Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Opening Bell Rings on Wall Street; Mystery Stops Seattle Tunnel Project; "Letters to Santa" Celebrates 101 Years; Americans Airlifted from South Sudan; Wildfire Ate through 34 Homes; Poll: American's Don't Like Obamacare

Aired December 23, 2013 - 09:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A new poll says women still prefer working for men. This is a Gallup poll. Forty percent of women prefer -- why?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I know. You know, I like to always look at the positive, right? The gender gap is narrowing. But, yes, women and men still say they prefer to work for men. A lot of people will say, Carol, that, you know, there are stereotypes, right? A man might be viewed as assertive. A male boss, assertive. A woman who might exit those same qualities might be viewed in less than positive terms, right? I won't say the word on TV here. So - so part of that.

Also, there aren't as many women, right? So if you have, you know, five bosses and you only have one female boss and you have four male bosses, if you have four bosses, male bosses, maybe one of them is not so great but three were great. But if you only have one female boss and you happen to have a really bad female boss, it might color your thinking to think all women bosses are like that. And I think as we have more women taking on more and more leadership positions across organizations around the country, hopefully that preference gap will narrow even more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, still to come, a fledgling country descending into violence and Americans racing to get out. We'll have the details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And good morning, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, in for Carol Costello.

Stories that we're watching right now for you in the NEWSROOM, support for Obamacare is now at an all-time low. And that's according to the latest CNN/ORC poll which shows just 35 percent of Americans back that law. And for the majority of those against Obamacare, they oppose it because it doesn't go far enough. More than 1 million people have signed up for insurance through Obamacare since enrollment began October 1st.

And we're keeping a close eye on Detroit Metro Airport, where just a short time ago this plane slid off the runway. No one was hurt, but the plane was Delta Flight 2283. It was en route to Atlanta. It has been rescheduled for 10:00 a.m. this morning. We'll bring you updates as we get them.

And Christmas Eve duty 220 miles above earth. Two spacewalking astronauts plan to put in a new pump tomorrow to fix the space station's cooling system. Now, that mission had to be cut short on Saturday when water got into one of the astronaut's space suit. That suit, of course, has been replaced.

Well, opening bell ringing on Wall Street. Stock futures pointing higher this morning. And the markets just might hit another high before the Christmas break. Fingers crossed. Zain Asher following the markets from New York.

Hey, Zain.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

Yes, markets opening higher right now. If we are lucky, if things go smoothly, we might actually see the 48th record close for the year, December. Usually a traditionally good month for stocks. And we're starting to see that so-called Santa Claus rally that investors have been expecting. I'm watching two stocks for you today, Kyra. First of all, Apple, they just signed a deal with China Mobile, potentially giving the company access to about 700 million new customers. Apple shares up about 3 percent right now.

Also, Facebook making their debut on the S&P 500. Not necessarily market moving news per se, but certainly validation that Facebook is one of the most important companies out there. Obviously a lot of mutual funds, a lot of retirement funds track the S&P 500. So it now makes it easier for the average Joe, people like you and me Kyra, to gain access to Facebook shares.

Also, we are watching, waiting for consumer sentiment. Those figures coming out in the next 30 minutes or so. Certainly important especially this time of year. The better people feel about the economy, the more likely they are to spend.

Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, let's hope. Zain, thanks so much.

ASHER: Of course.

PHILLIPS: Well, a $3 billion tunnel project for Seattle is on hold this morning after a humongous drill was stopped in its tracks. CNN's Stephanie Elam takes a look into the mystery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No doubt Bertha is a behemoth. At five stories tall, she's billed as the largest diameter tunneling machine in the world. And she was put to work grinding a tunnel under Seattle for a planned highway. But Bertha was only a tenth of the way on her nearly two-mile journey when she suddenly encountered something large enough and strong enough to stop her in her tracks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're being really cautious. We want to make sure that we don't damage this $80 million machine.

ELAM: But what is it? The mystery is fueling lots of speculation. Geologists point to how Seattle's watery edges were filled in with just about anything by the city's pioneers.

DAVID B. WILLIAMS, GEOLOGIST: You find old shoes, newspapers. There's a boat buried in downtown Seattle. So, you name it, it could be down there.

