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Snow and Ice Threaten Holiday Travel; President Obama Briefed in South Sudan Travel; Four Men Arrested in Fatal Mall Carjacking; Five-Year-Old Boy Missing for Three Months; Mother and Her Boyfriend Charged; Thief Turns in Suspected Pedophile; Obama's Sinking Approval Rating, Other Political Winners, Losers; When Celebrities Say Things They Shouldn't; Awkward Family Photos Live Forever on Web; "Wolf of Wall Street's" Partying Was Real

Aired December 21, 2013 - 17:00   ET

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

ROSA FLORES, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosa Flores, thank you so much for spending part of your Saturday with us. We start with this --

It's a wild weekend of weather. Record temps on the east coast while ice and snow put parts of the Midwest into a deep freeze. It could all add up to a holiday travel mess as tens of millions of people hit the roads.

First, the flooding. Warnings up in parts of Indiana due to the heavy rains, in Indianapolis people stocked up on sandbags to protect themselves from waters rising too fast. Crews even worked to clear drains to help make sure that those streets stay passable. But there's also a winter storm brewing in the Midwest, with freezing rain, ice, and snow already falling in parts of Oklahoma and Kansas. Now, one of the places that could get hardest hit when this storm moves through is Kansas City. They could get, hear this, between three and six inches before the snow stops.

Our Nick Valencia joins us live outside of Kansas City International Airport. And, Nick, could this really get any more messier?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Rosa. Yes, it is expected to get messier, believe it or not. Temperatures here hovering in the 20s all day. But it is really felt more like it's been in the teens and that's the story for much of the country's midsection, they're dealing with rain, sleet, and snow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): From cars skidding on frozen roads and some flipping over, to flight delays at the nation's airports, and expected power outages. It's beginning to look a lot like a holiday travel nightmare.

NANCY WHITE, AAA: It could indeed actually be the perfect storm with an increase in the travelers and increase in the amount of distance travelers are going.

VALENCIA: Here's a wild forecast, ice storm warnings in Oklahoma and severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes across the south. Heavy snow and flooding in the nation's midsection. Who's going to be impacted? More than 94 million Americans traveling this week. Already dangerous driving conditions this morning in Kansas and Iowa.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Just tried to stop. I mean, the safest, but I couldn't. My car just went out like this.

VALENCIA: And if you're flying watch out for possible flight cancellations in the Midwest and up to two-hour delays in Kansas City, Chicago, and Dallas. With more delays expected up the east coast on Sunday. Travel experts say it's best to check ahead before leaving home.

WHITE: We really recommend that travelers be smart. They plan ahead. They take advantage of Smartphone technology by keeping up to date on travel conditions and road conditions.

VALENCIA: And while the weather can be a pain for millions around the nation, for some football fans in Green Bay, Wisconsin, it's provided a $10 an hour job to sweep Lambeau Field for Sunday's game.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: You get a chance to get out and meet people and get some good exercise and enjoy the cold.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: That possibility of canceled flights here in Kansas City, Missouri, has become a reality. Delta canceling a handful of flights that affect cities like Minneapolis, Memphis, and Cincinnati. And as you mentioned, Rosa, this could not come at a worst time with tens of millions of Americans expected to travel this holiday week -- Rose.

FLORES: Nick Valencia live in Kansas City for us. Thank you so much.

Now, no snow and ice in the south or the northeast. Temperatures were in the 60s and even the 70s in some places today. It reached 61 degrees in New York City. But in the south, the warm weather could spark some severe storms. Meteorologist Jennifer Gray is in the severe weather center. And, Jennifer, what a roller coaster.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we've had a little bit of everything today. We've had the ice. We've had the snow. We've had flooding. And we've even had severe weather. Currently we have two tornado watch boxes. The one on the bottom expires at 6:00 Central Time. The one on top expires at 8:00. We've had a couple of tornado warnings within the past hour or two, and we've also seen a severe thunderstorm warnings. Just as you're seeing on the each side of Memphis.

We've also had flooding anywhere from three to five inches of rain and the rain is still falling. These showers, a lot of them, the rain is falling on places that have already been seeing rain the past couple of hours, it's what we call training storms and so we are picking up just incredible amounts of rain, so that's why we're seeing a lot of flash flooding. Also we are still seeing some severe thunderstorm warnings in portions of Louisiana, Northern Louisiana, right around the Monroe area, Ruston and on into Southern Arkansas.

