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Melting Mountains of Snow; Edward Norton Gives Back
Aired December 30, 2010 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 7 a.m. in the west. Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho in for Kyra Phillips this week. Here's some of the stories that have us talking this morning.
We are following a developing story out of Indiana. Just about two hours ago, a 4.2 maginitude earthquake rattled the area just north of Indianapolis. No significant damage has been reported but plenty of rattled nerves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABRIELLE SAUCE, FELT EARTHQUAKE (ON THE PHONE): I was sitting on the couch working, and the house began to shake a little and there were some noises, and then it began to get stronger and stronger, and the China in the cabinets began to shake and rattle, and lasted for a few seconds and then it just kind of died down. So it was very interesting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
New York is still digging out from snow, and it's airports are still wading through the backlog of cancelled flights. All the runways are back in service at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark but officials say it may take another day or two to get really back on schedule.
And who was the most intriguing person of 2010.
We asked you to weigh in on cnn.com. Well, we've counted all the votes, and this hour, we will reveal your top 10 picks.
But first, digging out, earlier on CNN, New York declared that its streets had been plowed finally and the worst is now over from the weekend blizzard but the snow removal raises a new pesky problem, what to do with the mountains of unwanted white stuff. The answer is simple. The city simply melts it.
CNN's Susan Candiotti is at one such hub in the city's emergency response. That is quite a shot there, Susan. So explain to me what exactly to do they do?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they melt. That's what they do. I am five feet tall. Alina, that I know you are equally petite. But look at this - this snow pile has got to be at least 20 feet high and in front of a city street. This is in some lot where they hauled all of the snow off to. And all of the snow that you are seeing up and down the street was brought down here from Times Square. And of course, the idea is they got to get rid of this stuff from Times Square. They keep moving it down here in preparation, of course, for the celebration.
Where does it all go? It winds up at one of several of these snow melter machines. These front loaders as you can see picking up the snow, dumping up on top here and then it's going to get dumped in here and then - well, let's walk over to the end. It go over to this manhole what is opened up for a specially designed sewer drain, goes down here. There are filters in there to catch the large debris and it goes away into the sewer system.
Now, the man who is in charge of this entire operation and in fact, specifically overseeing removal from Times Square in advance of New Year's eve is Chief Al Durrell. You've been doing this for more than 20 years.
DEPUTY CHIEF ALBERT DURRELL, NEW YORK CITY DEPT. OF SANITATION: Yes, I started out as a sanitation worker in 1989 and over the years I worked my way up to the ranks. I'm now -
CANDIOTTI: You moved a lot of snow for all that time.
DURRELL: Yes. It's one of our main concerns. Yes, we become an emergency service when it snows and our job is to remove as much as we can in the quickest amount of time as we can.
CANDIOTTI: How do you calculate how much snow you're able to melt in, let's say, an hour?
DURRELL: Well, we have a snow melter as you can see right next to me. This particular melter can take up to 60 tons of snow per hour.
CANDIOTTI: 60 tons per hour. At the end of the day, when you get through getting rid of all this stuff that accumulated during the course of the storm, what do you add up, the truckloads that you have gotten rid of?
DURRELL: Yes, because - we have the truckloads that dump onto the sidewalks or streets are anywhere from the 20 to 25 to 30 yard containers, and at the end of the day, there's a formula involved and we add up all the tonnage. I mean, we pick up several thousand tons. I mean, it varies depending on the size of the truck and you know, the snow.
CANDIOTTI: Thanks very much, chief. Appreciate it.
And we have his assurance it will be cleared out from Times Square in time for the big party with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffith. How do you like that tease? Back to you, Alina.
CHO: That's right. Those are incredible pictures, Susan. Wow! Stay warm if you can. Thanks so much, Susan Candiotti. Well, if you turned on the news the last several days, you know that New Yorkers have been outraged that the streets have been clogged, neighborhoods were snowbound. Earlier on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING, the man in charge of clearing out those city streets says it was a perfect storm for problems.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN DOHERTY, NYC SANITATION COMMISSIONER (ON THE PHONE): The biggest problems we ran across so far was the depth of snow in many places, and Snow plows getting stuck and not being able to get into streets, along with the tremendous number of abandoned vehicles. People did not listen, went out with their vehicles and got stuck. Even after the storm, they tried to go through some of the blocks, and the snow was anywhere in the CITY from 16 to 29 inches.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Wow!
New York's mayor says he's looking into the reports that the clogged streets may have caused some deadly delays in emergency responses. They are investigating the death of one woman and a newborn baby.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: We take our emergency live- saving 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, starting with the communications and dispatching system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: One woman says it took emergency workers three hours to reach her elderly mother who was having trouble breathing, and by the time medics reached her home, the woman's mother was dead.