ELAM: Another theory is it's a massive boulder left during the ice age. Residents have their own guesses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some kind of burial ground maybe?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. She's taking a Christmas break, you know, saying, merry Christmas, big Bertha, you know what I'm saying?

ELAM: If that's the case, Bertha's Christmas break started two weeks ago. Since then, the $3 billion tunnel project has been on hold as workers drill wells to alleviate water pressure in front of Bertha in hopes of sending workers to the front of the drill to see what she's up against.

CHRIS DIXON, SEATTLE TUNNEL PARTNERS: You can't back the machine up because you've got the segmental lining behind you. So all you can really do is proceed forward.

ELAM: But the Transportation Department says Bertha won't be moving forward until at least early next year, after the mystery is solved.

Stephanie Elam, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, still to come, while a number of children want shiny new gadgets, or (ph) big expensive toys this year, some kids just want a pair of shoes. Up next, letters to Santa and how you can helpful fulfill some pretty humble wishes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, forget the xBox, forget the iPad, forget the hundreds of dollars in gifts that your kids are asking for this year. Some children, like 13-year-old Karla, just want a coat so they can be warm this winter. Here's what Karla wrote to Santa Claus. I've actually got her letter here in front of me.

"Dear Santa Claus. My name is Karla. I'm 13 years old. I have a brother. I'm a hardworking student. I like to read many books. So far this year, I have been good because my mother is a single woman and she's working very hard. I have a sibling, for that I do not believe that my mother will give me something for this Christmas. Santa Claus, you are my hopefulness. I'd like this Christmas to have ice skates. And if you can't, it's OK. I'll be happy if you can just give me some clothes. Merry Christmas, Santa Claus. Karla."

Elvin Mercado is the postmaster of Manhattan. He's here to tell us about the U.S. Postal Service's Operation Santa and the thousands and thousands of letters, Elvin, you receive every year from kids writing to Santa. I mean how do you do it? I think that my heart would just break. I'd want to help every single one of these kids, Elvin.

ELVIN MERCADO, MANHATTAN POSTMASTER: Hi, Kyra. Yes, every year we go through this program. We're staffed down in the (INAUDIBLE) Post Office. We have a staff of what we call elves and we have a chief elf. And we open these letters. They're available to the public. And we implore that the customers - the public comes in and picks up as many letters as they can to help these children and their families.

PHILLIPS: And not a lot of people know this. I mean you can go to the post office, adopt one of these letters and actually send the child what they're asking for. I want to read another one, Elvin, and this is from a little boy, Oliver, that really touched my entire team this morning. It says, "dear Santa Claus. I'm sorry to disturb you and Mrs. Claus. My name is Oliver. I'm 11 years old. This year my parents don't have enough money to spend for Christmas gifts. This is why I'm writing to you. It would make my Christmas spirit be joyful if you, Mrs. Claus and your elves send me some toys and clothes. Anything you send will bring me joy on Christmas Day. Thank you, Santa, Mrs. Claus and your elves. Have a merry Christmas and happy new year. With love, Oliver."

And then, Elvin, he give his jacket size, his pants size, shirts, sneakers, sweater. I mean, it's just incredible to me. And then, of course, he throws in "Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Hard Luck." I love it. I mean it just - it really puts things in perspective when you read these letters at a time where there's so many kids that have no idea what it's like to want like this.

MERCADO: Absolutely, Kyra. And you would think that they were asking for just toys and things, xBoxes, but they do ask for clothes. We've had situations where they've asked for food to help their families. And this time of -- in the time that we're in right now, we would need to help them as much as we can and we ask the public to go up and pick up the letters. We are open today until 4:00 and we're open tomorrow until 4:00. And we still have plenty of letters to give out and help hopefully the customers and the public will go out and adopt more letters and help these children.

PHILLIPS: And just to put it in perspective. You know, you can do it at a number of post offices across the country, but now it's come down to the wire, right? You can only go to the Manhattan Post Office right now, is that right?

MERCADO: That's correct, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK. So let's say someone's watching this. They want to do something now or tomorrow before 4:00. How easy is it? What do they do?

