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18-Year-Old Karl Pierson Shoots Two Students And Kills Himself In Arapahoe High School; Snowstorm Covers 1,000-Mile Swath Across Midwest; Wichita Midcontinent Airport Employee Arrested After FBI Reveals Plans For Suicide Attack; Massive Snowstorm Barrels East; Feds Move to Make Meat Supply Safer; FCC Voted to Consider Lifting Ban on Calls

Aired December 14, 2013 - 18:00   ET

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

ROSA FLORES, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosa Flores live from New York. Thank you so much for joining us.

Right now, a huge winter like storm is moving into the northeast. It is massive with snow falling from Ohio all the way to New England. Check out the video from Buffalo. Snow has been piling up there for days. Lake-effect snow blanketed the area with more than three feet and guess what? It's still falling. Within the past hour, we brought in these images from West Hartford, Connecticut where up to a foot of snow could fall overnight.

CNN's Alexander Field is following the storm. She is driving from New York to Boston in the middle of this mess.

And Alexandra, what are you seeing at this hour?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosa, at this point, we are finally in Massachusetts, four and a half hours after we left New York City. We are on interstate 90 and heading for Boston. This is the window we are approaching now between 6:00 and 8:00 when we are told we will see a heavier snowfall.

So, take a look out the front windshield here. You can see that I-90 is covered in snow. People are moving fairly slowly. These roads have been pretreated. We have seen salt trucks and sand trucks out here. So, it is manageable, although, certainly far from ideal. We know the conditions are going to get worse. If we take a look out the rear windshield, you can see that there are still at this point cars on the road. We know the next two hours we could see heavy snow and we also know that overnight, past midnight and between sort of midnight and 7:00 a.m., we are also preparing to see a lot of snow.

This area around Boston is expecting eight to 14 inches. More snow than anyone in the northeast has seen in months now. So again, if you are going to head out, you want to be slow, you want to be ready for it. People aren't used to driving in these conditions after time off. The Massachusetts emergency management agency is also warning people, along with the snow. We are going to see ice. There's a coastal flood warning and strong winds could be a part of it. So, a lot coming in Massachusetts over the next few hours, Rosa.

FLORES: All right, be careful out there. Alexandra Field live for us.

This storm is not just wreaking havoc on the roads but flights as well. According to flightaware.com, there have been nearly 1,000 fights cancellations in the United States. And of course, the airports most affected are in the northeast.

Hit the hardest, Newark. More than 40 percent of flight into that airport have been scrapped. Chicago, JFK and New York and Dulles international in Washington are seeing lot of cancelations.

Let's get a check on how bad the storm could get with Karen Maginnis in the CNN weather center.

How is it looking?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It isn't even winter yet, but a lot of people out trying to shop for the holiday. And here comes a bit more to a storm. But some interesting is going to take place. For New York, a couple inches of snow. And then right about midnight, it changes over to rain. Boston, you all see the snow until the early morning hours. And then you'll start to see a change over to rain. And temperatures are going to be warming up. So those temperatures in New York were only in the mid-20s all day long. Well, in the forecast, you start bouncing around with temperatures. Still not going to be near normal for the next three days or so.

Here is what we are expecting for snowfall totals. Eastern great lakes will see significant snowfall, maybe as much as a foot. But it will be along the northern i-95 corridor, we'll see pockets of potentially heavy snowfall. And the coastal areas, it is mainly going to be possibly starting out with snow then changing over rain.

How about temperatures? Buffalo goes from 20s to the teens to 30 degrees. And by Tuesday, New York City, you'll see about 38 coming up Sunday afternoon. Then back down into the 20s. And then by Tuesday, you are back up to temperatures in the 30s. Washington, D.C., for the most part, we have 40s for Sunday, 30s for Monday and back to 40s again on Tuesday. So, we will keep you updated on the latest. Back to you.

FLORES: All right, thank you so much.

We have learned a great deal in the past half hour about yesterday's shocking high school shooting near Denver. The Arapahoe county sheriff spoke for a long time to reporters. He gave us a time line of the shooting. He told us how school security and police officers responded. And for the first time, we found out who this is. The teenage girl who is in critical condition at this hour. Shot point blank by her fellow high school senior who then killed himself.