Here's the moderate and slight risk area. The slight risk in the lighter orange. That includes places like Houston, New Orleans, all the way up to portions of Kentucky, even in the north, the Ohio Valley. And then we have the moderate risk for places like Memphis, Nashville, that's also including Jackson, Mississippi, so this is going to go through the rest of the evening. We could see rainfall amounts as high as four to six inches. Some areas isolated even higher. We've also had that ice accumulation. We've seen power outages. We've seen trees down in portions of Oklahoma. And even Kansas.

And so we could see up to an inch of ice accumulation in some of these areas. And then even as you head into the Great Lakes, see a quarter of an inch to half an inch of ice and then even in Upstate New York and even Northern New Hampshire and Vermont, even in Maine, we could see possible quarter of an inch, half an inch, even one inch of ice accumulation. Also the snow that we've been dealing with four to seven inches possible even five to seven right around the Great Lakes.

And so, this is a storm we're going to track. It's going to be through portions of Alabama, even into Atlanta as we go through tomorrow morning, Rosa, so this has been a mess over the past 12 hours or so and it will continue to be a mess for the next 12 or so.

FLORES: We have to pack our patience.

GRAY: Yes.

FLORES: Jennifer, thank you so much.

GRAY: All right.

FLORES: And turning now to a rescue operation in South Sudan, the U.S. military is scrambling to remove some three dozen Americans who work for the United Nations and are trapped in that developing country. An earlier rescue operation ended with four wounded U.S. service members. The mission was the top priority for the president as he flew to Hawaii for a holiday vacation.

CNN correspondent Athena Jones is with the president in Honolulu, and, Athena, how is the president staying on top of all of these developments?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Rosa. Well, the president's national security team has been keeping him up to date on the situation there in South Sudan. Immediately upon landing here in Honolulu overnight while still aboard Air Force One, the president was given an update on the status of these four American service members who were wounded while attempting to evacuate those American citizens. Of course, this is all happening amid rising ethnic and political violence there in South Sudan, just a couple of days ago those American citizens were working for the U.N. there.

Just a couple of days ago a U.N. mission in part of that country came under attack. So this is rather urgent. I should tell you the president was also updated, again, this morning after his National Security team led by national security adviser Susan Rice had a meeting on this topic. They called him, updated him via secure conference call. The president is urging the U.S. military to continue working with the United Nations to evacuate these citizens and he's directed his team to keep -- to keep him up to date as we move forward -- Rosa.

FLORES: And, Athena, you know, that you've seen all of our weather coverage, the continental U.S. is seeing a mess when it comes to the weather. How warm is it where you are? I know it looks beautiful behind you.

JONES: Well, yes, I can step out of the way here. You can see the beach, possibly, the blue water, Diamond Head, a volcanic crater behind us. People are out here enjoying the sun. It's about 75 to 80 degrees. But I can tell you under these TV lights it feels a bit hotter than that. Bottom line, though, there's definitely no snow going on here in Honolulu.

FLORES: All right, Athena Jones, thank you so much, live from Honolulu for us.

Now, we switch gears. Four men have been arrested in connection with a fatal carjacking at a mall in New Jersey. Local authorities worked alongside the FBI and U.S. marshals to track down those men. They are accused of shooting and killing a young attorney, six days ago. While his wife watched in horror.

CNN's Alexandra Field has the latest from New Jersey. Alexandra?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosa, police say the suspects were after an expensive car when a New Jersey attorney was gunned down and killed outside an upscale New Jersey shopping mall. Less than a week later, prosecutors have announced four men are charged with his death.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): It was this silver range rover investigators say that turned Dustin Freeland into a target and ultimately cost him his life. Less than a week after the deadly attack at a mall in Short Hills, New Jersey, a major break in the case overnight. Four men are charged with carjacking and the murder of the 30-year-old attorney from Hoboken, New Jersey. Authorities picked up 29-year-old Hanif Thompson, 31-year-old Karif Ford and 33-year-old Kevin Roberts in New Jersey, 32-year-old Basim Henry was arrested in Pennsylvania.

CAROLYN MURRAY, ACTING ESSEX COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Citizens in the city where we stand today know most viscerally what a crime like this does to individuals and what it does to families and what it does to communities.

