downhill. And this town, Highland, is on the bottom of the hill.
BALDWIN: Hmm.
MYERS: This is the San Bernardino Mountains right up the -- go north here about half-a-mile, you're up into the mountains, although you can't really see the mountains from any of these pictures, which surprised me.
But maybe right behind there, you can see that there is -- there is no sun back there.
BALDWIN: Mm-hmm.
MYERS: There's no sky back there. The mountains go straight up.
BALDWIN: The mountains.
MYERS: And -- and it's all that's -- all that rain came right down the canyon.
BALDWIN: Oh.
MYERS: And it's not done yet. Even though it's stopped raining for the most part, some of this land is called supersaturated, which means it's just holding on by a little bit of friction between the dirt and molecules, if you will.
BALDWIN: OK.
MYERS: Any quarter-inch of rainfall can get that supersaturated land to start to slide again. It's almost --
BALDWIN: Any itty-bitty little inch.
MYERS: Any --
BALDWIN: Any bit.
MYERS: Any little bit.
And, even though -- and -- and maybe nothing comes down again --
BALDWIN: Sure.
MYERS: -- but you can -- it can start to slide all on its own.
If you hear things cracking in the middle of the night, and you know that you live below a berm area, or you know that land has been moving above your house, you need to wake up and figure out what's going on, because there shouldn't be that kinds of cracking.
BALDWIN: We are --
MYERS: It can happen tonight.
BALDWIN: -- thinking about them in Southern California. I just got back from out there, hit just in perfect time, the respite from the rain. But here we go again.
Let me follow up with this. We're thinking also about Utah and this avalanche watch.
MYERS: Correct.
BALDWIN: Not a warning. It's a watch.
MYERS: No.
BALDWIN: So, what does that mean?
MYERS: The only avalanche warning is for Mount Hood.
BALDWIN: OK.
MYERS: And that's because it's been snowing up there forever and -- and literally snow is moving, snow is coming down in avalanches in -- on Mount Hood. But --
BALDWIN: What's happening in Utah?
MYERS: Utah, they could pick up three to four feet of snow above the benches, above Salt Lake City, and into the ski resorts. BALDWIN: Hmm.
MYERS: That's great. But you need to stay on the terrain. You need to stay on the marked terrain and not go backcountry skiing --
BALDWIN: Mm-hmm.
MYERS: -- unless you know where you're going, you have been there before, because they're -- they're -- on top of these mountains now, there are -- there are -- there are crusts of snow that have been blown over the top.
BALDWIN: Mm-hmm.
MYERS: And, all of a sudden, these overhangs can let go. And as overhangs let go, it may only be a -- a small overhang, but it --
BALDWIN: Like that.
MYERS: But it can --
BALDWIN: I don't care if you know what you're doing or not. It's just not smart.
MYERS: It can start other snow going down the hill.
BALDWIN: Yes.
MYERS: This -- this is a big snow event for the West, another big one, not a big rain event for Southern California, but for -- for Sierra, for Tahoe, for -- for Snowbowl in Arizona, and -- and right on through Telluride --
BALDWIN: Mm-hmm.
MYERS: -- where most of the snow we had before was north. It was Summit County. It was Jackson Hole.
I want to get to that story, too, that plane that just ran off the runway in Jackson Hole. That's where the snow had been. This is farther -- the snow is a little bit farther south, so good news for other skiers. But you need to be careful.
BALDWIN: Speaking of that airline, let's a quick update.
Chad Myers, thank you very much.
MYERS: Sure.
BALDWIN: Here's the story, here's the update, really, on that American Airlines flight that ran off the runway. That was Jackson Hole, as Chad just mentioned. That is in Wyoming. The aircraft, we have learned, is a Boeing 757.
And we're told none of the 181 passengers and crew on board was injured. So, that is excellent news out of Jackson -- Jackson Hole. And now to this: a terrifying leopard attack, the whole thing caught on video. It invaded this entire village. Wait until you see how the locals battled it. Try to guess. You won't. That is ahead.
Plus, it is no longer the snow making news in the Northeast. Rather, it's the cleanup. And people are furious. Now mayors are on the defense. The angry battle over the blizzard is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM.
I want to take you cross-country now, all the way east, where the knee-deep and sometimes neck-deep snowdrifts no longer make for delightful winter scenes there in New York City. No, it stopped being charming, mmm, when the streets jammed up with unplowed snow.