Well, the western United States is also taking a pounding from old man winter. Starting in New Mexico, some higher elevations saw close to a foot of snow and at times wind gusts created blizzard-like conditions. Strong winds will be a problem again today.
Meanwhile a dangerous mix of snow, rain and ice made for some treacherous driving in Arizona. In fact, portions of the main artery between phoenix and Flagstaff shut down because semis were sliding off the road.
And in Southern California, they are reeling from its wettest December on record. And that means another round of flooding and mudslides. Rivers of mud have swallowed dozens of homes in the town of Highland. Sand bags circle homes and businesses.
We want to get the latest now on the weather. CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf doing the duty for us over there in the CNN weather center. You have a lot to watch, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hands are somewhat full today. It's the way it's been over the last couple of weeks. It's been really really busy, busy start of winter to say the very least.
The first thing we're going to get started with is the temperature map. You're wondering if we're talking about winter weather, why would we show this? Well, because this beautifully illustrates the jet stream. We got a trough out into the west, we got a ridge right in parts of the east, and we got - your air that's a bit more mild air coming into parts of Texas into the southern plains, but a lot of cold air still piles in towards the west and in the west is where we have our heaviest snow fall.
But still we certainly do have our share of weather in parts of the east. In fact, take a look right into the Ohio Valley, the Tennessee Valley, we see some scattered rain showers, some of these frozen precipitation near Pittsburgh but very light in nature. But out towards the west, as we were just telling you moments ago, it has been some heavy snowfall, especially in parts of the four corners where we have blizzard warnings there remain in effect and possibly topping 60 miles per hour.
But when you look at parts of the (INAUDIBLE) we got from the four corners into the central and northern Rockies and then back into portions of the midwest, everything you see on the map. Do you happen to see a pink or a blue or a purple? That's a warning or a watch or an advisory. And we do anticipate that there is going to be some rough stuff, mostly stemming from the storm system out in the southwest.
Let's put this into motion as we do so from Thursday into Friday, we go, you'll notice intensifying over parts of the northern plains, the western half of the Great Lakes into the arrowhead of Minnesota. A rush of very cold Arctic air. Wraparound moisture can give us heavy snowfall in places like Minnesota. As we fast forward into Saturday, we could see up to a foot of snow or possibly greater in places north of the twin cities and back over towards Thunder Bay and also into the Dakotas and for a chance of thunderstorms also in the Tennessee Valley, Ohio Valley. Should be very interesting as we fast forward in into the new year.
That is a quick snapshot of your forecast. Alina, let's pitch it back to you.
CHO: All right. Reynolds, thank you very much.
Well, new jobless numbers are out this morning and they point to a continued improvement in the job market. How about that? Christine Romans, part of the CNN Money team, she joins us now from New York. So this is something we haven't seen in more than two years? Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is a reading below the number 400,000 for first-time unemployment claims. This is the number of people who file, Alina, for the very first time for jobless benefits. So they just recently have been laid off. This number below 400,000 for the first time since 2008.
Why is that significant? It shows that the mass layoffs - more confirmation that the mass layoffs very earlier this year and last year are over and then the market is getting a little bit better on the front end, meaning the people recently losing their jobs.
You still have six million people who have been out of work for six months or longer. Don't get me wrong, the so-called "99ers," the people who have met up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits, still very tough for hem but on the front end, new people entering the system, the unemployment system. That number falling below 400,000.
Even in good times, I will point out - even in good times, you have 200,000, 250,000, 300,000 people every week filing for the very first time their unemployment benefits. People are always losing jobs in this country but between 400,000 and 500,000 for two years was just really, really negative for the overall labor market. This might be a sign that things are turning around there.
One thing we have to watch for, Alina - I mean, this is the big caveat we want to see this continue into 2011.
CHO: Of course, sure. Right.
ROMANS: You could see the number tick up a little bit beginning of the year as people are laid off from jobs that they had later just around, you know, later this year, seasonal work and the like but -
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: Let's hope that some of those temporary workers turn into permanent workers right? Because they then get the benefits?
ROMANS: That's right and we do know - many surveys have shown that about 40 percent of employers say that they're going to keep their temporary workers full time. If you are one of those temporary workers, be very clear, right upfront, "I'd like to have this job fulltime." Here's what I can do for you, you know, show yourself on the job every day. There will be permanent jobs out of temporary work, right?
CHO: That is good news. All right. Christine Romans, happy new year. A little bit early.
ROMANS: You too.