FIELD: On Wednesday, Freeland's family said their final good-byes. He and his wife had been shopping for the holidays when he was gunned down in the parking lot moments after he had opened the car door for her. PAUL FISMAN, U.S. ATTORNEY: You shouldn't have to worry that wherever you go, whether it's in downtown Newark or the Shore Hills mall or anywhere else, that someone will put a gun to your head and take your car.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: Investigators say Freeland was walking around the back of the car when he was confronted and the deadly shot was fired. Freeland's wife got out of the car before prosecutors say two of their suspects took off in it. If convicted of all charges, the suspects could face a maximum of life in prison. They are each being held on $2 million bail. Alexandra Field, CNN, Newark, New Jersey.

FLORES: Alexandra Field, thank you so much.

And we move on to this -- two NASA astronauts spend more than five hours on an emergency space walk today. They were trying to fix a critical cooling system pump on the international space station. Without the system they've had to turn off some of the station's important electronics. NASA says the astronauts got more accomplished than expected, and the problem may be fixed during the next space walk scheduled for Monday.

And still ahead, a 5-year-old Massachusetts boy is feared dead. He disappeared months ago, so why did the search for him only begin last week? That's next.

And just ahead -- a man turns in what appears to be tapes showing child abuse. But, he also says that he is a burglar himself. And he robbed the house where the tapes were found. So, what do the police do now? All that and more, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: A 5-year-old Massachusetts boy is feared dead after disappearing three months ago, and it turns out the search to find him didn't even begin until last week. Police say 5-year-old Jeremiah Oliver has been missing since September 14th. They became aware something was wrong after the boy's sister told a school counselor her mother's boyfriend was abusing her. As a result, the three children were to be removed from that home. But when police asked where Jeremiah was, their mother was unable to prove his whereabouts. Now, she and her boyfriend are in custody facing child endangerment charges.

Now, joining me to discuss this is criminal defense Attorney Holly Hughes and clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Gardere, Holly and Jeff, thank you so much for joining me. And Holly, I want to start with you. This child was supposed to be receiving monthly visits from a state-provided social worker. Now, it turns out those visits were not happening. Do you foresee more charges, more arrests coming in this case?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I do, Rosa. And we know for a fact that that particular social worker and their direct supervisor have already been fired, so social services themselves has seen the writing on the wall. They know something went horribly wrong, and they are attempting to sort of cover their hierarchy by getting rid of these two workers who were immediately involved in the case. I do see there's going to be an investigation in to not just this particular case, but all the cases that that worker was supposed to be handling, Rosa. This is one little boy that sadly we've heard about. How many others weren't receiving visits?

FLORES: Yes. Definitely so. And, Dr. Gardere, attorneys for the pair have ordered mental health evaluations we've learned for them. Does that play a role in this case do you think?

DR. JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I think they're going to try to make it play a role, because as they were questioning this mother, it appears that she wasn't cooperating in any way. She was beaten. She was bruised. They thought she might have been on drugs. So, they may think that there is a domestic violence aspect to this, and perhaps she may have been coerced by -- allegedly by her boyfriend with not cooperating in this case. So, yes, definitely you have to look at whether she may have some mental health issues. I don't know what the excuse would be for the boyfriend. It seems like with what we know about him, he seems to be a really bad character also.

FLORES: And Holly, let's talk caseload when it comes to child protective services. I know that I've covered these stories in multiple states, and it almost seems like this is a problem across the country.

HUGHES: It absolutely is a problem. I can guarantee you that when they start to look into it, this caseworker probably had anywhere between two to three times the amount of cases that they are supposed to be able to cover. It's kind of the same thing we see with any public agency, you know, you look at a public defender's office, Rosa, you look at these social service agencies. They are funded by taxpayer dollars. All of those things are being cut, all of those programs, and, therefore, the workers who are trying to juggle a caseload are handling three, four, five times sometimes the amount that they can morally, responsibly handle and look after.

FLORES: And I know that in this case they talked about perhaps the social worker losing their job. Should other people be losing their jobs over this? Because it almost seems like no one knew where this child was, the parts parents obviously did not end, you know, and state services there were obviously not checking in with these kids.