Look at this. Cars and trucks look like buried turtles for the third straight day. And walking along the sidewalk, getting to work on time, forget about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can't get where I want to go. Of course it inconvenienced me. It doesn't allow me to get to work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not easy, but we have to understand that the -- the city cannot be everywhere at one time.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: We take our emergency, lifesaving responsibilities very seriously. And I'm extremely dissatisfied with the way our emergency response systems performed. And, as I announced yesterday, we're going to take a look at everything we did to see if it could be done better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Now, look, there's no way I can show you the -- the post-blizzard headaches everywhere up and down the Northeastern Seaboard, Jersey, Boston, up the Connecticut coast, anywhere you look in those five boroughs of New York, the snow getting gray, getting dirtier.
Where plows can work, they are just shoving it sideways to clear the streets. And for those of you who can actually get around, it's slow, it's slippery, it's dangerous. Try driving that car, walking along that ice. Don't even, you know, start with the airports here, flights canceled, about 10,000 of them.
And each one recommends hundreds and hundreds of frustrated passengers, a lot of them still stranded as I speak. And they are the -- the ones lucky enough to make it inside the airport terminal. The backlog is the worst, we're told, at JFK International in New York.
CNN's Susan Candiotti is there for us today -- Susan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Amid the sunshine and the snowdrifts here at JFK, we can report to you that four runways are now up and running, which should help alleviate some of the backlog of all those flights that were stopped and delayed because of the blizzard on Sunday.
However, there were more troubles overnight. More than a half- dozen air carriers had planes stranded on the tarmac here at JFK for anywhere from six hours to up to nine hours because there weren't gates available once those planes landed.
One of the passengers who was stuck on a flight from Mexico City to JFK talked about what it was like. She said her flight was smooth, but, once they landed, that's when everything went wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They said, OK, in one hour, we have the gate. Pass an hour, and they said, in two hours more. And the total was seven hours. That's the -- the -- the worst part of the story.
CANDIOTTI: And when that passenger got off the plane, she said going through customs was a breeze. Getting her baggage was not. It took her at least two hours to get her luggage before she was able to move on. And we heard similar stories.
The problem is this. The airport says it remains up to the airlines to make sure, before they take off from wherever they may be, that they have to make sure that there is gate space available at JFK. Obviously, they said, despite the fact that they were told that time and again, apparently, the warnings did not always work.
But things do appear to be slowly getting back on track now, though it will take several days, they say, to make up for the backlog.
Susan Candiotti, reporting from JFK Airport in New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Can't help but feel for those people in that terminal.
Susan, thank you.
And, you know, we're all over the snow emergency in the Northeast all day today.
But, before I move on, let me show you real leadership in action. You know, this is the kind of action I'm talking about. This is not political. The blizzard threatened to shut down the city of Newark, New Jersey. So, the mayor of Newark hung up the phone, bundled up and grabbed a shovel. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CORY BOOKER (D), MAYOR OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: We're in a state emergency here in New Jersey. Are you trying to go straight? Stop. Go ahead.
But I also have a great twitter feed of residents who are letting me know what's happening, letting me know if they need help.
We have gotten diapers to people, delivered food. One pregnant woman who was going into labor, or at least thought she was, we were able to get there before the ambulances could. And we actually got an ambulance unstuck.
We got a major snow plow here stuck. They're urgently needed on streets throughout the city. So, this is a real point of leverage here, as they say. And it looks like we're making progress. This is one -- one heavy guy. If we can get this one truck out, he can go on and help dozens of other blocks tonight.
If you want to get a lot done, you have to give up something to get it. And, so, tonight -- today, the -- what I'm giving up is sleep --
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: -- and also a functioning back probably after a few more days. I'm sure I -- I won't be able to get out of bed as easy as I used to.
I'm just inspired, frankly, though, because whenever you see a crisis, you see the best in people. And so many people are coming together in Newark. Every time we stop to help people out, more and more people jump to help push a car out, help get someone unstuck.
And that's very inspiring. Maybe there's a lesson in snowflakes. Individually, we're a little weak, but when we stick together, there's a lot of strength there.
Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Well, there are some disturbing developments in this busted terror plot. Police say the suspects targeted a major newspaper. We will tell you that story ahead.