CHO: I'll probably talk to you again tomorrow. Thanks so much.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
CHO: 2010 has been full of drama and debacles, joy and heart break. Which news maker would you choose as the most intriguing person of the year? We asked, you answered and the winner is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHO: Welcome back. 13 past the hour. Let's take a look at what's happening in the world of entertainment.
Hear the song? Willow Smith already has one hit under her belt "Whip my Hair." Now she's thinking covering one of her dad's famous hits.
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CHO: The memories. Apparently in an interview with Yahoo! Music, Willow said parents just don't understand is a "really great song."
And there's a possibility she will follow in dad's shoes with her own version. And speaking of musical families, Tito Jackson is ready to show off his skills without his brothers. He is set to release a debut solo album. Tito will kick off his tour in Atlanta at the annual Peach Drop celebration tomorrow night, New Year's Eve. His mother, Katherine, is expected to be there.
And Snooki's ball drop gone, a no go. New Year's eve, the "Jersey Shore" star, was supposed to be inside a glass ball and dropped in Times Squire for MTV. Well, guess what event organizers were told not going to happen, wasn't allowed. No word yet if MTV will try to have Snooki do that somewhere else. Let's hope not.
So who is the most intriguing person of 2010? We invited you to vote and your answers are in. Josh Levs is here to unveil the top 10.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is it.
We get to announce it.
CHO: I'm dying to hear who is on the list.
LEVS: Yes, you know what, there is this interactive on the line where people could choose who is the world is the most intriguing. We are going to do a countdown now.
Number 10, viral video guy right here. Take a look.
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LEVS: Antoine Doddson, originally quoted in this local news report about crime, something serious but everyone found him hilarious, and the news guys took it on and made a song out of it. He got proceeds out of it. He performed at the B.E.T. awards. Antoine Doddson folks, number 10.
Number nine, brings us to someone in the news. And this is really interesting, Kim Jong Un.
CHO: Right.
LEVS: The youngest son. CHO: Right.
LEVS: Of North Korea.
CHO: I was actually there - well, I was there at that night when they just in October, when they unveiled him to the world. It was quite extraordinary.
LEVS: Yes, that's right. You were just there. It seems to be a succession plan in place. The experts suggesting that he is probably the next in line to take over for his father, Kim Jong-Il.
Number eight, a man who is kind of disgraced this year, Tony Hayward from BP. This is where you placed him on the list of the most intriguing people of the year, the former CEO Tony Hayward as you recall had some verbal gaffes amid the horror of the oil spill, throughout the summer. At one point saying he wanted his life back, and then went to a yachting race when he was vacationing. They let him go in late July and announced he will be replaced.
Number seven, a woman who is recently - a young woman, Elizabeth Smart. This is where you all placed her, at number seven in the most intriguing people of the year. Really inspirational to a lot of people. 23 year old -
CHO: 23 now, wow!
LEVS: Can you believe that? Time flies.
CHO: Time flies.
LEVS: She was testifying about the kidnapping eight years ago and then she was talking about what it was like to be abducted for so long and in doing that, she was taking time off from her Mormon mission.
CHO: She looks great.
LEVS: She does. And she handled the testimony with class, which was fascinating-
CHO: And grace.
LEVS: And at number six now, Edison Pena, one of the 33 miners who were trapped down there. He's a big Elvis fan.
CHO: Was he the foreman?
LEVS: I don't remember. I do remember that he was a big Elvis fan.
CHO: Right.
LEVS: He's a huge Elvis fun and so afterwards when he got out, he was actually given a tour of Graceland.
CHO: He ran the marathon.
LEVS: Ran the New York City marathon. Became a rock star of his own.
CHO: Yes. Yes, he did.
LEVS: So that brings you through 10 through six. And coming up right after the break, we're going to give you the top five most intriguing people.
CHO: That's right. We're back after this.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: So we asked you, and you answered who are the most intriguing people of 2010. Just a moment ago, you heard the bottom five. Now the top five and bottom five of the top 10 that is
LEVS: That's right.
CHO: So who are the top five people then?
LEVS: After a big vote on cnn.com, here's the countdown, five through one. Number five, really interesting young woman, Marisol Garcia, who at 20 years old became the police officer, the top cop in a very dangerous Mexican town. She was a criminology student who wanted to go there and help fight the murders that were going on there, putting her life on the line.
CHO: What a surprising result at number five but good for her.
LEVS: Yes, fascinating. Number four, less of a surprise, Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, the guy behind so many of the inventions that keep changing the technology world, including the iPad that everyone is crazy about. He also was recently named the person of the year for "Financial Times," everyone who follows tech are exciting about Steve Jobs and every one who is fascinated by business, which is most people fascinated by this guy. Number three, kind of similar person, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, which now has 550 million or close to 550 million active users.
CHO: There is a possibility Facebook could go public, right?