GARDERE: There's an old saying that the fish stinks from the head down, and I can tell you as a person who has worked in foster care for a very long time, that the higher-ups basically are praying every day that something like this doesn't happen, because they know that there are so many holes in the system. I think Governor Patrick himself has said that there's going to be a bigger investigation into this situation.

And they need to find out how many more cases, as Holly as aptly said, how many more cases are out there like that. And I guarantee you that there are other abuses going on that are just not being taken care of, due to the sheer volume of what's going on. The union, by the way, is saying that this young -- this caseworker and the supervisor are being scapegoated because they know that this is rampant across the system.

FLORES: Such a sad story now. Jeff and Holly, hold on. Don't go anywhere. We need you to stick around for this one. Hear this -- police receive tapes which they believe contains evidence of child sex abuse. But the person who turned in the tapes had robbed the house where the tapes came from. Sounds complicated. Can they prosecute those crimes? What happens to that burglar? We'll discuss all of that coming up after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: If you have any doubt that there's an unwritten code of honor among criminals, consider this -- police say a burglar in Spain who has stolen old super eight camera and tapes from a home discovered graphic video content of a man sexually abusing boys. Police say he then put the tapes in a brown envelope, hid them under a parked car, and then called police from a public phone directing them as to where to find that material.

Back here with me, criminal defense Attorney Holly Hughes and clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Gardere.

Holly, let me start with you. The suspected child molester has been arrested. The thief on the other hand has not. Can a criminal with a conscious use his good deed as collateral for a plea deal?

HUGHES: Oh, absolutely, if he's ever caught. But Rosa, I love this story, who says there is no honor among thieves? I mean, clearly, there's a hierarchy here, right? And, you know, this is funny. I defend people who are accused of crimes and they'll say to me, do you know what, I might do cocaine but I don't rob anybody to get it. That's what this burglar is saying, I might steal stuff from this guy's house, but you all should know he's a pedophile. This is fantastic. He turned in the evidence, the police have arrested this alleged pedophile, they've got the evidence on tape, they'll going to charge him with what he did wrong. And we'll see if the burglar ever caught. But I can guarantee you if he is, Rosa. You better believe he's got to use this card, I did the right thing. I did a bad thing. But then I made up for it, so cut me a break on sentencing.

FLORES: And, Jeff, help us get into the mind of this criminal. Why would a criminal risk exposing his crime to do a good deed?

GARDERE: Well, because when it comes to the hierarchy of criminals, we know that pedophiles are way down at the bottom. That's why they have to get extra protection when they go to jail so that they're not killed. And I would think that this criminal who was involved in this robbery, this burglar, this is a person who may have a bit of a conscience, number one, and number two -- because he sees it as a victimless crime in that no one is being hurt when he robs a home.

But the second thing is, he may just have a bit of a conscience, this is a guy that sees that he exposed a very dangerous individual who could change the lives of so many other people in such a horrific and negative way, and had to do the right thing. And I agree with Holly. Not only is he going to play this card to try to get less time if he's ever caught, but I think that it may even change his heart, his mind as to what he's been doing in life. Hopefully this will be a positive reinforcement to live a healthier and a straighter life.

FLORES: And I want to move on to this other story that caught our attention. A Florida man faces public humiliation this week after agreeing to sit on a street corner holding a sign saying, hear this, "I beat women, honk if I am a scumbag." Now, this is according to WFTS, and he agreed to do this after a woman said he could do this instead of facing assault charges.

Jeff, help us make sense of this. Why would this woman do this? So, instead of filing charges, he told the man, hold this sign and just get ridiculed.

GARDERE: Well, she wanted revenge. And I totally understand it, and revenge is a dish that is best served cold. So, he's going to be out there, and it's going to be cold for him. However, a lot of people are complaining about this and criticizing this woman. Though we shouldn't victimize the victim here, and they're saying, look, domestic violence is something that is really, really bad. One in three women are going to be beaten at some point in their lives by someone that they know or even killed, God forbid, so just by putting this guy out there, he doesn't get time. But he may be out there again doing this to somebody else, and they preferred that he go through trial and be put in jail. And I understand that also.

FLORES: Holly, taking law into your own hands. Good idea, bad idea? What are your thoughts?