Plus, there is finally word as to whether or not Brett Favre will be punished for some alleged "sext messages" to a former co-worker. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, checking some of our other top stories for you.
Want to begin with this scene. Emergency crews are looking for two people still trapped by an explosion at a furniture store in suburban Detroit. Wayne City Manager John Zech says he was just two miles away this morning, but he felt the blast when it happened. He blames a natural gas leak.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ZECH, WAYNE CITY MANAGER: I was told just before we began that there was a call earlier this morning prior to the explosion about someone smelling gas, and that Consumers was called and were on the site looking for the -- the problem. And then the explosion occurred shortly after 9:00.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The owner of that furniture store was pulled from the rubble this morning, taken to the hospital. We're told he is in critical condition.
In Europe, authorities there say they have stopped an imminent Mumbai-style attack in Denmark. In fact, they have arrested four men they describe as Islamist militants with links to international terror networks. Raids at locations outside Copenhagen turned up a machine gun, a matching silencer and live ammunition. The target is believed to be that same Danish newspaper that back in 2006 published -- remember that controversial cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed which prompted international protests?
Well, Danish and Swedish authorities had been tracking the men and closed in when it became apparent the strike was imminent.
And the NFL deciding on a punishment for Brett Favre. Here you go. The Minnesota Vikings quarterback is accused of texting inappropriate messages and sending lewd photos of himself to Jenn Sterger when the two worked with the New York Jets.
Well, today, the NFL fined Favre $50,000 for failing to cooperate with the league's investigation into the matter, but Favre will not be suspended. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell could not determine if Favre violated workplace conduct policies based upon the evidence available.
And, you know, there are some popular shows on MTV right now. Perhaps your little ones or -- maybe they're bigger -- teenagers are watching that explore the realities of teenagers having babies. And there are these teen mom shows. Are they glamorizing teen pregnancies or are they perhaps scaring children? You have to hear the story. If you're a parent, watch it.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Welcome back.
You know, I want to show you something that really caught our eye today. You have two unwed parents faced with the prospect of raising a second child because the teenage mother has just gotten pregnant again. This is from a special. It aired last night on MTV. And I want you to listen to this discussion. Who knows, perhaps for you, it might ring familiar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "NO EASY DECISION")
MARKAI, SINGLE MOTHER: If we have this other child, just imagine how bad it will be. Like, I don't want (INAUDIBLE) to grow up like me. I mean, I was (INAUDIBLE) I was 8 years old worrying about money. How are we going to get it, are we going to stay in this place, are we going to get evicted, are we going to be moving?
JAMES, SINGLE FATHER: I have been without no water. I have been without no lights. I have been without no food in the house. And that's why I ain't going to put nobody else through that, if I can.
MARKAI: I don't want you working two jobs. Like, that's my dad's excuse for not being in me and my sister's life is because he always had to work. Most likely, I'm going to have to get a full-time job and still go to school. Our kids are never going to see us. Our kids are never going grow up the way that we want our kids to grow up.
JAMES: Yes, and it's like, I mean, not only set our self up to fail, but on top of that set our kids up to fail. And that's one thing I'm never going to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Two young teenage parents. Pretty real, wouldn't you say? Again, that was MTV, whose series "16 and Pregnant" has sparked criticism for allegedly glamorizing teenage pregnancy. Perhaps you agree. Perhaps you don't.
With me on the phone now is Amy Kramer. She is the director of entertainment media of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
And, Amy, thanks so much for getting on, because, I tell you, this had our entire team talking today about this -- about this particular show. And the clip we just watched, just -- I'm curious. Do you -- did that strike you as glamorous?
AMY KRAMER, DIRECTOR OF ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA, NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT TEEN AND UNPLANNED PREGNANCY (via telephone): No, it doesn't strike me as glamorous. And -- and, truly, nothing on any of these "16 and Pregnant" episodes has -- has struck me as glamorous.
I think, if you watch the show, there's no way that you can look at the struggles that these young people are dealing with and say, oh, that's what I want. That looks great. That looks glamorous and sexy.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: So, instead, Amy, what -- what was your takeaway, listening to that clip? What did you make of it? KRAMER: Well, I thought the whole special last night was rather extraordinary. You know, we rarely hear these kinds of conversations going on among people of any age when it comes to terminating pregnancies.