LEVS: Yes, I mean -
CHO: That's the talk.
LEVS: Like they are not dealing with enough billions and now they could do even more and he was depicted this year in the movie "Social Network."
CHO: "Social Network" which I have seen it. It's a fantastic film.
LEVS: Was it.
CHO: Fantastic film. Yes.
LEVS: Everyone says they can't believe I haven't seen it yet. I know right? Top two, most intriguing people of the year, number two, our president, President Obama.
CHO: Kind of surprised.
LEVS: And, you know, you have been hearing a lot about this being an interesting year, there are times when he had very low approval.
CHO: Come on, he's the president of the United States.
LEVS: It's interesting where he ends up, but also think about this, people are voting right after this lame duck in which so much got done and a lot of people felt good about that. Finally, number one, here it is.
CHO: Yes.
LEVS: The most intriguing people in the world, according to all of you, Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, who has said that he has become the public face of WikiLeaks but it's not just him. But he's stalwart and he stands by what they are doing, releasing so many documents and despite the controversy. People say what they do is horrible. He stands firm and will be telling his story in a book coming up.
CHO: Controversial often can translate into intriguing and that he is, he is controversial, certainly.
LEVS: Most people are intrigued by him.
CHO:. Yes. I just like saying Assange.
LEVS: Everyone likes saying Assange. I know. So now that we've announced it, now that you and I have done this, will now go up on cnn.com. So you can check at CNN.com and I'm posting the links to it at my pages. I'll send it our right now on Facebook and Twitter. The big announcement is out there. Go ahead, tell us what you think.
Also, I will be doing this throughout the day. You got other ideas, you agree, disagree, we'll share some of that in the next couple of hours.
CHO: That photo must have been a couple of haircuts ago, Josh.
LEVS: That's right, it was.
CHO: Happy New Year.
Coming up, actor Edward Norton in his latest role, trying to put the fun in fund raising and he started a new web site that he hopes will be the Facebook of philanthropy. We'll tell you how it works and why he says it's so much fun. My one on one interview is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Time now to travel across the country. First stop, Denver, Colorado, where a woman used an iPhone application to catch a burglar stealing electronics from her home. Watch him in action there. And it all happened by accident. The woman recorded the thief using an iPhone app she loaded to check on her dog. Thankfully, a viewer who saw the tape on affiliate, KUSA, helped police arrest the intruder. How about that?
Next stop, St. Francisville, Louisiana, that's where workers lay the final beams connecting the east and west spans of the James (INAUDIBLE) Bridge over the Mississippi River. The new structure is 3.5 miles across making it the longest cable bridge in the western hemisphere.
And in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, the tables turned at Walt's Barbecue Restaurant when a waitress gave a customer a huge tip. Here's what happened Patricia (INAUDIBLE) returned $1,200 to customer Fred Smith after he left it on her table. Smith says the money was a Christmas present.
On the silver screen, actor Edward Norton has always been a darling of the critics, twice nominated for an Oscar, one of the finest actors of his generation but off-screen he has been a passionate supporter of causes close to his heart. Philanthropy often takes center stage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): In his more than 15 years as an actor's actor, what is less known about Edward Norton is the kind of charitable work he's done off-camera. Along the way, it was something he noticed about how charities often use the internet that's inspired his latest project.
EDWARD NORTON, ACTOR: We were very frustrated by what we saw out there. Everything was just - we called it use and drop, it was just a button where you could donate but really nothing more and we wanted to communicate more than that.
CHO: Norton and his friends saw an opportunity to shake up how people give online and he came up with what he calls the Facebook of philanthropy, it's called Crowdrise, a fund-raising web platform that is also a community.
NORTON: This is the platform where you plant a flag and say this is who I am as defined by what do I care about, what am I passionate about, what causes do I support.
CHO: Within minutes, anyone can create a page, start a fund- raiser and ask for donations from friends, family and perfect strangers.
NORTON: Look, you've got a generation of people coming along whose - who are going to form their own new relationship with the idea of supporting the causes that they care about or changing the world, you know, and these people are not going to do it the way that our parents did it.
CHO: Which is why Norton was mindful to also make Crowd Rise fun by adding the fun in fund raising, by adding a gaming aspect. Members can earn points, even win prizes.
CHO (on camera): If you don't give back, no one will like you.
NORTON: If you don't give back, no one will like you. That is our core philosophy.
We're a bunch of dorks.
CHO (voice-over): He is also a celebrity who enlisted the help of his famous friends who are creating profiles on Crowd Rise just like everyone else, like Will Ferrell, who is raising money for cancer survivors.
NORTON: Like, you can win a bottle of Will's suntan lotion for a donation to his site.