CNN's Casey Wian is outside that school in Centennial, Colorado.

And Casey, give us her name and tell us how she got caught up in this entire mess.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosa, the sheriff said she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. For the first time, he named the victim in this shooting. 17-year-old Claire Davis, a senior at Arapahoe high school. She remains in critical condition at a local hospital with severe trauma to her head, the result of a point-blank wound from a shotgun fired by the shooter in this case, Karl Pierson. The sheriff gave a vivid description of how this unfolded over one minute and 20 seconds. He described a shooter who came to the school armed to the tee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF GRAYSON RICHARDSON, ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO: We have had the opportunity to view security video from the school. And that opportunity to view that security video has been absolutely instrumental in our ability to understand better what happened and understand exactly how this individual entered the school and what he did once he entered the school.

We know the individual entered the school on the north side after parking his vehicle along the curb on the north side of the school parking lot. The individual that entered the school was armed with a shotgun. He took no effort to conceal the fact he was armed. Everyone that saw him realized that he was armed with a shotgun.

The individual also had Vandalia of multiple rounds of shotgun ammunition strapped across his body and he was also armed with a machete, a very large knife. The individual also carried a backpack with him as he entered the school. We now know, as a result of our investigation inside that backpack were three incendiary devices.

All right, a long that times that we have visited, I have told you I used the words Molotov cocktail. And that is exactly what these three were. All three were in the backpack. Shortly after entering the school, the individual fired one random round down a hallway and then immediately went into the immediate area and space of the female victim and shot the female victim point-blank. Fired another round down the hallway and then immediately went to the media center/library. When the individual entered the library, he fired one additional shot and then detonated or ignited one of the devices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIAN: The sheriff saying that in his opinion, there's no question that the loss of many more lives was prevented by the quick action of a sheriff's deputy at the school at the time. And also, the quick implementation by school officials of their active shooter protocol, really kind of remarkable that only one person was shot besides it shooter who shot himself.

The sheriff also saying that Claire Davis, the victim in this case, was a young woman of principle and purpose. The innocent victim of an evil act of violence. Those are the words that the sheriff who vowed never to speak the shooter's name in public again -- Rosa.

FLORES: And Casey, we were just talking to Jeff and Holly about PTSD and the possibility of PTSD in this community. You are there, what's your take? WIAN: I don't know about PTSD. A lot of people have talked about the shooter as a young man who was full of opinions. He was someone who was very interested in politics. Multiple students and parents have described him as having socialist or communist views, it doesn't mean PTSD. He was the product of a divorced family. We don't know the role that may have played in his mental state. We don't know what role that may have played in his mental state, if any. Just don't know about PTSD.

FLORES: All right. Casey Wian live in Colorado for us. Thank you so much.

Now to the east coast where people are remembering another school shooting, a very deadly one that happened one year ago today. President Obama and the first lady lit candles at the White House this morning in honor of the 20 kids and six adults who died in Sandy Hook elementary school shootings in Connecticut. The president devoted much of his weekly address to the anniversary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As a nation, we can't stop every act of violence, we can't heal every troubled mind. If we want to live in a country where we can go to work, send our kids to school and walk our streets free from fear, we have to keep trying. We have to keep caring. We have to treat every child like they are ours. Like those in Sandy Hook, we must choose to love and together, we must and can change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: CNN and many other news organizations are honoring the city of Newtown today by not reporting from that city, as residents grieve privately. We have a special documentary about Sandy Hook at 8:00 eastern tonight.

And this, a man is accused of planning a suicide attack at Wichita's airport. He didn't really have any explosives. So, did the FBI stop a serious threat or was it something else?

All that and more, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: Welcome back.

An employee of the Wichita Midcontinent Airport has been arrested after an elaborate undercover planted by the FBI discovered he was planning a suicide attack at that airport.

Details from CNN's Joe Johns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The FBI says he was set up bay pair of undercover FBI agents. He thought he was going to detonate the car bomb, but when he tries to enter the airport with the vehicle, he was arrested.