HUGHES: Bad idea all the way around. In this particular instance, and Dr. Jeff is right, domestic violence is horrible, and you don't just do it, once, OK? You're going to repeat a pattern. The problem here, Rosa, is that this man had just met her that night. They were hooked up through friends. They were driving together in a car. And when he started making unwanted advances at her and she rebuffed him, he just literally beat her. So, this is a very dangerous man. And you know what, I'm all for humiliating him, if he's beaten a woman, make that part of a sentence of the court, and that has been done before. There's a wonderful judge in Texas, Judge Poe, who literally will make people as part of a sentence hang a sign on their neck and stand on the courthouse steps.

FLORES: Holly Hughes and Dr. Jeff Gardere, always a pleasure to have you on this show.

GARDERE: Thank you.

HUGHES: Thanks, Rosa.

FLORES: And still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, President Obama has arrived in Hawaii for some holiday vacation time, but not before getting grilled over the troubled HealthCare.gov website. We go to Hawaii for the latest coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: President Obama said Friday that his poll numbers always go up and then down. But they're mostly down since the spring, just 41 percent of Americans in a new CNN/ORC poll approve of the way Mr. Obama is handling his job. That ties his all-time low, 56 percent disapprove of his job performance.

Professor Julian Zelizer is a historian at Princeton University. And professor, this president has problems with all age groups. Half of all young people disapprove of the president. All the way up to 63 percent disapproval among older Americans. So Professor Zelizer, you wrote on CNN.com this week that this is hardly the way the president wanted to start his second term. Do you think that President Obama was fully prepared for what 2013 had in store for him?

JULIAN ZELIZER, PROFESSOR, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: I don't think he was fully prepared. He had experienced the kind of intense opposition that he's faced since 2010. But clearly with the health care roll-out he created problems of his own, and even admitted in his recent press conference that he dropped the ball. So in a hostile environment, I think he made things worse.

FLORES: I enjoyed your article.

Let's turn to the winners and losers of 2013. First let's start with the losers. Your top three are civil liberties, the Tea Party Republicans and technology in government.

So, let's start with civil liberties. Why?

ZELIZER: Civil liberties with the revelation of all the NSA surveillance have taken a blow. Even though there's now momentum for reform, I think it's become clear just how vastly diminished civil liberties have become in this country in both President Bush and President Obama's administration.

FLORES: And what about Tea Party Republicans?

ZELIZER: The Tea Party Republicans were very successful at tying up the Obama administration, but the Republicans have paid a cost. Their approval rating is even worse than President Obama. And the year ended with Speaker John Boehner, the speaker of the House, castigating the Republican Tea Party activists for bringing the party down and for failing to govern. So, they are, right now, vulnerable to a Republican Party that could turn against them.

FLORES: When it comes to technology in government, my guess is that it's Obamacare.

ZELIZER: Absolutely. I think the capacity of the government to handle big, technological problems took a blow. There is a paradox that they're doing a great job with surveillance but not such a good job with health care, but I do think it undermined the confidence of a lot of Americans, whether correctly or not, in its ability to handle these kinds of technological challenges.

FLORES: And now about political winners. Your top three, gay rights, diplomacy, and John Kerry. So, let's start with gay rights.

ZELIZER: Gay rights has been something of a revolution in this country. And it's been happening very quickly. The legitmation and constitutionality of gay marriage has been something that is the story of this year. I think we've gone through a watershed. And I think this will be a moment when we looked back at how our social relations changed quite dramatically.

FLORES: When it comes to your last two, diplomacy and John Kerry probably go hand in hand?

ZELIZER: Absolutely. John Kerry at state has been pushing aggressively for a new kind of approach to the Middle East, which even President Obama I think is more ambivalent about. But right now, at least temporarily, the big diplomatic initiatives with Iran and with Syria, in terms of handling nuclear weapons points to a different approach in this region. That could fall apart. But as the year ends, I think that is a winner.

FLORES: All right. Professor Julian Zelizer, joining us from New York, thank you so much.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

FLORES: And still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, today is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. And millions of people are being limited on how much they can spend. I'll explain, coming up next.

Plus, attention Walmart shoppers, forget the last-minute Christmas bargains. Beyonce is in the house. Details on the superstar's surprise visit. Find out what she gave her fans coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: At this hour, Target is apologizing for a massive security breach by offering a storewide sale all weekend. The retailer is giving all shoppers a 10 percent discount through Sunday.