CHO (on camera): And it's quite a picture.
NORTON: Yes, a good one, very sexy.
CHO (voice-over): His hope is to revolutionize giving one web page at a time.
NORTON: I think we really feel that Crowd rise could be something that 20 years from now people take for granted because that's just how you do it, like if you're going to raise some money for something, that's how you do it.
CHO (on camera): That wouldn't be a bad thing.
NORTON: And you know, I actually in the beginning, we said this was a pipe dream but now I actually think it's going to happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Tomorrow I sit down with one of today's hottest music stars, teen idol, Grammy nominated, Justin Bieber. At the ripe old age of 16, he is busy building a history of giving back.
And wait a minute, Mr. Postman. Is that free money in the mail? Well, one man, the man you are about to see believes so. He believes in the power of kindness and he's putting his money where his mouth is. He's mailing cash to strangers, no strings attached. Why is he doing it? Find out next.
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CHO: In the economy now, 77 million baby boomers are hitting retirement age over the next two decades, but many simply haven't saved enough to stop working. So, what should they do? CNNmoney's Poppy Harlow is following this story for us and joins us from New York. So, what's the answer, Poppy?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Alina, it's really a shocking number. Starting this Saturday, January 1st, 10,000 baby boomers every single day are going to turn 65 years old - that's retirement age -- for the next 19 years.
The problem they're facing is most of them are not ready for retirement. A lot of poor planning is at play here. That combined with the stock market over the lasted ten years has not improved whatsoever. They faced the housing crash, so if they had money tied up in their homes, they were relying on that for retirement, that has gone down in value. And a lot of their pensions are disappearing.
So, I want you to take a look at this number; it's really shocking. Wells Fargo did a survey, and 72 percent of people said they are planning to work entirely through retirement. The problem there is that unemployment is still near 10 percent. And for people 55 and older, older workers in this country, it's a lot harder for them to get a job if they're unemployed. So, that really compounds the issue. Take a quick listen to this.
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LEX HARIS, MANAGING EDITOR, CNNMONEY.COM: When you're over 55 and you have been unemployed for six months or longer, it's just that much tougher to get back into the workforce. And what that means is it makes it -- nothing hurts your savings more than being unemployed because you have to tap that savings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: That's exactly right. You know, Alina, the AARP told us that right now people 55 and older are facing the highest unemployment rate in this country since the 1940s, Alina.
CHO: All right. Poppy Harlow, thank you very much.
We want to check our top stories now. More bad weather for California already suffering through its wettest December in history. Monsoon-like rains, flash floods and mud slides have caused millions in damage. Expect high winds today and freezing temperatures in some Los Angeles suburbs tonight.
The NFL has slapped Brett Favre with a fine over his so-called sexting scandal. The league says they can't prove that it was actually Favre who sent the sexually explicit messages but that he failed to cooperate with the investigation. The fine is $50,000, which is relative chump change given his $16 million salary.
And some encouraging news on the economy. Weekly initial jobless claims have fallen below 400,000 for the first in more than two years. The Labor Department puts that number now at 380,000 who filed for first-time benefits. Well, do you know what it means to pay it forward? Well, the movie was pretty forgettable, but the lesson is certainly worth remembering. It's about sharing that one act of kindness and watching it create a chain reaction of good deeds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HALEY JOEL OSMENT, ACTOR (in "Pay It Forward"): That's me. And that's three people. And I'm going to help them. But it has to be something really big. Something they can't do by themselves. So I do it for them. Then they do it for three other people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Well, it's a great idea and our next guest is paying it forward, that's for sure. Five bucks at a time. That's him there. He sends the cash in the mail to complete strangers. Daniel Simonton is joining us now from Ocean Shores, Washington, Seattle.
Daniel, thank you so much for joining us. This is a great idea. How did you come up with it?
DANIEL SIMONTON, THE FIVE DOLLAR GUY: It really came about as I was having a conversation with a friend, and it was -- two things really. But first, I was having a conversation with a friend and we were just talking about how no one ever receives personal mail anymore through the postal service anymore. And, you know, most of the mail we do get is kind of a bummer. It's either bills, bank statements, and if we are really lucky, a Netflix movie a couple of days late.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: But you actually saw people on the street, didn't you? You saw people on the street and you saw that they just had a sour look on their face and thought, boy, when was the last time somebody helped them, right?
SIMONTON: Yes, that was the second part. And just noticing that people just seem a bit crankier these days. With a lot of good reason. We live in pretty anxious times.
CHO: So, you decided to mail $5 to complete strangers. You know what I find interesting is how you actually choose the people. How do you do it?