The guy's name is Terry Loewen and he is apparently a practicing Muslim. He works at Wichita airport and he is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, a car bomb and attempting to provide material support to terrorism. According to court documents, the FBI and the United States attorney's office say Loewen had an online chat with someone and he allegedly said he wanted to engage in violent jihad on behalf Al-Qaeda. But what he didn't know was that he was chatting online with an FBI employee and the employee offered to introduce him with someone to help him with the violent jihad. And the court documents described FBI employees number one and later number two who pretended to be an accomplice as part of what was a sting operation. They nabbed Loewen when he tried to enter the airport gate with a security pass. He thought he had explosives in the car, but they were not active because they have been provided by the agents.

These types of so-called aspirational error cases have become controversial recently. The question is whether it make sense to go after individual who have terror plans even if the plans are not fully operational because the cases can be expensive and time consuming to prosecute the FBI has said many times, since 9/11, its mission has switched to prevention of terrorism. And this is the kind of case that shows just how far they will go to do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: And that was CNN's Joe Johns reporting.

Now, let me bring in CNN national security analyst and former CIA operative, Bob Baer.

Now Bob, the criminal complaint against Loewen lays out a time line of what led to his arrest. Now, it is undercover operation began months ago. Is this sort of thing worth all the effort and time, essentially helping him out first, and then arresting him?

BOB BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Absolutely.

You know, if you just talk about these things to friends and so forth, they can't get a conviction out of it. They need to actually have the guy buy the stuff, spend money, commit an act that makes him look like he's going to go through with it. So, I think they did absolutely the right thing. It's this kind the lone Wolf cases that terrify people, terrifies the FBI in particular. These explosives are easily put together. And if you don't go on the Internet, you don't announce your plan, it's hard to catch the cases. And the FBI has no choice but run him down in the way they did.

FLORES: Now, you mentioned lone wolves or home grown violent extremists. Really, are these the most serious threats, do you think, at this point and time when it comes to national security?

BAER: I think right now, I mean, we haven't seen any organized groups trying to hit the United States, continental United States. You know, it's one of these lunatics that takes on a cause, gets his guidance from the internet, gets the recipe for the explosives, goes out and tries something like this. I'm just afraid one is going to get through and you simply can't get all of them.

FLORES: All right, Bob. Don't go anywhere. We are going to bring you right back after this.

But we are going to be talking about missing in Iran for years. News reports say an American was working for the CIA in that country. I'll ask Bob if his life is now in immediate danger.

All that and more after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: Welcome back. I'm live in New York. Thank you for spending part of your Saturday with us.

He's an American citizen, an FBI veteran who has been missing since 2007 when he visited a resort island off the coast of Iran. The U.S. government insists it doesn't know where Bob Levinson or what he was doing when he disappeared. But reports by the "Associated Press" and "the Washington Post" says he was working for the CIA, adding an entirely new and complicated angle to the story.

So, let's talk about it with Bob Baer. Now, he is a CNN national security analyst and former CIA operative.

Bob, the White House spokesman was a very specific on Friday, he said Bob Levinson quote "was not a U.S. government employee at the time of his disappearance."

Now, let's dissect that for a moment. Does that mean that he could have been a CIA contractor and technically not an employee?

BAER: No, it is sort of disingenuous because the fact is when he went to Iran, he was between contracts. They promised him a new one. It's clear from the e-mails that he expected to get paid for the visit to the island. Certainly, the kidnappers will look at him as a CIA contractor/employee/agent, whatever you want to call him. Technically, the White House is right but the fact is he was working for the CIA and that is the way he's been identified with the people holding him.

FLORES: Now, Iran insists they have no idea where he is. Is that believable?

BAER: You know what I suspect and this is truly a speculation is they grabbed him. It's controlled by Iranian intelligence. They turned him over to a radical group, if you look at the tapes and the pictures of him. And he was probably spirited out of the country, maybe to Afghanistan or maybe he is in the country (INAUDIBLE). So, they technically, he may be out of their control, but it makes it that much more dangerous for him.