And I think what the special did, which is what all of these "16 and Pregnant" episodes have done, is show that, once there's a pregnancy, every road ahead is really hard, whether you choose to be a parent, whether you choose to make an adoption plan, which we have seen on "16 and Pregnant," or whether you choose end that pregnancy. All of those decisions are really difficult.
BALDWIN: And, you know, I sat down. I watched the entire half- hour this morning. And, before we play another clip, because there was one clip that really struck me, so wait for that, but I just have to play devil's advocate, because some may say, hang on. You know, the mother -- her name is Markai -- Markai -- she got herself pregnant.
She talks about how she skipped her Depo shot, her birth control shot. You know, onus is on her. And here she is. MTV is putting her on TV, giving her perhaps a sliver of fame.
What do you say to those people that -- that still say, you know, having a documentary on abortion, their choice to have this abortion, it is -- still, those people say, it's glamorous; they're making her famous?
KRAMER: Well, we -- we actually did some -- some research earlier this year about that very topic. And 82 percent of teens who have seen the show say that it doesn't glamorize teen pregnancy.
In fact, they say that it helps them better understand the challenges of pregnancy and parenting.
BALDWIN: And I think --
KRAMER: And that's really important, because, you know, teenagers -- the vast majority of teen girls who get pregnant -- there are 750,000 girls who got pregnant in the U.S. this year.
BALDWIN: Hmm.
KRAMER: Most of them didn't think it would happen to them.
So, once you start personalizing these risks and these consequences, it helps you have make better decisions to actually prevent pregnancy.
BALDWIN: And this is very, very personal between Markai and her -- and James.
And I want to play this clip, because, to your point about the 82 percent who really said, look, this, you know, began conversation, you see the challenges of becoming pregnant and how to avoid it, the couple, they opt for this abortion. That's what essentially this 30 minutes is about.
And the day after the abortion, I want you to -- I want to play the part of it. This is the part that really struck me. There's this whole discussion between the two about James having referred to the pregnancy -- he's talking to -- to Markai -- refers to the pregnancy as a thing.
Listen to that, and then we will talk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARKAI: A thing can turn out like that. That's what I remember. A thing can turn out just like that. Nothing but a bunch of cells can be her.
JAMES: This wasn't just a difficult decision for her because if I did see ten fingers and ten toes, I wouldn't be able to do it. We agreed when we laid out all our options that we weren't going to get too attached.
MARKAI: We made the decision, but it -- like, I wonder if we could have made a better one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I wonder if we could make a better one. Amy, when you watch, this is after she had the abortion, it's not like she walked away and said, whew, great decision, moving on. It's very clear this weighed on her. And I think to your point, it will show young girls and guys a window into the world of teen pregnancy and how to avoid it.
KRAMER: Exactly. Exactly. And I -- I can't -- I can't praise James and Markai enough for their generosity and their courageousness in allowing people to be a part of this incredibly personal chapter in their lives. And I think that the way that they've discussed it and how they're experiencing it is exactly how millions of other women and men experience this very same issue. It's not an easy decision.
BALDWIN: It got us talking. I think it's getting a lot of people talking no matter where you fall on the issue. It's sensitive but it's getting young people talking. And perhaps that was precisely the point. From MTV, Amy Kramer, thank you so much.
KRAMER: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Now take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SHOUTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Look at this. This is an aggressive leopard attacking an entire village. The whole thing caught on video. You'll see how the brutal fight got between the cat and the locals. That is minutes away.
But up next, an alleged assault onboard a plane. Police say a man smacked a teenager because he wasn't following the rules. That story is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: OK. Most of you probably don't want to admit this, but you might have wanted to do this at some point or another time, smack a misbehaving teen for not following the rules, even if that teen is not your child.
Look at this man. This is an Idaho man apparently did precisely that and was arrested. Police say Russell Miller hit a 15-year-old in the arm on a Southwest flight from Las Vegas Tuesday night. The report says the teen refused to turn off his iPhone despite requests from the flight crew. Apparently this teenager was traveling without his parents. He was not seriously hurt. But the smack left a bit of a mark.
The flight was preparing to lands at the airport there in Boise, Idaho. You know the deal, whether you agree with the rule or not. You sit in an airplane and they ask you to turn anything with an on/off switch to turn it on.
The worry is it could interfere with the planes navigation systems. Miller said he wanted this young man to turn it off. He was protecting the plane, so he feels like his actions, the smack, were justified. Miller has been charged with misdemeanor battery.
