Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Deputy Killed in Line of Duty; GOP's Top Priorities for 2011; Navy Investigates Raunchy Videos; Shop Around to Get in Shape; Worshippers Return to Bombed Church in Egypt; Stunt Performance Safety Concerns; 2011 Employment Predictions; 2010's Top On-Camera Gaffes
Aired January 02, 2011 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN ANCHOR: It took a long time to make it happen, but billions of dollars will now be available to the 9/11 first responders suffering health problems from working near ground zero.
President Obama signed the 9/11 Health Bill a short time ago in Hawaii. A hard copy was flown to him from Washington. It's the first piece of legislation signed into law this year.
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is one of the bill's chief sponsors. She joins us from Washington. Kirsten, it is a great day for you and the 9/11 responders?
SENATOR KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, (D) NEW YORK: Well, it's a day that America should be very proud of. What this bill represents is America standing by our first responders saying that we will stand by you in your greatest hour of need. You have to remember, a lot of these first responders are very sick right now because of the toxins that they inhaled while they were working at ground zero.
HENDRICKS: Kirsten, this sounds to me like a no brainer, what was the holdup or the holdout if you will on this one?
GILLIBRAND: Well, this is a bill folks have worked on for a very long time. It took time to really get the American people to realize how urgent this was. It was a grassroots effort. We had first responders knocking on every Congressional door, every Senate door. The House did a very good job in passing it. Carla Maloney, Jerry Nadler, Peter King, they were the sponsors there.
And we brought the bill over to the Senate side last year and Senator Schumer and I worked very hard over the last year to have to finally get this protection in place for these men and women because they need this health care literally to survive right now.
HENDRICKS: I know a lot of people didn't even know about this bill until they heard it on Jon Stewart, who I can't quote him exactly because of the words he used. But he said this is common sense. Pass it. What's going on here? How much do you credit Jon Stewart?
GILLIBRAND: Well, he did a great job. And what Jon Stewart did is exactly what a lot of these first responders did. They - they'd made sure America heard their stories about what happened to them. These are the men and women who were literally running up the towers when people are running down. They are the ones who were there first to look for survivors, then remains and then do the cleanup.
And what Jon Stewart was saying was these are the men and women who answered the call of duty. They're our best and brightest. These are our heroes. We cannot leave them behind. And because he put a spotlight on it, it really amplified the work of that, the advocate I've been doing.
A guy named John Field, who lost half his foot when he had an injury working at Ground Zero, he's been bringing men and women to lobby Capitol Hill for years now. And so, having Jon Stewart amplify the work they've been doing for years really made a difference.
HENDRICKS: And are the first responders, Senator Gillibrand responding to that saying, you know what, he really brought it to the forefront?
GILLIBRAND: Everyone is so appreciative. And you have to remember, you know, this is something that a lot of the news started to really cover over the last several weeks. And I think that also made a difference. Because when hometown newspapers were writing editorials in various states, the senators noticed that this is something that's important to the American people.
And that's why fundamentally this is a triumph of our democracy of the American people demanding a response for these first responders and for the families that (INAUDIBLE). They were the victims who also inhaled these toxins for weeks and months, and a lot of the children now are suffering from asthma and other grave health effects.
HENDRICKS: Yes, we're so thankful for the first responders. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, thank you. Appreciate it.
GILLIBRAND: Thank you.
HENDRICKS: Now, the 9/11 Health Bill is also known as the James Zadroga Act for fallen New York City police detective James Zadroga. His supporters say he died of his respiratory disease he contracted during the rescue and recovery operations at Ground Zero. There is the picture of Zadroga.
He was inside the World Trade Center when it began to collapse. But he managed to get out. He spent more than 470 hours afterwards digging through debris and inhaling fumes at the site. Zadroga was just 34 years old.
A powerful earthquake rattled Chile less than two hours ago. Jacqui Jeras is with us now with this breaking news. Jacqui, what's the latest? What can you tell us?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Well, we've had a couple of aftershocks now that were pretty significant, about 5.0 in magnitude. We're still waiting to hear information when it comes to damage, and we've heard very little. But we have heard a lot of reports that people have felt this and that there was a lot of shaking.
Now, first thing I want to tell you is that this is where the epicenter was. This was near Temuco, Chile. And this was on the land. This was not offshore. Preliminary reports were that it was offshore so we were worried about tsunamis. That's no longer a threat. Not worried about it.
But this was a very shallow earthquake. And 7.1 magnitude - that's very significant. That's what we will consider a major quake and that can cause significant damage to buildings and also cause casualties. Now, the good news is that we're told that this is a very well- constructed area. You know, this is a very active seismic zone so people are prepared for earthquakes and thousands of people did flee, did get out of their homes, did get out of buildings. So we still haven't heard anything in terms of serious damage or any injuries. So that's a little bit of good news out of this thing.
Here's Concepcion. And you might remember that name. We talked a lot about that when the earthquake happened back in February. If you remember the 8.8 quake that caused major damage and killed hundreds of people. That was about 150 miles to the north of this area.
So we'll continue to monitor the situation. We're likely going to get aftershocks for days, for weeks, for months after this. And as we get more information in terms of damage, we'll pass that along to you - Susan.