Meanwhile, the international manhunt continues for the hackers who stole credit and debit card information for 40 million customers. A California legal team is pursuing a class-action suit on behalf of the victimized customers, and those customers are coming forward with stories of hundreds of dollars swiped right out of their bank accounts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had gone to Target the Saturday before the money started coming out of my account. Those checks bounced. And I had overdraft charges from those checks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: $2319.51 that they tried to get out of my account. I can't say it's Target. I can't prove it. But if you check my check register, I've been to Target quite a bit this month.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: In another new development, JPMorgan Chase is putting new debit card limits on customers who may be at risk in the Target breach. The bank sent a letter to two million customers who used their Chase debit cards during that breach. They'll now be limited to withdrawing -- hear this -- $100 in cash and $300 in purchases per day. Chase has not said how long these new limits will last.

Attention Walmart shoppers, it's not a phrase you'd normally attribute to Beyonce, but the superstar pulled off a super surprise at a Walmart in Massachusetts last night. She grabbed a cart and started shopping. So, she picked up a copy of her new album and a few toys. Before Beyonce left that store, she got to the loudspeaker -- not to sing -- to wish everyone a merry Christmas and she then played Santa to every person in that store. She gave a $50 Walmart gift card to all 750 customers.

"Duck Dynasty's" 12 million viewers on A&E will have to watch the show without its superstar. Phil Robertson is suspended indefinitely after making some racially insensitive and homophobic remarks.

Gary Tuchman shows us what happens when celebrities say things they probably shouldn't.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL ROBERTSON, "DUCK DYNASTY" STAR: I'm not into dainty things.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Duck Dynasty's" Phil Robertson certainly isn't the first celebrity whose mouth has gotten him or her in trouble.

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: Get away from my wife and the baby with the camera! (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you want that in.

TUCHMAN: Alec Baldwin had recently launched a program on MSNBC when he had a run-in with paparazzi in New York City.

BALDWIN: Get away with my kid with that camera. You know what's going to happen, don't you? Come on! (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

TUCHMAN: After those comments, Baldwin was suspended from his show. And then it was canceled in what was described as a mutual parting.

PAULA DEEN, CELEBRITY CHEF: My goodness.

TUCHMAN: Celebrity Chef Paula Deen was accused of using the "N" word at times and was sued by a former employee alleging racial and sexual discrimination. The Food Network said it would not renew her contract and, one by one, she lost many of her sponsorships.

She went on the "Today" show to apologize but was also defensive.

DEEN: I tell you what, if there's anyone out there that has never said something that they wish they could take back, if you're out there, please pick up that stone and throw it so hard at my head that it kills me, please. I want to meet you. I want to meet you. I is what I is, and I'm not changing.

TUCHMAN: The lawsuit against Deen was ultimately dismissed.

Shock jock, Don Imus, got into hot water after saying this about African-American basketball players at Rutgers University.

(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)

DON IMUS, RADIO SHOW HOST: Rough girls from Rutgers, man, they got tattoos and --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some hardcore ho's.

IMUS: That's some nappy-headed ho's there. I'm going to tell you that.

(LAUGHTER)

(END AUDIO FEED)

TUCHMAN: Imus apologized later but it wasn't enough to keep his radio program or an MSNBC deal, although he is back on radio and TV today.

MICHAEL RICHARDS, ACTOR: It was like I was swimming through a flabby- armed spanking machine.

(LAUGHTER)

TUCHMAN: The man who we know as Kramer on "Seinfeld," Michael Richards, also was called a racist after he said the "N" word seven times in just over two minutes at an L.A. comedy club. Later, he was contrite on the "Letterman Show."

RICHARDS: I think it's important for the Afro-American community that this kind of crap doesn't come about, and I'm sorry that it happened.

TUCHMAN: Richards has maintained a low profile for quite some time following the incident.

Few celebrities have been exposed quite like actor Mel Gibson. Not only with anti-Semitic and racist outbursts but incredibly profane and threatening messages left on his ex-girlfriend's voice mail.

(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)

(EXPLETIVE DELETED) disloyal and (EXPLETIVE DELETED) weak. You're (EXPLETIVE DELETED), (EXPLETIVE DELETED) such a (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END AUDIO FEED)

TUCHMAN: Some careers can't recover but others do. Experts say it comes down to how it's handled.