SIMONTON: So it starts with a toss of a coin, and, heads, male; tails female. And from there -- the one part that's a little more deliberate -- I log into Facebook and start scrolling through friends of friends. I try to get about two or three degrees of separation from myself. And I'll just pick a surname that stands out that particular day, and from there I go to whitepages.com and I'll draw a state or Canadian province from a hat and try to match that name in that state or province.
CHO: Now, let me ask you this. You know, you're not a billionaire. You know, you're regular guy do aggregate thing. But you know, five bucks over time adds up. Where do you get the money?
SIMONTON: Well, it's -- I consider it sacrificing a latte per week. It's really not a lot of skin off my back to do it.
CHO: That's great. And do you have a larger goal here? Sending somebody $5 in the mail and them getting it, that's great. You can go out and as you said, buy that coffee. Is there a larger message here?
SIMONTON: You know, I guess if anything, I hope that if someone is maybe not having a great day, it will give them something to smile about. If they're having a great day, bonus. And if they don't need the money, they can, as you were discussing earlier, pay it forward.
CHO: How long do you plan to keep doing this? At a certain point -- are you going to do it all year round or just do it around the holidays?
SIMONTON: No, no. The timing was coincidental. I plan to do it as long as my mean permit me.
CHO: Wonderful. Is it Simonton or Simmonton?
SIMONTON: It's Simonton.
CHO: Simonton. OK, I'm sorry about that. Daniel Simonton joining us from outside Seattle with this great idea of paying it forward by mailing five dollars to perfect strangers. Daniel, thank you so much and happy new year.
SIMONTON: Thank you for having me.
CHO: Thank you.
As we close in on this new year's eve and inevitable celebrating, two words definitely flow with "happy new year." How about miserable hangover? If you're at risk, so to speak, we have your real hangover cures, next.
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CHO: This new year's eve, a lot of people will be celebrating by drinking maybe a little too much. So, what's the best way to treat a hangover? Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now from Miami.
Elizabeth, not that we need this, but help us survive that more than after without feeling miserable. What are the real tried-and- true hangover remedies? We want to start first with the bloody mary, which I like to partake in every now and then.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Some people think that if you drink a hair of the dog that bit you, that this is going to help cure your hangover. I think it's a favorite among college students. They think that that's what's going to do it. And you know what? We ran this by some doctors -
CHO: No! It doesn't work!
COHEN: -- and they said it doesn't work. They said temporarily you feel better because you are getting drunk again, so you don't realize how bad you're feeling. But after a while, you are adding more toxins to your system, the hangover will just get worst.
CHO: Talk about a downer. All right. What about Alka Seltzer? A lot of people do that. Does that work?
COHEN: You know, actually, that can work if you have an upset stomach because there is sodium bicarbonate, which is basically baking soda and it can settle your stomach if that's part of your hangover.
CHO: What about if you've got a headache? You know, what about those hangover pills.
COHEN: You know, there are all these remedies. You've probably seen them all over the place. And it's amazing. Someone actually studied them, and they put them to the test, and they found that they don't work! They don't work any better than a placebo in these clinical trials that they did.
So, yes. Those don't work seem to work, either.
CHO: You got to love the name of that one, Chaser Plus.
COHEN: It's the plus part, I guess.
CHO: What about the over-the-counter pain killers? Some people say, oh, just take a couple of Advil, couple of Tylenol. Drink a glass of water and call it a day. I'll feel better in the day.
Ah! There's a green check.
COHEN: Yes, there is a green check because if you hangover problem is a headache, if that's sort of your major symptom, those will help. However, if it's more an upset stomach, if that's more what you're feeling, these might irritate the stomach. So, be careful.
CHO: So, I think the know the answer to this one but some people might take a cup of coffee and think that might help. Not necessarily, right?
COHEN: No. You know why? It's because caffeine is dehydrating and you're already dehydrated. Plus, caffeine can send your blood pressure up. So, it's really not going to work.
But Alina, there is one exception. I don't know if you fall into this category. But ome people are really addicted to caffeine. I mean, they have to have their cup of coffee every single day. And if you're already addicted to caffeine, keep drinking the coffee because the last thing you want to do when you have a hangover is to also suffer a caffeine withdrawal, making matters worse. CHO: I'm one of those addicts. So, yes, I would keep doing that. And then this last one, water. I mean, that seems like a no- brainer, right? I mean, definitely, that works, right?
COHEN: It turns out that water is actually probably the best thing for your hangover because it hydrates you. And Alina, I brought the other thing I think is really great for a hangover, which is a pillow. You got to have sleep. You got to sleep. Just try to sleep it off, probably the best remedy.
And you know what? My colleague, Elizabeth Landau at CNN.com, she went through three alleged hangover remedies and gave a yea or nay to each of them. And that's on CNNhealth.com -
CHO: I love it.