HENDRICKS: All right. Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much for that latest on that.
Also, we're following this. As you know, we're learning more about the sheriff's deputy killed in Ohio. Her name - Suzanne Hopper, just 40 years old, mother of two is being praised as an outstanding deputy. The Sheriff of Clark County says Hopper often held charity events for a number of causes. Such a loss.
The deputy was gunned down while investigating reports of gunfire at a trailer park. The sheriff says she never had a chance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF GENE A. KELLY, CLARK COUNTY, OHIO: The deputy was investigating and saw a footprint, took out her camera to take a photograph of a footprint. And it appears that the door of the trailer opened, and the person inside fired one shotgun blast striking the deputy and fatally wounding a deputy.
This is the worst day in my 24 years as a Sheriff of Clark County.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Well, the man suspected of killing Deputy Suzanne Hopper has been identified as 57-year-old Michael Ferryman. He died in a gun battle with officers. During the standoff, Police Officer Jeremy Bloom was seriously injured. He's now in fair condition in the hospital.
An embarrassing movie night, so to speak, on the U.S. aircraft carrier, the crew is shown videos filled with sexual innuendos and anti-gay remarks and featuring a top commander in the video. The story and the tape, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Before the new Congress meets this week, incumbent Republican leaders are flexing their muscles.
Samantha Hayes joins us from Washington with more on the GOP's top priorities in the House of Representatives. Hi, Samantha.
SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hi, Susan.
HENDRICKS: What can we expect to see right away right off the bat?
HAYES: Well, first up, there's a bull's eye on the president's Health Care Act. And according to Congressman Fred Upton, who will head up the effort to repeal it as the new chairman of the House Committee on Commerce and Energy, Republicans have the votes to do it and do it soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. FRED UPTON (R), MICHIGAN: Early on, in fact, prior to the president's State of the Union Address, you're going to see a vote to repeal health care on the - in the House. And I'm convinced that not only will we have all of the 242 Republicans vote for it, you will have a significant number of Democrats as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAYES: So the question is, you know, even if they can do that, is there any way to really repeal that law in its entirety? Well, Republicans are hoping to have enough support for it in the House including some Democrats that passage would put pressure on the Senate to do the same and that Congress could perhaps override a veto from the president, but that's a long shot.
Another approach for the GOP is to try and dismantle the legislation piece by piece. Well, in this new Congress, also look for a slew of investigations to start. Republicans now have subpoena power, and the new head of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform says he will also be focusing on health care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DARRELL ISSA (R), CALIFORNIA: We're going to start into the whole question of Medicare. Here you have $100 billion of waste. In Obamacare, for all of it, what it wanted to do, it didn't touch the fact that basically they pay to nonexistent entities in the tens of billions of dollars every year. That's got to be changed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: All right. Samantha will also be telling to see how Republicans vote on raising the ceiling of our federal deficit. It's an issue. As you know, it will come up fast because we're close to $14.3 trillion close to reaching that. HAYES: Yes, an unbelievably high number. Well, some Republicans, especially those backed by the Tea Party, have said that they will not vote to raise the debt ceiling or like Senator Lindsey Graham are withholding their vote unless major reforms are made to entitlement program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I will not vote for the debt ceiling increase until I see a plan in place that will deal with our loan term debt obligations starting with social security, a real bipartisan effort to make sure that social security stays solvent, adjusting the age, looking at means desk (ph) for benefits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAYES: So there you hear him talking about social security. But Austan Goolsbee, one of the president's top economic advisers, says this is not an issue to play politics with, because if the debt ceiling isn't raised the effects could be disastrous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, CHIEF ECONOMIST, PRESIDENT'S ECONOMIC RECOVERY ADVISORY BOARD, FROM ABC/"THIS WEEK": The impact on the economy would be catastrophic. I mean, that would be a worse financial and economic crisis than anything we saw in 2008.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAYES: So the 112th Congress convenes Wednesday, and even though both sides talk about working together and bipartisanship, that's not exactly the tone that's being set beforehand.
Susan, back to you.
HENDRICKS: Yes, we shall see. Samantha Hayes, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
HAYES: Welcome.
HENDRICKS: Some other political news we'll be following this week. Several states are about to get new occupants in the governor's office. Swearing-in ceremonies have already taken place in New York, Michigan and New Mexico. California, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nevada swear in their new leaders tomorrow.
Also tomorrow, a showdown for Republican leader Michael Steele, the RNC Chairman faces off in a debate against the five candidates who were challenging him for the job.
You know, the Navy is investigating raunchy videos produced and shown to the crew of the USS Enterprise. The videos first published yesterday by "The Virginian Pilot" newspaper are filled with sexual innuendo and anti-gay references. They were shown to the aircraft carrier's crew in 2006 and 2007. Now, the tapes feature this man, Captain Owen Honors. Honors was the Enterprises' second in command at the time. In the tapes, he's shown cursing along with other staff members in an attempt to, quote, "be funny." Here's a portion of the video in which Honors jokes that his superior officers were unaware of the tape's content. All three men on this tape are images of Honors. Take a look at it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPTAIN OWEN HONORS, ENTERPRISE'S EXECUTIVE OFFICER FROM 2005 TO 2007: I'm here tonight with my SWO and aviator alternate personalities. As usual, they have no - the captain had no idea about the contents of the video or movie this evening, and they should not be held accountable in any judicial sense.