MERCADO: They just go into the James A. Farley (ph) Post Office, right across from Penn Station. Go through the big steps on the right-hand side of the building. We have a sign that says Operation Santa Claus. Just go in. We have employees helping. They will help them with the letters. We have letters available. All you have to go in is go in, pick a letter, bring it back home, buy the gift and bring it right back to the Post Office and we'll mail it out for you.

PHILLIPS: And, you know, looking through the letters too, I love how these kids say please bring something for my sibling, please bring something for my mom, she's out of work. Is there any way you can bring my dad money? I mean it's like, wow, they're just so generous. They don't just talk about themselves, but their entire family members. And this program has impacted your family as well, too, right? Your wife has wanted to give back and has.

MERCADO: Yes. Absolutely, Kyra. We've -- she's picked up letters in the past and we've seen, you know, the impact that it has on our family as well. You know, we normally don't look at it as how fortunate we are and we definitely have given gifts and we've sent gifts to different - to different children and we've -- when you read the letters, every single one impacts you. It's just not just one specific letter. And we're always happy to help.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Well, we were sure touched this morning. And I figured out what I'm going to do with my twins next year. Elvin Mercado, thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

MERCADO: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, northeastern Africa, a harrowing rescue mission airlifts Americans out of South Sudan as the world's newest country teeters on the verge of civil war. The evacuation of about 15 people believed to be the last Americans came just a day after a mission had to be aborted. Four U.S. troops were wounded when their aircraft came under intense fire from the ground. And it's not clear who the attackers were. The oil rich country has numerous armed groups fighting for power right now.

CNN's Fredrik Pleitgen is in New York. Fred what's the latest?

FREDRIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right Kyra. It's certainly is a dangerous situation as you said what is believed to be the final Americans have been flown out of South Sudan. However, the U.S. embassy there is saying if there are any American people not yet accounted for, they do need to try and contact the U.S. embassy to then leave that country immediately because the situation is getting so dangerous.

What's going on is that basically a power struggle between two people, the president and vice president, that's slowly turning into a sectarian conflict. There's more fighting going on. The government army now says that it wants to march on some of the towns that have been held by the opposition. The U.N. is also evacuating all of its nonessential staff.

What we have here Kyra is a situation where tens of thousands of people are seeking refuge in U.N. camps. And it's very difficult for these U.N. peacekeepers to actually protect these camps. There has been some that have been looted, there have been people who have been killed, two U.N. peacekeepers have been killed as well.

So one of the things that could be happening, and President Obama has said this, is that America could indeed get more involved. Right now there's only about a few dozen American troops on the ground there to protect the U.S. embassy.

However the administration says that there might be more if other American interests in that region needed to be protected as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right Fred, keep us updated. I appreciate it.

Well checking "Top Stories", people who were forced to evacuate because of a wildfire won't be back home until Christmas Eve. The fire which ate through hundreds of acres last week is now contained on California's central coast. Power crews are using these choppers to restore electricity. The fire destroyed dozens of homes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CELIA SANBORN, LOST HOME TO FIRE: And it was just an enormous wall of flames. And actually, the smoke becomes illuminated at night. It was kind of glowing and pink. And I thought, oh, my God, this was really close. It was in flames flickering, it was just balls of fire, you know -- hot, fast. You know just ripping along.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And at one point, a thousand firefighters were battling the fire. Now just local crews are left to watch those hot spots.

And today the Denver city council will tackle the issue of punishing minors caught with pot. The council will vote on measures that would make marijuana possession by those under the age of 18 punishable by a small fine but it will not be put on their permanent record. The council will also vote on a measure to ban marijuana businesses within 1,000 feet of a school.

Fans will be able to see "Fast & Furious 7" despite Paul Walker's death. Walker's co-star and friend Vin Diesel announced that the movie will be released in April of 2015. The movie was originally scheduled to come out next summer. But production stopped after Walker was killed in a car crash last month.

And George Zimmerman sold his painting for almost $101,000. That's according to the "L.A Times." We don't know who the buyer is. But Zimmerman said on eBay that he will deliver the painting in person.