FLORES: Now, we were talking about information told to CNN and a source tells CNN that the CIA has apologized to Levinson's family, paid them a couple million dollars, fired three agency employees and even disciplined seven others over this incident. Your take?

BAER: This was sloppy spy craft. You just can't believe it. Sending anybody (INAUDIBLE), letting to go ahead any association is not the way the CIA normally does business. That man was doomed the moment he crossed over and he met that American assassin Sala Hadin (ph) who is hiding in Tehran. It was just sloppy from the beginning.

I think the CIA is embarrassed. It wasn't approved. It was a couple analysts who shouldn't be running assets in to foreign countries ever. And the people who deal with Iran in the CIA knew it was stupid, but they found out too late.

And so, I think if you look at the two million plus-dollars are trying to pay off the family to keep their mouths shut. And they probably should have. I think it was a mistake for the family give keep the e- mails to "the Washington Post" because it's put him in more danger.

FLORES: Now, let's talk about drones for a moment.

This week, national security officials in Yemen told CNN that a U.S. drone mistakenly attacked a wedding convoy in Yemen after intelligence reports identified them the vehicle as carrying Al-Qaeda militants, 14 people were reportedly killed.

Now, are drone attacks worth the risk of killing these innocent people?

BAER: No. We are just making more enemies than we are killing, frankly. You know, it was a signature strike where people are carrying weapons in Afghan and Pakistani weapons in the tribal areas. They shoot automatic weapons in the sky. So, they see all this going on. They see trucks, guns, hey, it's got to be Al-Qaeda. And they fire and held fire mislead it. Unfortunately, we are just digging ourselves deeper with these things. And you know, collecting, you know, accurate intelligence in tribal areas in Pakistan is very, very difficult. And I think it's time to put a limit to this especially since we are pulling out of Afghanistan.

FLORES: Bob Baer, CNN national security analyst. You are writing a book about drones now. We are looking forward to reading that. Thank you so much.

BAER: Thank you.

FLORES: And still to come, the latest on the winter storm that is ruining the weekend for people in one-third of the country. Next in NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: You are looking live at Columbus Circle in New York City where three to six inches of snow is expected to fall. It's all part of a massive storm that could dump up to several inches of snow in blanketed areas.

CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray is following the storm in Chicago. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Chicago has seen about four inches of snow this morning alone. Of course it's not just Chicago feeling the effects of this storm, it's all over the Northeast as well.

(voice-over): Winter still may be one week away, but by the looks of what's coming down this weekend, you might think otherwise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was home when it started coming down. It's been constant all day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The back roads are all ice and snow. So, just makes it hard to drive on and everything.

GRAY: Here in Chicago, the conditions have been down right frigid dipping to below average temperatures for days.

(on camera): This is Jim Walsh. Come on in. We caught him running a few minutes ago. You are from in D.C. in town for a wedding.

JIM WALSH, RUNNER: Right.

GRAY: Some people would call you a little crazy, Jim.

WALSH: This is a beautiful day for a wedding in Chicago. I love Chicago. It's beautiful out here.

GRAY: And I guess it's all about the miles at this point?

WALSH: Yes, we're just going to get the miles in.

GRAY (voice-over): But now, this 1,000-mile storm is on the move, with tens of millions in the Northeast about to get shellacked by large swaths of snow and ice. Some places could see more than a foot of the white stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm freezing. This is terrible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's cold (ph). I don't like it.

GRAY: This wicked weather didn't deter everyone in Mt. Kisco, New York. The Christmas parade went on as planned, with Santa braving the elements. Still, utility companies and airports remain on high alert, as are emergency crews who overnight had to battle through the bitter conditions and thick ice to fight this fire in Berlin, New Hampshire. So, with winter storm warnings and watches now in effect for large portions of the Northeast, everyone is bracing for what could be a miserable 24 hours.

(on camera): This storm system should push off the coast by Sunday afternoon. Of course, temperatures here in Chicago aren't expected to get above freezing until at least Thursday. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: That was Jennifer gray reporting.

And as drivers across the snow affected areas are being warned to take extra care, my next guest has an update on road conditions right now in Massachusetts.