Over the years, I've gotten several complaints about inappropriate material during these videos. Never to me personally, but gutlessly through other channels.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: A bizarre video. Navy officials call it unacceptable. CNN's reached out to Honors for a comment, but so far he has not responded.
Joining us now by phone is Meredith Kruse, the military editor of "The Virginian Pilot", the paper that broke the story. Meredith, thanks so much for talking to us.
MEREDITH KRUSE, MILITARY EDITOR, THE VIRGINIAN PILOT (via telephone): You're welcome.
HENDRICKS: Is it true that a crew member first brought the videos to your attention?
KRUSE: That's correct.
HENDRICKS: And then what did you do next? What were the steps leading up to this for us seeing the images there?
KRUSE: Sure. Well, we took a look at what was on the DVD and were pretty surprised at the contents of the videos. And a reporter, Glenn Riley (ph), then began reaching out to find other sailors who have been aboard Enterprise in 2006 and 2007 and spoke to them and was able to find out more about the content of the videos and how often they were shown and so forth.
HENDRICKS: And were the sailors - do they say they were reluctant to speak out about it there and say, you know, well, I'm offended by this?
KRUSE: They said there was a mixed reaction among the crew. Some crew members thought they were funny. There were some people we were told who were offended. Some of whom we're told did try to make complaints about it at the time, but those complaints were brushed off. And the people that we talked to did not want to be identified. They were worried about possible repercussions to their careers.
HENDRICKS: Meredith, I was surprised. I was watching it for the first time a short time ago as with our viewers of how elaborate this was and how much time that Owen must have taken - Owen Honors on the tape to do this, to produce the tape.
KRUSE: Well, they - they were really professionally done, because they were done by the ship's Public Affairs Department. This is - and an aircraft carrier has a pretty big public affairs apparatus. Their job is to document the things that the crew is doing, you know, the good things and spread the news to the folks back home. And that is the equipment and the staff that was used to produce these videos.
So, yes, they're very high quality. They're very sophisticated. This wasn't somebody sort of goofing around with a flip cam.
HENDRICKS: So their defense, if you will, is saying, you know what, we were just trying to, quote, "be funny and lighten things up"?
KRUSE: In the Navy's statement they said these videos were made to sort of entertain and inform the crew about policies and issues aboard the ship that the (INAUDIBLE) needed to bring to their attention. You know, for example, maybe people are using too much water in the shower, that kind of thing.
We have not seen all of the videos. We're told there are a few dozen. We've only seen a few of them. We didn't see that kind of content in the ones that we saw and certainly not what was in the ones that we shared on our website.
HENDRICKS: The few that you did see, Meredith, did you find them very offensive when you looked at them?
KRUSE: I would say I found them more just really surprising that someone in his position would make a video like that and broadcast it to the entire ship. You know, it certainly isn't, I guess, the worst kind of video you could imagine coming to light, but - but it's more the role of the person who - who produced it and who was responsible for it.
HENDRICKS: Has any disciplinary action been taken, and what do you expect to see happen, if anything?
KRUSE: Well, at this point, the Navy has told us that they've opened an investigation. They did say that back in early 2007 when one of Captain Honors superior officers found out about the content of the videos that he ordered a stop to the inappropriate content. So it's really not clear what's - what's going to come out of this investigation yet because it's just started.
Generally speaking, if the Navy finds that service members have engaged in inappropriate conduct, they have a wide range of measures available to them. They could punish them non-judicially. They could take somebody to court-martial if it's a more serious offense. There's also cases in which people are allowed to, you know, resign or retire. HENDRICKS: All right. Shocking indeed. Meredith Kruse, thank you so much.
KRUSE: You're welcome.
HENDRICKS: I appreciate you sharing that with us.
All right. We're also following this. If you're looking for the right workout to work off some of those holiday pounds, keep it right here. We have some tips that could also save you some cash.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Lose pounds in 2011, not your dough. We'll show you how.
But first, let's look at our top stories.
Suzanne Hopper is being remembered today as an outstanding deputy. She was gunned down yesterday while investigating reports of gunfire at a trailer park outside of Springfield, Ohio. The 12-year veteran of the Clark County Sheriff's Department has two young children. Her suspected killer has been identified as Michael Ferryman. He died during that gun battle with police.
Iran says it shot down two unmanned western spy planes over the Persian Gulf. U.S. officials have not commented on that allegation. The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain to protect the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
A popular ride at a Florida amusement park is shut down by a New Year's Day fire. The water flume ride at the Islands of Adventure Park in Orlando will be closed indefinitely. No one was injured. The rest of the park is still open.
After a holiday filled with treats, it is back to the gym for many of us. But how do you get in shape and lose weight without losing your shirt or a lot of money?
Debra Shigley is here with a few ideas. She's a fellow journalist and author of "The Go-Getter Girl's Guide". She's also due in a few days. Happy New Year.
DEBRA SHIGLEY, AUTHOR, "THE GO-GETTER GIRL'S GUIDE": Thank you.