COHEN: If you want to know more - I think you and I only talked about five or so. So, there's five more on CNN.com.
CHO: You know what that means? She got drunk ten times!
COHEN: Maybe it is! I have to ask her.
CHO: All right, Elizabeth Cohen. Thank you so for those helpful tips. We all need them.
Making a change in the new year? If you plan to start that change by slimming down, what diet do you choose? Or is diet just a four-letter word? We going to rip some advice from the man who wrote the best-selling book "Eat This, Not That," just ahead.
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CHO: Well, New Year's Eve is almost upon us, and many are of us are thinking about new year's resolutions. One of the most popular, of course, is lose weight. Weight Watchers just announced its new Points Plus Plan where most fruit now counts for zero points. That means you can eat as much fruit as you want.
And then there's the Atkin's Diet, a very popular one, which pushes high fat and high protein. There are a lot of choices. But which ones really work?
Last hour I talked to my friend Dave Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of "Men's Health" magazine and author of the best-selling books "Eat This, Not That," and "Cook This, Not That." He had some sage advice about what to do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID ZINCZENKO, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "MEN'S HEALTH" MAGAZINE: Of course, Alina, what you want to do is make the small changes that have the biggest payoff. First thing you do is get rid of the empty calorie beverages that dominate most people's diets. We're drinking 450 to 500 calories a day. Soda makes up seven to 10 percent of our diet. If you knock 300 of those calories out a day of those 450 to 500, in 2011, everything else being equal, you're going to lose more than 30 pounds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: That's a lot. Dave says the bottom line, we all know this, eat less and exercise more.
We're talking about New Year's resolutions on our blog this morning. We want to read some of those comments.
From Allison: "I had gastric bypass surgery in May 2010, and I lost more than 100 pounds so far. My goal is to lose that last 25."
From Maria, "Learning to relax and enjoy. The debt will be there, the weight will slowly get off, but don't take my wine away." All right.
And this from Michael. "My resolution is to lose 50 pounds and cut down my CNN blog comments by half." Don't do that!
Well, we're covering a big story today in politics. There are reports that federal authorities are investigating possible financial misconduct by former Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell. Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser joins us from the CNNpolitics.com desk with a response from O'Donnell. But before we get to that, do you have any new year's resolutions there, Paul?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Mine resolution I guess, is to keep covering politics, and we have a presidential campaign that going to start this year.
CHO: Yes, you've got a busy year.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, we'll be busy.
But Alina, you just mentioned, yes, she is lashing out. The Delaware Republican definitely lashing out at these media reports.
Now, a source telling CNN that yes, the Justice Department and FBI are investigating whether O'Donnell, who of course, was the candidate in Delaware on the Republican side for the Senate, whether she misused campaign funds. She's answered repeated questions about her financing, including she used some of those campaign funds to help pay for rent where she says that her home kind of doubled as her campaign headquarters.
Remember, federal law prevents using campaign funds, which are donated from people, often, for personal use. Now, in the primaries, you remember, she soundly defeated Mike Cassel. He was the long-time moderate Republican and he was considered the favorite there. And she got beat pretty soundly in the general election by Chris Kuhns, the Democrat. And she says you know what? This is maybe about a political vendetta against her. Listen to what she said on "AMERICAN MORNING" earlier today. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), FORMER DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: Keep in mind that we upset the Delaware political establishment, and we beat their so-called untouchable incumbent. There's a vendetta to stop the movement in its tracks because if the citizen politicians continue to rise up and put the career politicians on notice, we are going to continue to political establishment on notice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: She also told Joe Johns and Kiran Chetry that some of her comments and actions were taken out of context.
And listen to this. She is also going after, it seems, the vice president Joe Biden, who of course was a long-term senator from Delaware before becoming vice president. In her statement yesterday, Christine O'Donnell called him "the king of Delaware politics" and hinted that maybe he had something to do with this possible investigation. There you go, Alina.
CHO: Paul, I'm hearing in my ear in the control room that one of your new year's resolutions should be to clean the desk.
STEINHAUSER: Oh, it's a little messy here. My apologies. I'm sorry about that.
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CHO: You're great just as you are. Thank you, Paul Steinhauser.
All right. We'll have the next political update in just an hour. And a reminder. For all the latest political news, go to our Web site CNNpolitics.com.
With so much news to digest every day, which stories had the biggest impact on you this past year? There are certainly a few that stand out. We'll take a look at some of them, next.
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CHO: Welcome back. The news is almost a blur. In media, nonstop, live from anywhere on the global, the sheer volume overwhelming. So, by the end of the year, sometimes it's hard to remember all of the stories that touched us most or made the biggest impact.