MARVET BRITTO, ENTERTAINMENT AND PH STRATEGIST: The best way for any celebrity to navigate from a mishap or words they didn't mean to say or words that fell on the public in the wrong way is to be honest, transparent and truthful about the context in which the words were shared.

TUCHMAN: But not all celebrities heed that advice.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Some are saying that you're bipolar.

CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: Wow, what does that mean?

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: I guess that you're on two ends of the spectrum.

SHEEN: Wow. And then what? Medicine? Make me like them? Not going to happen. I'm bi-winning!

TUCHMAN: Winning or not, "Duck Dynasty's" Phil Robertson is now the latest member in the celebrity club.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: And you're not going to want to miss this next story. It's one of the best parts of the holiday season. Yes, I'm talking about awkward family Christmas photos, and we've got the man who's collected some of the worst. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: A North Carolina family set the bar pretty high this week with their video Christmas card, which went viral. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: It's not surprising this video has been watched more than 12 million times. But before you try to top it, we should mention the husband is a news anchor. He's leaving his job to join his wife's video production company. Her company actually produces those videos.

Now, if that's a family putting its best foot forward, this next segment perhaps shows photos that must be the worst. They live forever on the website awkwardfamilyphotos.com. The site has now published a book "Awkward Family Holiday Photos: Celebrating the Highs and Lows of Family Time."

And Mike Bender is the site's co-founder. He joins me from Los Angeles.

And, Mike, how fun is this? What is it about the holidays that makes for great awkward photos? MIKE BENDER, CO-FOUNDER, AWKWARDFAMILYPHOTOS.COM: You know, I think it's just -- it's a time of the year we are with our families, we take lots of photos, we wear matching outfits, and it just is -- we like to think of it as the most awkward time of the year. They say the most wonderful time of the year, but it's definitely awkward.

FLORES: Especially with a lot of family members that perhaps you don't see all the time. Now, is there one in particular that stands out as especially bad?

BENDER: Yeah. I think, you know, on the cover of the book, actually, we have a photo of a Santa Claus. It was a mall Santa. And he has, like, a very severe black eye. And the children are sitting on his lap. And it just -- it just is amazing to me that he showed up to work that day. And that he took presumably a lot more photos with children. But it's just -- to me that's, like, classic awkward Christmas photo.

FLORES: And perhaps a Santa with multiple jobs. Now, I've got to ask you are some of these photos --

BENDER: We hope so.

FLORES: -- just older photos or are these newer photos as well, because right now in the social media age it almost seems like everybody is sharing everything.

BENDER: Yeah. I mean, it really -- honestly, it runs the gamut. We get black-and-white photos from the '40s and '50s. I think that people are taking more photos now because everybody has cameras in their phones. So, we actually get more submissions I think from today than from the past, when people are, you know, have to scan in their photos. But, you know, awkwardness from our perspective it's never going to go away.

FLORES: Now, I've got to ask you about the selfie since you, you know, work with awkward photos, do you get any selfies as well?

BENDER: Well, you know, the selfie thing is definitely awkward. It just depends. It depends on what kind of selfie it is. We probably have posted some. But I think, you know, like, when there's an awareness that you're trying to be awkward, we tend not to post those photos. It's the ones where people are a little bit more oblivious to it, that really are the genuine, have genuine awkwardness.

FLORES: Ooh, I love it. Since you're talking about genuine awkwardness, what are the ingredients of an especially awkward photo?

BENDER: Well, I brought up matching outfits. That's a classic. I would say posing, any sort of pose, you know, lined up by height, when mom and dad had us lined up by height, piled on top of each other. We've seen that. Those are very, very awkward sort of family portrait traditions. And then there's just sometimes the family dynamic, the dynamic that's going on where a brother and sister are literally punching each other while the photo is being taken.

FLORES: Do we see any of your photos in this book?

BENDER: Yes. Both me and my co-author, Doug Churnack (ph), our photos are in the book. The website I actually started with my own family holiday photo four years ago. It started with our photos and we are no less awkward than anybody else.

FLORES: Do you think this is ever going to change?

BENDER: I hope not, first of all, selfishly. But I think we are in a time and age where everything is being shared. I think there's some negative things about that. But at the same time, our site is about celebrating the awkwardness and it's about people coming together to celebrate uncomfortable moments of family. It's about smiling, be self deprecating. In that way, I think sharing can be a wonderful thing to know. Hey, there are other people out there that are suffering at Christmas because they have to pose.