HENDRICKS: Thank you so much for joining us. What is the first tip? It's try before you buy, right? How do you do that?
SHIGLEY: Well, all these major gyms, L.A. Fitness, Gold's Gym, 24 Hour Fitness offer trial passes. You can do a seven day or 14 hour a day pass. And if you're feeling a little crafty, you can maybe do two or three in a row and not pay anything until February. So you definitely want to try things first.
HENDRICKS: And you say know what you're looking for. What does that mean? SHIGLEY: Right. Well, you're more bound to go to a gym that fits your lifestyle and personality. That's part of the reason why we like to go to a gym, right?
HENDRICKS: Because if you like classes, pick one with classes?
SHIGLEY: Exactly. And also test out the classes. But think about location. If it's not 10 minutes away from the house, you probably are not going to go. So think about that. Think about does it have child care or does it have a great pool? Is it a good single scene if that's something you're looking for? All those things are legitimate lifestyle considerations to think about when you are gym shopping.
HENDRICKS: There was even a whole frenzy about this saying once you're locked into a gym membership, you're there for life. How do you look for good deals and maybe short-term deals?
SHIGLEY: Well, you don't want to get locked in first of all. You want to always pick month-to-month memberships. Typically, a 30-day cancellation policy is better, because they try to get you in saying, you know, prepay for a whole year, maybe two years, you can get a lower monthly rate. Well, it's not a bargain if you don't show up. So definitely don't get locked in.
But another thing you can do is do a short-term deal like on one of these websites like groupon.com or HalfOffDepot.com. One of the great things they do is they'll do special boot camp deals or for local gyms you can do maybe a month for free. Just today, there was a deal on HallOffDepot.com for one month free - or actually one month with four personal training sessions for $45, which is a great deal to get started for the New Year.
HENDRICKS: It sounds exhausting when you say boot camp. You say join a fitness program. Is that kind of a lifestyle or what is that?
SHIGLEY: Right. Like you can - instead of getting a membership to an actual gym, let's say you're someone who's interested in yoga or Pliates or something like that, look for one of these short-term deals that offers maybe five classes for a special percentage off or maybe one month instead of, you know - instead of getting locked in for a long period of time.
HENDRICKS: And do you find that a lot of people put a lot of pressure on themselves in the beginning of the New Year?
SHIGLEY: Absolutely. And the fact of the matter is that most people who start a resolution in January, they kind of trickle out by March, so all the more reason why you don't want to commit too much up front.
And another thing, too, is when you go to the gym, ask about special promotions. This is the time of the year where they're running those promotions, and one thing you can do is check with your employer about employee benefits because most of the time people don't realize that they could have a special corporate rate that's more than 50 percent off what the typical gym rate would be. HENDRICKS: Debra, you have some great advices. I'm going to follow what you say about to give birth in a day. Thank you so much for coming here.
SHIGLEY: Thank you so much.
HENDRICKS: Appreciate it and Happy New Year to you. Thanks.
SHIGLEY: Thank you.
HENDRICKS: Well, getting back home for the holidays. We're also talking about that. If you're on the road or in the air today, you may be facing some tough delays. We'll get the latest from meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Second day into 2011, time to get back to reality. And Jacqui Jeras said earlier, a lot of people traveling trying to get home. So how's it looking for you? We turn to Jacqui. She'll let us know why.
JERAS: Hey. We've got a lot of delays out there. And, you know, most of the time when we see delays like this is because of the weather, that we've got a lousy weather.
So we've got a little bit of that, but most of this is volume. So how many of you had like a whole week of vacation or two weeks maybe? So a lot of people getting in and out of the airports and just too much - too many planes in the air causing those problems.
All right. JFK, we've got delays at over an hour. Two hours in San Francisco. This one is a weather-related delay. You've got the rain and the low clouds there. Fort Lauderdale, it's volume, 30 minutes departure delays, 20 minute ground delays in Newark. So that's trying to get into Newark. Teterboro, ground delays, only 15 minutes. Hey, you can handle that, right? Read a little newspaper or something. An hour and 25 minutes now in White Plains.
All right. Let's talk about some of the weather systems causing problems into the northeast. It's going to a little rough going along the I-95 corridor if you're still traveling out there tonight. So you can see those rain showers just outside of D.C. and Baltimore up towards Philly, even New York City getting in mostly light rain.
And take a look at those temperatures. We are melting away that snow, are we not? Just incredible. So make sure use some caution because you might see a little bit of flooding on the area streets and the urban areas.
Now, out west, flooding is a concern here as well. We've got yet another storm system here, believe it or not. And this one is just kind of riding along the coast and moving southward. And that's why you've been in the thick of this thing all day today, throughout much of yesterday, and, yes, this is going to last into tomorrow as well. So a lot of moisture in place. We're seeing some pretty low elevation snow even down to 3,000 - 4,000 feet. Here's the grapevine. You can see some of the snow into those areas as well. So you're going to have to use a lot of caution, and you get up in the higher elevations, we're talking a good foot of snow or so into the San Joaquin Valley. The rain will be around the range of one to three inches. And we've got gusty winds here, too. Point Conception looking for gust around 30 to 50 miles per hour.