Parents are able to keep their kids from looking at certain TV channels, certain websites. But what about not listening to certain radio stations? Is that possible? That is next.
Plus, will the Spiderman musical end before it begins? Yet another major problem for the most expensive Broadway production ever. Kareen Wynter is standing by. That is "Trending." Kareen is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: It is time for what is "Trending." And Ford Motor Company giving parents a little more control over what their teens are listening to in the car. Also another Spiderman actress bites the dust. An MTV star Amber Portwood to be reunited with her baby.
A lot is going on today. Kareen Wynter is here to help me out with all of this. There she is in Los Angeles. Cue video "Kill the Radio Star." Nice job, Troy. That's a shout-out to our AP on the show. He was excited about that, because we're talking about the radio and Ford specifically and they want to censor -- I guess give parents the ability to censor what their kids could be listening to.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: He's not the only one excited. I'm excited. I say go forward. My babies won't reach driving age for another 13, 14 years, Brooke. But I'm one of the parents who think this is a fabulous idea. Ford is putting the brakes on young drivers, Brooke. That's because parents will soon have a chance to be the real ones in the driver's seat.
The automaker just announced it's working on a little system that will allow parents to, get this, block 16 channels on Sirius's satellite radio that carry adult programming. So bad news for all those teen Howard Stern fans.
And Ford just says they're just all about safety, that some of this raunchy programming could distract less mature ears. So they're censoring young drivers. This is how it will work. It will come with a special key, and also, get this, the system will allow parents the capability to have mute the audio in the car until their kids buckle up. Fantastic, love it, love it, love it. No wonder a majority of the parents that Ford surveyed were in favor of this.
And we reached out to Sirius. We're still waiting to hear back from them.
BALDWIN: I see. Let's talk about this trending number two item. I was so excited at the potential of maybe one day seeing this musical, but I don't know if I ever will. Talk to me about Spidey and this actress that is now bowing out.
WYNTER: Boy, has this show been plagued by so many problems. We're still working to confirm what could be new developments in this trouble-ridden Broadway production, "Spiderman, Turn off the Dark." It reportedly involves one of the actresses, Natalie Mendoza. She apparently said adios to the show. She left.
This is according to the "Wall Street Journal" We reached out to her publicist as well as some reps for the show who are right now keeping mum at the moment.
This is -- like you said, Brooke, this is a huge production, a multimillion dollar production. But it's taken quite a hit. We have shocking video of a recent incident where one of their stuntmen fell 20 feet and was really banged up. That led to a brief show cancellation. Things were up and running again at the end of last week. But you really wonder in the world is going on here.
The musical hasn't even officially opened, not until February, and things are off to a choppy, not to mention dangerous start.
BALDWIN: The director is famous. She put on "Lion King" on Broadway and Bono on the Edge. It has a lot of buzz but in the negative sense lately.
Finally let's talk about "Teen Mom." We were just talking about "16 and Pregnant" on MTV and it's this spinoff, "Teen Mom." And Amber, I think we reported yesterday she was arrested for beating up her boyfriend. Now the news is what?
WYNTER: The news is now she'll be reunited with her kid. But when you think of reality TV, so many of these stars, they have a tough time in and out of spotlight. Amber Portwood of MTV's "Teen Mom" was locked up on Tuesday for beating up her ex-fiance Gary Shirley. We just got off the phone with authorities in Indiana. They gave us information. She of course released from jail. She was charged with three counts of domestic battery, also felonies. She was also charged with neglect of a dependent, her little girl Leah who she will be reunited with. She can see her baby, but they're saying no contact with the ex. So let's hope for now she stays out of trouble.
BALDWIN: How long is her little one?
WYNTER: Two, she's just two. She's a baby.
BALDWIN: Wow. Kareen Wynter, thank you so much.
WYNTER: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Now look at this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody who has ever been engaged and getting married, they are just incredibly happy right now.
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BALDWIN: He's talking about a couple that got engaged on Christmas Eve, but then hours later left to go off-roading and never came home. They're story is ahead.
Also, it is ever skier's nightmare. The chairlift hanging out up high in the air, it breaks. It happened to hundreds of people in Maine. Now, investigators say they know what happened. That's next.