FLORES: All right, Mike Bender in Los Angeles, thank you so much for joining us.

BENDER: Thank you.

FLORES: Still ahead here in the CNN NEWSROOM, rescuers dive into a burning flame to save a pilot trapped inside. We'll show you how it plays out, next.

But first, have you ever dreamed of being the next Lebron James? Our Gary Tuchman tells us about a new shooting aid for basketball players in this edition of "Technovations."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SHOUTING)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): New wearable technology to help basketball players make their hoop dreams a reality.

(SHOUTING)

TUCHMAN: A shooting sleeve developed by Virbrado Technologies provides instant feedback to build muscle memory and consistency between shots.

QUINN JACOBSON, VIRBRADO TECHNOLOGIES: Technology could help people learn and perfect skills.

TUCHMAN: Two former cell phone employees' partnered with a Carnegie Mellon University professor to use Smartphone sensors to track the motion of your arm.

CYNTHIA KUO, VIRBRADO TECHNOLOGIES: There three sensor nodes on the sleeve, one on the back of my hand, one on the forearm and one on my bicep.

JACOBSON: Sensor have gyroscopes and exometers (ph) to sense position and motion in space. From that, we can then model how the arm is moving.

TUCHMAN: A buzzing noise indicates poor form.

A victory tone signals a good shot.

A mobile app provides feedback in how to improve your shooting skills.

JACOBSON: The number one thing is get your arm higher on the shot.

(SHOUTING)

TUCHMAN: Coaches and high school players in California are testing the device.

UNIDENTIFIED BASKETBALL PLAYER: I would say my shot improved. Keeping my elbow in and snapping my wrist.

TUCHMAN: The technology could be available to the public late next year for a few hundred dollars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FLORES: Leonardo DiCaprio is headed back to the big screen. He stars in a new film about a former disgraced financial executive in "The Wolf of Wall Street." Some of the wild, hard partying seems almost too crazy to be true. We found out they are not that far off from what actually happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR: My name is Jordan Belfort. The year I turned 26, I made $49 million, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week.

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four months ago, I said we would reach new levels of productivity. The numbers you were doing four and five months ago -- I'll make one more guarantee. Six months from now, what you're doing right now is going to be nothing again.

DICAPRIO: This is the greatest company in the world!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The minute I made my first $600,000 in one trade, I went out and bought a white Ferrari Tesla. Not a yellow one, not a black one, a white one. You know why? Because it was the car Don Johnson drove in "Miami Vice."

(CROSSTALK)

DICAPRIO: There are a lot of guys phone calling. In a lot of months you can make a lot of money.

Was this legal? Wow. (LAUGHTER)

Absolutely not.

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yeah, I was greedy. The $1,000 suits, gold watches, drinking at lunch, cocaine at the end of the day. It was like adult Disneyland for dysfunctional people basically.

Back then, I had 1,000 best friends. Everyone was my best friend. Everyone wanted something from me with what I was doing. I was really generous with my money. Sure, it didn't have meaning to me. It was like monopoly money.

(CROSSTALK)

DICAPRIO: Oh, my god.

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is part of everybody here, not me, not Kenny, not a couple partners. You guys are part of it. You built it. Without you, it doesn't run. If we all stick together, next year at this time, double the size. We are the most powerful firm. We'll be a power on Wall Street. That's our goal. All right?

(SHOUTING)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: "Wolf on Wall Street" releases everywhere on Christmas day.

The U.S. women's hockey team won't back down from a fight. The brawl against Team Canada broke out seconds before the end of the game. 10 fighting majors and penalties were hand out. Team USA won, 4-1. The Olympics begin in February.

Lindsey Vaughn's Olympic dreams had a setback today. She skied off the course during a run in France and said her knee gave out. It wasn't hurt worse. She plans to continue her Olympic bid. Tiger Woods was at the race. Vaughn had surgery in February to construct two ligaments. She is the reigning Olympic downhill champion.

In Tampa, Florida, you are watching a police officer pulling an unconscious pilot out of the wreckage of a smoldering plane. All of the drama unfolded in front of an infrared camera. Two officers were on patrol in a helicopter when they saw a Cessna catch on fire and slam into a field. They used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames and pull the pilot out. He's expected to recover. No word on what caused that crash.