Frank DePaula, administrator of the highway division at the Department of Transportation.

And, Frank, what are the roads looking like now?

FRANK DEPAULA, MASS. DOT ADMINISTRATOR (via telephone): It's currently snowing here in Massachusetts. The roads are wet. There is a little snow build up on some of the interstate highways, but we have had equipment now treating the roads so we don't have any icing conditions at this point.

FLORES: Any widespread closure that is you are aware about?

DEPAULA: No, we have all of our major roads still open. We have lowered the speed limit to 45 miles an hour just as a cautionary step. At this point, all the roads are passable and people are using them. But the traffic volume is light considering it's Saturday evening.

FLORES: Talk to us about the equipment you are using. I know usually roads and highways, overpasses, bridges are usually most at danger.

DEPAULA: Yes. We are fairly used to snow conditions here in the Northeast in Massachusetts. So, we have almost 4,000 pieces of equipment. We have both salt spreaders and plows and heavy, really heavy pieces of equipment as well as some specialized snow blowing equipment. So, we have been out pre-treating the roads to prevent icing at those elevated deck locations and we are ready to start plowing once the snow builds up.

FLORES: You mentioned ice. Any black ice that you are aware of? Or are you preparing for black ice?

DEPAULA: We are preparing for it, trying to prevent it, actually. I have not heard any reports of large numbers of vehicles spinning out. We have been pre-treating. So, we are hoping -- it is very cold. It's only about 20 degrees where I am right now.

But we are expecting later this evening, at least south and east of us, and a little bit of a warm front coming in. A little bit of changeover to precipitation.

FLORES: Now, Frank, this is early in the season for us to be seeing this, right?

DEPAULA: Yes. Normally by this time we have had a few small events. This is a, you know, eight to 12 inches is a good event for early December.

FLORES: Oh, I see. Usually, do you see it in January, February, perhaps? DEPAULA: Yes. Last year, actually February and March, we had two- thirds of our snow for the season. We had quite a bit last year. I think we had 33 actual snowstorm events during our season last year.

FLORES: Frank DePaula with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation -- thank you so much for joining us.

DEPAULA: Thank you.

FLORES: Still ahead, the next time you bite into a Chick-fil-A sandwich, you may notice a slight change in taste. Why the fast food giant is making the changes. Plus, we'll meet the woman who led the charge in the name of health.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: Welcome back.

Steak with a side of antibiotics? It doesn't sound very tasty now, does it? The federal government doesn't think so, either. And this week, the Food and Drug Administration announced new measures to try to make chicken, pork and beef, all the ones that we eat, safer. How you might ask.

By limiting the use of antibiotics in animals processed for meat.

Now, joining me is a creator of foodbabe.com, Vani Hari.

And, Vani, let's start with the antibiotics. We were talking during the break. You can't see them in this meat, obviously. So, talk to us about getting rid of them.

VANI HARI, CREATOR, FOODBABE.COM: Well, getting rid of them is one of the most important issues of our time. I talked to a former general of our Army, Wesley Clark, I asked him, what's the food issue you are most concerned about? He said antibiotics in our food supplies because it's causing antibiotics resistant bacteria -- stuff that could wipe out the human race.

So, this is a very serious subject. And I'm so excited the FDA is actually waking up on this issue. But they have a lot more to do. This new measure is very, very weak. First of all, it's voluntary. It allows the pharmaceutical companies to decide whether they want to label these antibiotics for fattening up animals.

And it also provides a loophole. They still can use the antibiotics to prevent disease. So, if you have factory farms that all the chickens are cooped up together and they are sick because of their living conditions, they are going to continue to get antibiotics. And this is a serious issue.

FLORES: Which leads to my next question, how are they in the meat in the first place?

HARI: Well, food manufacturers administer it to the animals to make them fat, so they can produce meat faster and cheaper. FLORES: It's just disgusting in so many ways. It really is. Just a thought that we're eating all of this is pretty disturbing.

HARI: Yes.

FLORES: Now, let's talk about Chick-fil-A. Tell us about Chick-fil- A.

I know you have been central to this effort.

HARI: Yes, definitely.