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BALDWIN: Got a quick update on our story at the top of the hour, that whole furniture store explosion in Wayne, Michigan, the one in which the owner Paul Franks, was removed from the rubble. Take a look at the pictures here, removed. He's at a hospital in critical condition.
The big other people in this is there are two people still missing apparently still inside that collapsed building. We're told there will be a news conference at the top of the hour, so in just about 15 minutes from now. We'll keep an eye on that and listen in and let you know of any developments that could come out of that, again, in 15 minutes out of Wayne, Michigan.
But to another frightening one we broke this here on CNN just yesterday, the whole ski lift. Remember this story? It came apart while it was loaded down with skiers. This is in Maine. It's one of those chairlifts, the kind you sit on with your legs, your skis dangling beneath you.
People riding this lift said they felt a jerk and suddenly fell 30 feet to the ground there. Eight people in total were hurt, and apparently a cable slipped out of a pulley. Today state safety regulators in Maine say the gusting wind is likely the culprit, although they are still investigating further. One of our own CNN colleagues Robb Atkinson was riding on the lift when it happened, and he took these pictures that you're looking at right now. And he learned today that even though the ski lift is 35 years old, safety officials don't believe the age of the lift is a factor.
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ROBB ATKINSON, WAS ON SKI LIFT WHEN IT DERAILED: It's regularly inspected. They -- Sugarloaf itself does weekly inspections and sometimes daily inspections on these lifts, according to the spokesperson here. I'm not sure when the last yearly inspection was done.
But, again, this is a total freak accident. You know, I was reading that since 1973 there have only been 12 fatalities on ski lifts. It's an amazing number when you figure 12 deaths out of 40 billion rides on ski lifts. So, really, this is just a freak accident and nobody up here has ever seen anything like this before.
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BALDWIN: Here's the update today. That ski lift as you can imagine, that thing is still closed down today. In all about 200 people were trapped on that particular lift, some for an hour and a half. Five adults, three children, were taken to hospitals.
I want to bring in Chad, because they said the whole wind factor was to blame. Look, I mean, I've never been on lifts in Maine. I've been on lifts out west. It's pretty windy up there. Don't they factor into that when they build those in the first place?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, they do. But there must be a threshold at some point in time where this winds gust surpassed it.
For most of the day I saw wind gusts around this area -- this is a mountainous area, one of the higher mountain peaks in Maine, and winds were like 30. But I saw a few gusts that approached 70 for just a minute or two or even for seconds. And if you take bodies on a lift and all of a sudden you take them and push them to the side with that wind -- you've skid, right?
BALDWIN: Yes.
MYERS: When you go up this lift you look up at these wheels, when you come to the towers. They scare me every time I go over. I didn't know 40 billion went over it successfully.
BALDWIN: I thought the same thing.
MYERS: Between these poles, the line kind of dips down a little bit, goes back up. As it goes over the top of the pole there's a pulley on top of the pole. Inside the pulley the cross-section, it looks like this. And that cable runs right in there, and it's supposed to stay in there. Clearly with the wind gust it jumped out of that hole, out of that valley, and came to the ground.
I heard a lot of reports yesterday that said the cable snapped. That didn't happen. The cable did not snap. Had the cable snapped, all of the people all along this thing would have been crashing to the grounds as the cable and all the weight would have went like that and everybody went to the ground.
Just one of these towers let go of this pulley of this wheel and it fell to the grounds here. So this is what it looked like down here. Everyone else, including our producer, which was right there, everybody else was fine, all of these dangling little things here. But the people on the lifts on the line here were the ones pushed to the ground, fell to the ground 30 to 40 feet.
BALDWIN: How about that. I can't imagine, cannot imagine. Chad, thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
BALDWIN: And now this. It is a ritual for many new parents, grabbing the tape recorder, videotaping the first few seconds of your child's life. Have you done this? So here's my question to you. Should hospitals ban cameras from the delivery room? I'm going to tell you why one hospital is telling parents to keep the cameras out. That is ahead.
Plus, this terrifying leopard attack. This whole video caught on video. You're going to see what happens when villagers tried to fight it off with fire. The gripping video is next.
But, first, this. As the year winds down, CNN reporters around the world are looking back at how some of the biggest stories unfolded live -- how some of the biggest stories live on air, including the 2010 World Cup. Take a look at this.