So this is going to be a storm system we're going to have to watch right into that reality of the work week beginning tomorrow. So be aware of that. Even Las Vegas can get a little rain and snow tomorrow. Forty-two degrees, great in the nation's mid-section with the exception of some light snow showers in the upper Midwest. Some P.M. rain showers in the south, and the east does start to clear up by tomorrow.
But, man, we are shaving away all that snow. Can you believe it? A week ago, Susan, we were talking about, what, two feet of snow in some areas?
OK. One other thing I want to show you, by the way, do we have - we didn't have that in my wall. Do we still have time for the bird story? I love the bird story. Let's throw this in here, OK? Have you heard about this? This is in Arkansas about 40 miles outside of the Little Rock area. Look at that in the street. Yes, those are dead birds. There are about 4,000 to 5,000 black birds that literally fell from the sky is the report on New Year's Eve before midnight. So ornithologists are checking this out.
They say (INAUDIBLE) this had happened before, so it's not terribly unusual because it's usually related to stress. So they don't think any foul play or any poisoning or anything like that what happened there. They're going to do (INAUDIBLE) this to try and figure out exactly what caused these birds to die. But now we're getting reports that there may be some evidence that fireworks could have caused some stress on these birds.
HENDRICKS: Speaking of stress, imagine your parents in the neighborhood and kids see that. What do you tell them?
JERAS: Oh, my God. You wake up in your backyard you've got 50 dead birds. Did you see that?
HENDRICKS: I can't get over that.
JERAS: It's Alfred Hitchcock all over again, right?
HENDRICKS: It really is. It really is.
We want to take you to Australia now. We're talking about flooding there on an extreme scale. At least one death is reported in the flood waters that have swept across parts of the state of Queensland. Rock Hampton is one of the hardest-hit areas, about 1,000 people may have to evacuate. It looks like they are doing it by boat.
Officials say at least 200,000 have been directly affected by the flooding.
An emotional scene today at the Egyptian church targeted in a deadly New Year's Day bombing. Tearful worshippers lit candles to honor those killed. There are still a lot of questions about who carried out the bombing and how many people were killed.
CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman reports from Alexandria, Egypt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The attack took place just 10 minutes into the New Year, just around the corner at the church of El Kedisin, the Two Saints.
Now, at the moment, there's no way to get near the church because there is an intense Egyptian security presence around it, but many people here, eyewitnesses I spoke to, complained that the night of the attack security simply was inadequate, that the Egyptian police were allowing people to park cars in front of the church. The Egyptian authorities say they believed that the attack was the work of a suicide bomber, but eyewitnesses, several of whom I spoke with in hospital just up the street from here, say that they are positive that they saw that it was a car bomb and not a suicide bomber. And of course that raises worries about if it was a car bomb, that means there's a whole logistical network that supported this attack.
Now, at this point, it's not clear what the final death toll is. Initially, the Egyptian authorities were putting it at 21, but now they're saying they can only identify 18 of the bodies, the rest are body parts they simply cannot identify.
Now the atmosphere here in Alexandria is very tense throughout the afternoon. There have been running battles between Egyptian security and Coptic Christian youth, some of whom were throwing rocks at the police, police responding with tear gas, rubber bullets and using their batons.
We're also hearing there are clashes in Cairo as well between rioters and the police on the main road going by the Nile. So throughout Egypt in the aftermath of these attacks, the atmosphere is indeed very intense.
I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Alexandria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: And our thanks to Ben Wedeman.
Some performers face danger every time they do their jobs, and it's getting more dangerous, it appears. We will hear what some of the performers are saying about the risks involved.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Welcome back. One of the stunt acrobats who suffered a serious injury while performing in "Spider-Man" on Broadway is expected to leave rehab this week. His name, Christopher Tierney. His father says his son is in better health. Here's amateur video shot of that injury.
Well, he is up now. He's walking and he's doing very well, according to his father, and his father says Christopher cannot wait to go back to the show.
Well, accidents like this are raising concerns, as you can imagine, about the overall safety of stunt performers. CNN's Susan Candiotti takes a look at the dangers involved.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their flowing moves and dazzling artistry are both stunningly beautiful and a bit frightening to watch.
GUINEVERE DIPIAZZA, AERIAL ACROBAT: Well, you know, when you're performing a trick and it's - it's, you know, something that's a little bit sudden or quick or swift, and you get that from the crowd, it's really exciting.
CANDIOTTI: But there are risks. Will the knots hold? Will the rigging bear an acrobat's weight?
VIRGINIA LOGAN, STUDENT AERIALIST: Well, if you forget a line or if you forget a step, it's one thing. But if you're -
CANDIOTTI (on camera): If you fall.
LOGAN: You know, like Guin says, you know, if you fall, game over.
DIPIAZZA: And to side. Beautiful.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): An actor in "Spider-Man" who plunged more than 20 feet during a recent stunt is the fourth performer injured in the $65 million Broadway play still in previews.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): How dangerous is this profession?
DIPIAZZA: OK. Well, danger is - is kind of part of the game.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): More than a game, it's a serious work.
DIPIAZZA: Ten, nine, eight -
CANDIOTTI: Guinevere DiPiazza is an aerial acrobat who runs her own small troupe performing throughout New York.