That's why we have CNN's Samantha Hayes, who has a look back.
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SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The year began with these powerful and heart-wrenching images. A catastrophic earthquake leveled Haiti's capital city. But amidst the death and destruction, survivors were pulled from the rubble. One man buried alive for nearly four weeks.
Back in the U.S., extreme weather made headlines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys, we just found somebody clinging onto a tree here --
HAYES: A dramatic rescue in Oklahoma. This teenaged girl trapped in raging floodwaters desperately held onto a tree.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The current just got stronger and the water just got deeper.
HAYES: Rescuers were able to save her.
Watch this, the roof of the Metrodome in Minneapolis collapsed, the weight of the heavy snow too much for the roof to handle. The Vikings football team forced to play elsewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no, no, no.
HAYES: It looked like something out of a movie. Cameras rolled as a tornado hit a Minnesota farm, sending debris flying everywhere. Luckily, no one was hurt.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: (INAUDIBLE). All you need to do is look at this brown (INAUDIBLE). Our state bird.
HAYES: These animals were among the casualties of the BP oil disaster. Precious wildlife still alive but completely covered in oil. The lucky ones rehabbed and released back into the wild.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The last one. That's just incredible feeling. Look at him. That's awesome.
HAYES: Here's some unbelievable video worth one more look.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This isn't worth it. This isn't worth it.
HAYES: A gunman took a Florida school board meeting hostage. These board members ducked for cover as he fired off shots but missed. One woman fought back, but was spared. The man turned the gun on himself after being shot by a security guard.
A gas-fueled explosion in California killed eight people and destroyed dozens of homes. A neighborhood reduced to a pile of ash.
A helicopter took a nose-dive. Three Nevada firefighters and a pilot on a rescue mission needed to be rescued themselves. Amazingly, they all survived.
Another story of survival. 33 Chilean miners trapped for 69 days emerged from the ground one by one. Their heartfelt reunions captivated the world.
I'm Samantha Hayes reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Who could forget that?
Coming up, what would you do if you owned a jewelry store and you made a promise if it snowed on Christmas Day you'd let customers keep the jewelry they bought for free? Would you make good on that promise? Find out the answer when we come back.
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CHO: That's an appropriate song, isn't it? Buy a gift and get the entire purchase price refunded? Not a bad deal. That's exactly what happened in Asheville, North Carolina, after some customers took advantage of a jewelry store's promotion that was tied to snow on Christmas Day. Ashley Koskowski of our affiliate WETC explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASHLEY KOSKOWSKI, WETC-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Snow in Asheville made Christmas even more special for the Kellys. The family lives in Wilmington, more than 300 miles from the city in the North Carolina mountains, but they are certainly benefiting from snowfall there.
It is a gamble and luckily it worked for us.
Alan Perry, the owner of Perry's Emporium, ran a promotion for the holidays. He promised to refund everything customers bought from November 26th through December 11 if it snowed more than three inches in Asheville on Christmas Day.
Eric Kelley bought his wife, Penny, a pair of diamond earring and pearl earrings to celebrate Christmas and their anniversary. Penny knew about the promotion from commercials she saw on TV, so they both watched the weather closely.
PENNY KELLEY, CUSTOMER'S WIFE: I asked him, did you purchase it within the week? And he's like yes. So, I was watching the TV.
ERIC KELLEY, BOUGHT EARRINGS FOR WIFE THAT WERE REFUNDED: All day Christmas day, checking online. Has it snowed three inches in Asheville yet?
KOSKOWSKI: We were tracking the winter weather, too, as it moved through the Carolinas and brought a record six-and-a-half inches to Asheville.
P. KELLEY: Everything worked out great. Yes, couldn't be happier
KOSKOWSKI: The Kellys have three young kids. So, they say the refund is a blessing. P. KELLY: For us, it's only going to be $150, but with my family of five, $150 goes a long way. So, you know, $150 back would be really nice.
KOSKOWSKI: The Kellys (ph) are just one couple that's celebrating the record snowfall. Perry sold almost $500,000 in merchandise during the promotion, including nine engagement rings. Perry bought an insurance policy that will pay for the refund. He just paid them a percentage of every dollar he took in during the promotion.
Before Christmas, we talked to the store owner. This was the first year for the promotion, and even before the winter windfall, Perry said he will do this again next year.
ALAN PERRY, OWNER, PERRY'S EMPORIUM: Oh, yes, yes. The cat's got whiskers, absolutely.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Good for him. Great, great idea.
That does it for me. I'll see you back here at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
CNN NEWSROOM now continues with the man, the legend, Tony Harris.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: See you tomorrow, Alina. Thank you. Have a great day.
CHO: You too.