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ROBIN KERNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Robin Kerno here outside soccer city in Johannesburg, South Africa. Remember this place? This is where the World Cup final was held when Spain beat the Netherlands. But all in all, that month-long football tournament was far more than just sport, far more than just football for South Africans. It was a party.
But it was also a very, very special time for people here because everybody seemed to look past or there was a real sense of unity, of togetherness in South Africa.
As for Africans who watched, there was a deep sense of pride as well because Africans felt that this World Cup football tournament was also theirs and they were very, very proud that it was such a spectacular show and that it silenced the critics that the continent wouldn't be able to put on one of the largest supporting events.
And for the rest of the world who watched, who would have thought the word "vuvuzela" would become such a globally recognized name. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, we are just now getting our first picture of that American airline plane, there it is, just off of the runway there in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This is from apparently one of our iReporters who is sitting inside the airport and was able to snap this picture.
Again, just to remind you, this happened just this afternoon. This was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The aircraft is a Boeing 757 and we're told not a single one of the 181 passengers or a member of the crew on board was injured. But that is our first picture of the plane on a very snow-filled runway in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
And now to this, a shocking animal attack that happened over the past weekend. So a leopard mauled seven people Saturday. This is in northern India after officials say it strayed near a village from a nearby forest preserve.
Well, look at this. The terrifying incident was caught on camera by an onlooker and it started with locals spotted the animal on the out skirts of the town and tried to scare it away. It's running back and forth, and they are frightened.
But disaster struck when they tried to smoke it out of its hiding place. They tried to smoke this -- look at this leopard. The feline lashed out. Obviously the villagers and onlookers were staring at it. It was a cornered animal.
It then dashed up into this nearby forest. Townspeople armed with sticks and other weapons patrolled the area but the leopard managed to escape into the woods. There they go with their fire trying to find him. And in the end five adults, look at his shoulder, five adults and two children were injured because of all of that.
Prince Charles has nearly 150 servants. There is some trivia for you. I think 25 of them are his personal servants. Word on the street is his son William will not have a single one. So what are the prince and Kate Middleton planning to do in married life? Coming up a royal watcher will join me.
Plus, starting this Saturday, 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65 every day for almost the next two decades. So that is going to affect all of us and our wallets. Poppy Harlow is standing by to talk baby boomers. Stay there.
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BALDWIN: Starting in the new year, and we're days away from the new year, can you believe -- 79 million baby boomers will hit age 65 over the next two decades. Retirement, the golden years, right, 79 million baby boomers.
But not so fast. There's one big problem. Many of them have not saved up enough, they haven't saved up enough stopping working ever. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow is following the story and joins me live from New York. Poppy, talk to me about how big of a problem this is.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: It's a huge problem. Starting in January, that is, on Saturday, folks, 10,000 baby boomers are going to turn 65 every single day for the next 19 years. That's pretty much the next two decades.
Unfortunately, as you said, Brooke, a lot of them are not prepared. Sort of a combination here -- pretty poor financial planning on behalf of the baby boomers, but also they were hit with the financial crisis right before retirement.
So overall the stock market has not improved in the last 10 years, so they may have lost money there. They certainly haven't made gains in the last decade in stocks. The housing markets completely collapsed in the last few years, so anyone relying on their home for their retirement money, that has taken a big hit. And pensions are just veering left and right.
Wells Fargo just did a poll of 2,000 Americans, and 72 percent of them, 72 percent said they plan to work entirely through their retirement.
But here's the sticker -- unemployment is still near 10 percent. The question is where are the jobs? And even if these folks can find new jobs or hold on to their jobs until retirement, it's a very, very difficult situation that they are in if they are 55 and over. Here's why. Take a listen.
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LEX HARRIS, MANAGING EDITOR, CNNMONEY.COM: When you're 55 and you've been unemployed for six months or longer, it's just that much tougher harder to get back into the workforce. And what that means is that nothing hurts your savings more than being unemployed because you have to tap that savings.
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HARLOW: So they are getting hit, Brooke, on both ends. They may not have a job. And if they don't, they are tapping on their retirement savings to try to stay afloat.
Now, a pretty troubling statistic coming to us from the AARP, they said, Brooke, older workers in this country right now facing the highest unemployment rate ever since the 1940s in America -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Poppy Harlow with the doom and gloom here at the top of the hour.
HARLOW: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Poppy, thank you.
HARLOW: You got it.