DIPIAZZA: Rotate a little bit more so the knot freezes you.
CANDIOTTI: "Spider-Man's" accidents are the talk of the aerial community.
ELIE VENESKY, PERFORMER: One person getting hurt, then it - it's not necessarily the show's fault. But, four people -
LOGAN: If I was in that show - I mean, it's hard. That's a big machine to be a little, tiny cog in. So I don't envy those performers.
DIPIAZZA: Reach your right arm out to the side and keep -
CANDIOTTI: Barely dangling off the floor, they gave me a small taste of their techniques.
DIPIAZZA: There you go. So even just sitting is a little bit difficult.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): It is. It is, to keep your upper body straight, without falling.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): These aerialists are self-regulated. They watch out for their own safety.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): And each time you perform, how do you deal with the risk?
VENESKY: I never perform anything that I haven't done in practice at least a hundred times. I'm always sure that my rigging is secure.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): For DiPiazza, there are no shortcuts. A close friend fell to his death two years ago working for another company. Since then, for her, safety is paramount.
DIPIAZZA: I felt like this was a really good way to, you know, keep his memory alive and, you know, inspire -
CANDIOTTI (on camera): Inspire others?
DIPIAZZA: Inspire others. Yes.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): To make her art safe, or at least as safe as it can be.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: Brave performers indeed.
All right. The new year means a lot of folks will be looking for new jobs, but will the economy cooperate? That in just a moment. But first, a check of our top stories for you.
Nine-eleven first responders have a reason to celebrate today, the 9/11 health bill has been signed into law. A copy of the document was actually flown to the president in Hawaii. The bill provides health coverage for first responders suffering health problems from working near Ground Zero.
The Navy is investigating raunchy videos produced and shown to the crew of the USS Enterprise. The videos, first published yesterday by "The Virginian Pilot" newspaper, are filled with sexual innuendo and anti-gay references. They were shown to the aircraft carrier's crew in 2006, also 2007.
The tapes feature Captain Owen Honors, the Enterprise's second in command at the time. He's shown cursing along with other staff members in an attempt to, quote, "Be funny." Navy officials call the videos unacceptable.
A powerful earthquake rocked Central Chile this afternoon. Thousands of people experienced strong shaking, including our fellow co-workers at the CNN Bureau in Santiago. The magnitude 7.1 quake lasted about 20 seconds.
We have reports of people running into the streets. So far, no significant damage or casualties and no widespread tsunami threat exists. We'll keep you posted on that.
But now that the holidays are over, it is time to refocus, right? If your resolution is to find a new job in the new year, like a lot of you are looking for, get ready for a lot of company to continue in 2011. Labor Department statistics show 15 million Americans are out of work and could be joining you on that job hunt.
Paula Caliguiri, a professor at Rutgers University, joins us now from New York to talk more about job prospects in the new year. Paula, how does it look for folks out there who say, you know what, I need to find a job in 2011?
PROF. PAULA CALIGIURI, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: Hey, 2011, unfortunately Susan, is not going to be a great year. Unemployment will still be pretty high. My guess is the best we're going to do is hover around in the mid-nine point something percent and I think, frankly, 2012 is going to be tough also. Competition will be fierce.
So this year, next year, it's going to be really important if you're unemployed, focus on the recipe, focus on the two most critical things if you're unemployed - the skill set that you have and also your professional network. Both of those will be critical.
HENRICKS: Yes. They really are key.
A bit of good news here, you say few mass layoffs in the new year.
CALIGUIRI: Right. I think that one's going to be out of the headlines, those mass layoffs. And this is also good news. If you're currently working, if you currently have a job, while you might be doing the job of multiple people now, there's some good news here, and the good news is that you probably have pretty good job security.
So I - I would still like to everyone keep your ear to the ground. If your hear that your company is going through a merger or an acquisition, if you hear that your company is going through some financial problems, maybe going through a reorganization, then you might in fact be up for a layoff. But, for the most part, if you're working, you've got some job security and that's good news in 2011. CALIGUIRI: And you say that more people will be working for themselves. Does that mean starting up new businesses?
CALIGUIRI: More people will be working for themselves as independent contractors. And, Susan, this is going to be a great year for independent contractors. It really will.
This will be a phenomenal year if you have high skills, and the reason is that companies still need to get work done. They still have jobs out there, but they're not really willing to add the headcount. So if you're great at what you do, chances are you're going to see a pretty good year.
And the other thing - and this is really - I think we're going to be talking a lot about this in 2011. If you have a marketable skill, if you have a skill that you're putting out there, there's a high probability that it's being publicly rated so that if you're really good, you're probably doing well on the, you know, AngiesList.com or the Elance.com or the RateMyProfessor.com. If it's out there, if it's a skill and if you're - if you're being rated well, there's a good chance that - that you're going to have a good year.
HENDRICKS: So is that connected to this self-development? If you're good at something, try to get better?
CALIGUIRI: If you're good at something, try to get better. 2011 is the year for the skill set. So a good time to go back for an advanced degree or a trade school, anything you can do to upscale.