So, on my blog, foodbabe.com, I started writing about all of the ingredients in the American food supply. And one of the most favorite fast foods I, you know, would eat as a child and growing up was Chick- fil-A.

And I thought it was like healthier than all of the rest of the fast food. And what I found is it has close to 100 ingredients in the Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. One of those ingredients is TBHQ, which is a very controversial additive put into the oil made from butane.

And so, I wrote an article calls "chemical-fil-a or Chick-fil-A" and caused uproar on the blog to the point where the Foodbabe army actually went out, contacted the company, went to Chick-fil-A's Facebook page and really created a big issue around this. And so, they invited me, hired me to consult with them to make some of these changes. And so, they decided to take out TBHQ and artificial food dyes which are linked to hyperactivity in children. But they haven't addressed my number one concern, which is the antibiotics in their chicken, their main menu item.

FLORES: So, the Foodbabe will continue to fight so all food is healthy for us to eat. Thank you so much, Vani Hari, of the foodbabe.com.

HARI: Thank you.

FLORES: Thank you so much.

And still to come, here is one you have to see. What would you do if you were the driver and a guy wouldn't get off your bus? You'll see what one driver did, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: Take a look at your screen and check out the beatdown a bus driver gave a passenger who refused to get off his bus. Both men face assault charges from this fight last month near Seattle. The bus driver lost his job. He says he only reacted like this after the passenger spit on him.

Some feel he should have kept his job, but the bus agency says there's a procedure for cases like this and obviously, the driver didn't follow it. Now imagine boarding a flight, finding your seat, tucking in with a pillow and a blanket, perhaps a good book and then listening to the person next to you yap, yap, yap on their cell phone for three hours. That could soon be reality.

The FCC voted three to two Thursday to consider lifting a ban on in- flight cell phone use. We're now one step closer to in-flight phone calls. Now, no doubt, it's a drain for some, but a nightmare for many, including yours truly.

Joining us now is tech expert Brett Larson.

And, Brett, is this going to happen, really?

BRETT LARSON, TECH EXPERT: It is looking like it is going to happen. The FCC and the FAA both have kind of chimed in on this. With them saying, the FCC joked that, you know, we're not the commission that sets the rules on being kind. And we're not here to tell you how to live your life.

But, I think, first of all, I think it's horrible. I think it's --

FLORES: I agree.

LARSON: I realize the technology works and that's fine and dandy. But the airplane was the last place you could go, literally in the world where you didn't have to be bothered by cell phone conversations with a few spots in the New York subway.

FLORES: Now, let's talk etiquette.

LARSON: Yes.

FLORES: Well, there'd be etiquette like, for example, asking the person next to you, oh, I'm about to make a phone. Or are we just going to hear yap, yap, yap all over the place?

LARSON: Right. There should be. There should absolutely be. And I think this is a great time to start that conversation of when is it right to even use our cell phones on the ground and when will it be right to use them in the air?

But there's always going to be that guy. The rules don't apply to him. I've heard from friends all day who's been on flights that past couple of days, to say, nobody is paying attention as it is.

People don't put away their tablets. They don't put away their cell phones. They talk on their phone, because they don't think the rules apply to them. And that's really the problem.

FLORES: Let's talk fees, because one of things that I was thinking was perhaps we could have a tranquility fee where you can fly and know that nobody is going to be talking on their cell phones.

LARSON: Right. That is definitely something I could see the airlines jumping on. Also, what this is going to come down to is how is the technology going to work from plane to ground? Is the airplane going to have anything to do with it, where -- or the airlines, rather, can come in and say, yes, you can use your cell phone, but you've got to pay us five bucks to do it and we are going to charge you 50 cents a minute, so that you can kind of impose a fee to make it you know, raise the barrier a little bit, make it so -- this better be an important call if you want to talk at that price.

I hope that it doesn't go the other way where we have to pay because we want to be left alone and we want to be silent. I think the people who want to talk should have to pay for it.

But it may be like in the '80s, where we had smoking sections on airplanes, where it's like, look, if you want to do that, fine, just go to the back of the plane and sit behind the barrier where none of us have to listen to you.