If you're currently working, if you're currently employed and your employer offers tuition reimbursement, this will be a great year to take advantage of that tuition reimbursement. If you're unemployed or if you're thinking about using your own money in - to reinvest in yourself either through trade school or professional school or a university degree, consider the two things that you're buying. Consider that, of course, it's that high-quality education, the opportunity to learn, the opportunity to gain some ability, but also remember that - that part of what you're purchasing with your tuition dollars is the opportunity for placement.
So be sure, if you're paying for that tuition, be sure you ask the program about how well they place their graduates, how well they place their students. That one will be very important in 2011.
HENDRICKS: And last couple of seconds, Paula, a word of advice for people maybe a little down coming into the new year. They don't have a job. What do you tell them?
CALIGUIRI: Sure. So, you know, just keep trying. It's partially an endurance test. Keep going. Put those resumes out there. But please remember there's also some strategy in looking for a job. Keep working on building those marketable skills and also keep putting yourself out there and build that professional network. Both of those will so critical in 2011.
HENDRICKS: Great advice. Great advice. Paula Caliguiri, thank you.
CALIGUIRI: Thanks, Susan.
HENDRICKS: An inspiring story here. Two twins born just minutes apart but in different years. That story is straight ahead.
Also, Josh Levs have checked out the latest viral videos for us on the web. How's it looking, Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's looking great. We've got some fun stuff for you today.
We're going to start off with a parallel parking job that end up with a police car and smoke. Also, how to create a luge ride in your own backyard. A reality check on a video I showed you yesterday. And this.
That's Joe Biden in the back, in case you're wondering. We've got 2010 JibJab style, all coming up on viral video rewind.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Twins born just a couple of minutes apart but in different years. Well, it happened. Christy Alston was in a Raleigh, North Carolina hospital on New Year's Eve. She gave birth to a baby boy Ashton in 2010, (INAUDIBLE) closed. Then his sister, Alicia, twin sister, followed two minutes later, right at midnight as 2011 began.
Love that story.
Being in the driver's seat isn't always a fun position to be in, is it? Just ask the woman featured in this weekend's viral videos, here with Josh Levs to fill us in. Hi, Josh.
LEVS: Oh, man. OK, this is fun.
You know, I don't always get excited about these videos of people parking -
HENDRICKS: Yes, you do.
LEVS: Well, I get excited about viral videos all the time, but this one is just particularly good. Take a look here.
So it's someone who's attempting to - I think - maybe it's pulled over, but there's a police car behind her. And she's trying to parallel park, really bad parallel parking job. As soon as she crashes into that cop car, all the other cars around try to get away.
HENDRICKS: I'm out of here.
LEVS: It's possible. But, turning around, she crashes into the cop car again. This one makes my slaphappy. And then, when they drive away, there's smoke coming out. Everyone's fine, which is the only reason I'm showing it, but somehow they got smoke coming and steam coming out of the two cars.
HENDRICKS: Oh, my -
LEVS: All the other cars that come along see it and just drive away.
HENDRICKS: The best part are the other drivers who were saying I'm out of here. I have an unpaid parking ticket. Screeching off.
LEVS: They're like I'm not sticking around for this. Oh, man, that's a great -
All right. Take a look at this next one. This one, the guy's created in his own backyard. He creates his own luge run. He and his family -
HENDRICKS: (INAUDIBLE)
LEVS: Yes. Sorry. I was just trying to see what it said on the screen. I couldn't see.
So check it out. So he gets on this luge - he creates this, basically dug it out. This family have their own great time. It took them in a daze, obviously.
HENDRICKS: OK, this is a little elaborate. Where's dad? He's out back with the luge.
LEVS: With the luge.
And you can see how long - I mean, it just keeps going and going. It's very impressive, though.
HENDRICKS: It is impressive.
LEVS: And, obviously, he dug it deeply enough that, you know, he wasn't going to spill over until there. Really cool.
And, by the way, that's a heck of a - heck of a yard they've got going there.
HENDRICKS: How long did that take him? It makes you wonder.
LEVS: I'm going to find that one out.
HENDRICKS: Half hour?
LEVS: Probably. Yes.
All right. So check it out. So, last week I showed one of my favorites of 2010 and it's this Walk USA. And if we take a look here, it shows this - this guy basically walking across the country, and stops at all sorts of great sights that are Americana. And it's just a really interesting way to celebrate America. And this is a song -
HENDRICKS: Reminiscent of Forrest Gump, right? LEVS: Yes. It's like that. It is a lot like that. You're right, because Forrest Gump made it even with the running and then you were going across the country. That's right.
And they put it to the song "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
Well, a lot of people are wondering how they did this because you can see every step and he seems to be walking at a different speed. So skip to the next video, and they actually show how they did it. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I took thousands of individual still frames from the video and we used those as reference all along the way to pose the models. So, they were from the - the models' real walk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: So what they do is they actually had this model guy take all these steps and they studied his walk. And then they used this time lapse photography and they actually layered it onto all this video they got across the country.
It's really - it's complicated, I know, but it's really impressive work. And it shows - what I like about it, it shows how much work goes into some of these viral videos.
HENDRICKS: It's the same guy that built the luge in his backyard, right? A talented guy.
LEVS: Yes. Something like that.