FLORES: Since you're here, I've got to ask you, because a lot of us are probably going to fly over the holidays. How can we save on these fees? I almost feel like we get charged for almost everything.

LARSON: You really do and that's -- it's like a tricky thing that the airlines are doing now because of kayak and places where you can look at the ticket prices at once. Pay very close attention to what you're getting for that low price ticket.

A lot of the airlines will say, yes, sure, a round trip ticket, $400. And then you check, it's $25 for your first bag and $50 for the next bag and $10 if you want, an aisle seat, and $15 if you -- so, you need to look at what the fees break out to, because in a lot of cases, you are better off buying the slightly more expensive ticket. Maybe it's a more traditional carrier, maybe it's on one of the newer airlines like Southwest or JetBlue that doesn't nickel and dime you as much as some of the legacy carriers, because they have older planes and they need to make more money.

FLORES: Brett Larson, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

LARSON: Thanks for having me.

FLORES: And coming up, what do you get for that gadget lover who has almost everything? How about a robot car that thinks for itself? We'll give you ideas from high-tech gifts just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: If you are looking for a gadget to give this holiday season, you don't have to limit yourself to a smartphone or television. There are plenty of other awesome gifts out there from robot cars to smart gadgets, even an app to help with a post holiday chore.

Here to tell us all about it is CNN Money's Laurie Segall.

And, Laurie, robot cars?

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY: Yes, it's very cool. The founder came in and she was showing us. The whole newsroom went crazy.

It's called Anki Drive. And essentially, they are saying it's a virtual video game you can play in the real world. You're looking at us, attempting to play. I did lose, I'll say that.

You know, those robots are controlled by your smartphone. So, you are actually steering with your smartphone, which is pretty interesting. And if you want to play with a friend, you can do that.

But if you don't want to play with a friend, these robots are -- these cars are robots so they understand. They can react in real time. You can actually take your smartphone and put the car against your smartphone and it will recharge it and make it so your car goes faster.

You know, it's expensive, $199, not cheap. But, you know, the idea is you don't have to go out and get a new game because they'll just update the software. So, it's really combining the real world and this video game kind of together. So, that one is pretty interesting one.

FLORES: Yes, it looks like fun. What about something perhaps a little more practical?

SEGALL: Sure. Especially during the holidays, it's good to get something practical. This right here, it doesn't look that interesting, right?

FLORES: No, it does not.

SEGALL: Neither did these. But when I tell you what they do, you're going to be interested. So, essentially, we've talked about the smartphone-connected home. Being able to use your smartphone to turn on and off the lights. So, this is all part of something called the smart things kit. You can get it and you can put these sensors I just held up on your lamp, refrigerator and you can use your smartphone to turn on and off your lights after you do that.

And it all connects wireless, how they just held up. And you can do all sorts of things with it whether it's turn on and off your lights or get a push notification if there's a pipe leaking.

And now, they are coming up with interesting ways to use this technology. So, one way is, essentially, it can sense when you wake up in the home, turn on your coffee pot and have the coffee brewing as you're waking up. So, this idea, it's not cheap, $299 for the whole set up. It's really kind of a bit of a lifestyle.

FLORES: Now, we were talking about post-Christmas chores. No one likes chores. So, how can you help?

SEGALL: Sure. You know, there's a company called Bond. And I think this one is interesting because I love a handwritten note. You don't get a handwritten note in a mail anymore.

You're looking right now, if you look at what you're looking is the screen. That was actually written by a robot. Someone typed that into an app and it was sent to me in the mail. What happens with Bond is you can essentially write a note to whoever you want on your phone.

Once you do it, they will send it in the mail. They have a robot write it with a fountain pen and it comes in the mail. It has this very cool wax seal so you can open and you see them. So, it also feels very real, and you can, you know, it's this personal touch you add to the holiday and it's easier than having to send it.

FLORES: How expensive is it?

SEGALL: It's free, but you do it a couple times and they charge you. Next, you have to pay a couple dollars. But, you know, it depends on what you want to pay for, right?

FLORES: Yes. Laurie Segall, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

SEGALL: Thank you.