No, you know, it just shows some people go all out for these things. And that's one thing I love about viral videos that it's not just that they're viral and people are watching them, but they're art. You know, it's modern art in a whole new way.
HENDRICKS: It really is. Are we going back to the kitty?
LEVS: We are because I have a reality check on this one.
HENDRICKS: OK.
LEVS: All right? Check out the kitties. So I showed you this yesterday. All right, take a look at the kitty who, you know, people are saying, look at the kitty who wants to be a bunny. Watch what the cat does.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here, kitty.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEVS: He's coming. There you go. Puts on the bunny mask, that thing, pulls it over his head. Everyone's loving this online. And, look, the kitty is a bunny.
HENDRICKS: Wants to be a bunny.
LEVS: It turns out - I got a bunch of tweets about this afterwards. Apparently, the owner reversed the video. So the - the cat was actually starting with it on, was taking it off, and then this very clever owner reversed the video so it looks like the cat's putting it on.
HENDRICKS: I was guessing there was catnip there it, but no.
LEVS: No. They had a better way of getting away with it.
HENDRICKS: Let's stick to the kitty wants to be a bunny.
LEVS: I know. It was better when it was backwards, right? But, you know, I got to give you my reality checks every time we get them.
So, big finish here. This is cool. JibJab takes on the whole year of 2010 with President Obama and Vice President Biden.
HENDRICKS: OK.
LEVS: All right? Take a look.
(JIBJAB VIDEO PLAYS)
LEVS: So they go through all these things that happened in 2010 that weren't exactly great for the presidency and the tough time they went through. People are giving him a hard time.
And skip ahead to the next section. Let's see the next section here.
They just do - they do a brilliant job every time of, you know, putting together all the highlights of the last year. And this is - you know, it's nice sound on that, too. So long, 2010. May 2011 be filled with all good things.
Folks, I always post all my videos for you right here at my pages at Facebook and Twitter, JoshLevsCNN. You can always, always reach me there. And I'll be Facebooking you back, I'll be tweeting you back. And thanks for your messages all the time. We appreciate it very much. Keep them coming.
You go there right now, you see all the hot videos.
HENDRICKS: Josh, it's been so fun. See you soon.
LEVS: It's so fun. Glad you're here.
HENDRICKS: Thank you. Glad to be here.
LEVS: Glad to have you. HENDRICKS: Back to the kitty and the bunny hat.
LEVS: Yes. OK, we'll watch that after the show.
HENDRICKS: Well, we've said things we'd like to take back, right? Like that. But with people in the public eye, misspeak, it often comes at a cost and makes news.
Here is CNN's Kiran Chetry with Top Gaffes of 2010.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He said -
TONY HAYWARD, CEO, BP: You know, I'd love my life back.
CHETRY: And she said -
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKAN GOVERNOR: Obviously, some stand with our North Korean allies.
CHETRY: Left foot -
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a big (EXPLETIVE DELETED) deal.
CHETRY: -- and right -
SHARRON ANGLE (R), FORMER NEVADA SENATE CANDIDATE: Some of you look a little more Asian to me.
CHETRY: -- planted firmly in mouth. And don't forget to talk to the hand.
It was the year of the gaffe, a year of election madness or some sound bites bit back.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.
CHETRY: There were newcomers -
CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), FORMER SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm not a witch. I'm nothing you've heard. I'm you.
CHETRY: -- and some old favorites who never seem to disappoint.
BIDEN: God rest her soul. And although she's - wait, your mom's still - your mom's still alive. Your dad passed. God bless her soul.
CHETRY: A year in which one candidate lost the confidence of an entire nation.
DAN REA, RADIO HOST: Yes, but now Scott Brown has Curt Schilling, OK?
MARTHA COAKLEY (D), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS SENATE CANDIDATE: Another Yankee fan.
REA: Schilling?
COAKLEY: Yes.
REA: Curt Schilling, a Yankee fan?
COAKLEY: No. All right. I'm wrong.
REA: The Red Sox -
CHETRY: And where one decision left a city without its favorite son.
LEBRON JAMES, NBA PLAYER: In this fall, I'm going to take my talents to South Beach.
CHETRY: Other athletes spent 2010 swinging and missing and apologizing.
TIGER WOODS, PRO GOLFER: I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in.
CHETRY: Some other people own 2010, or at least 15 minutes of it.
JIMMY MCMILLAN, FORMER NY GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Rent is too damn high.
JOHN TYNER, SOFTWARE PROGRAMMER: If you touch my junk, I'm going to have you arrested.
CHETRY: So, thanks, 2010. Thanks for the laughs -
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We cannot sustain. Oops!
CHETRY: -- and for the gaffes --
BIDEN: There's an old Irish proverb that some of you know that I heard my grandfather use but never really applied to me before. He said, it goes, "A silent mouth is sweet to hear." Well, I'm going to yield to that proverb.
CHETRY: We'll miss you too, Joe.
Kiran Chetry, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: I like that. A silent mouth is sweet to hear.
Hope you had a great New Year. Hope you do have a great New Year, 2011. I'm Susan Hendricks. Brianna Keilar is in for Don Lemon at the top of the hour.
Coming up, a restaurant critic outage. Should restaurant reviewers be anonymous or identified? You decide. Have a great night. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