Still to come time is running out and the pressure is on. Some huge plays made in the NFL -- Joe Carter. JOE CARTER, BLEACHER REPORT: You know it's not how you start but how you finish especially when you're talking about the NFL class. We had a lot of great finishes yesterday. Obviously teams fighting to get into the playoffs. Teams clinching to get into the playoffs. We'll talk about that and an epic fail when it comes to some fans in the NFL. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. It was another exciting Sunday around the NFL. Several teams needing wins to stay in the playoff picture won in dramatic fashion at the very end of the game. Joe Carter again with those fantastic finishes.

CARTER: Well that's how we ordered up. It's how we like it as NFL fans.

PHILLIPS: Makes a perfect report.

CARTER: Yes absolutely it makes easy on me anyhow and a lot of those finishes actually came in the NFC where teams are absolutely trying to fight in the last came to get in the playoffs.

The Carolina Panthers haven't been in the playoffs in five years, and they clinched a spot yesterday pulling a stunning win off over the Saints. And that game was decided in the final 20 seconds. And what can you say about Carolina? This team is dangerous. Watch out for Carolina.

And Tony Romo, do you remember last week we called him the Goat because he threw away the game. Well this week you can call him a hero because Dallas beat the Redskins in the final minute yesterday. Now the Cowboys look ahead to the Eagles, it's a must win for both teams. Whoever wins gets into the playoffs.

And the Arizona Cardinals believe it or not they're still in the playoff picture if you will. They pulled off a huge win -- I'm calling it the biggest win yesterday because they beat Seattle in Seattle with a touchdown in the final two minutes.

And then the Packers well they could have made if four fantastic finishes for my sports report, but instead, they did not get a touchdown in the game's final play so the Packers, they have to win next week in order to get into the playoffs. The Steelers, believe it or not have an outside picture -- an outside chance of getting into the playoff spot. But they have to have a lot of help from a lot of other teams.

And this next story, you can file it under epic fail. A group of 49er fans raised a lot of money to buy a billboard in Seattle to mock or brag about their five Super Bowl titles.

Here is the problem. The ad was supposed to go near the stadium in Seattle. But instead it went about 27 miles away from the stadium in the middle of nowhere. So obviously the effect of this doesn't have the same ring to it. Seahawk fans hoping to have the last laugh here but they're actually still laughing about this to begin because they say they're going to drive out to this billboard 27 miles away and they're going to stand in front of this billboard and photo bomb it before next weekend's game.

PHILLIPS: It is in the middle of nowhere.

CARTER: In the middle of nowhere, yes. So the idea here was that they were going to say, hey, you may be a good team this year and probably going to the Super Bowl but we have five Super Bowl titles. Here is the billboard to prove it. Oh, yes, wait, we didn't put it anywhere near the stadium. We didn't check up on it.

PHILLIPS: Is the spirit of Vince Lombardi somehow saying who he may be rooting for?

CARTER: Maybe. Maybe.

PHILLIPS: That could be eerie.

CARTER: That is.

PHILLIPS: I think I'm on to something.

CARTER: They have Green Bay roots.

PHILLIPS: I'm telling you. It's all those years working Green Bay -- I'm telling. I'm always drawn toward Lombardi somehow.

All right. Joe, thank you so much.

CARTER: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.

Well, good morning and thank you for joining me. I'm Kyra Phillips sitting in for Carol Costello today.

New CNN poll numbers out this morning show exactly how Americans feel about Obamacare. And we can sum it up with four short words -- they don't like it. 62 percent now oppose the President's signature legislation -- a number that has grown steadily since the election last year. Separately now and overwhelmingly majority -- 63 percent now think the law will increase how much they pay for medical care. That's compared to seven percent who say costs will decrease and 28 percent who say costs will still remain the same.

CNN political director Mark Preston in Washington -- you know Mark, despite a recovery, shall we say recovery, for the healthcare.gov Website -- I don't know if it's totally recovered yet. There were still problems on Friday. It seems that the Obama administration does have some work to do -- a lot of work to do in selling the American public on this law.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Not only selling the American public, Kyra, but also explaining how they can actually get health insurance. I think a lot of people out there have no idea really what's going on. There's been so much confusion. There's been so many dead mines that have been blown through or at least they have been moved.

We don't know really where the law stands. Of course, you and I do because we have to know this stuff. But for our viewers out there I'm sure there are many people who don't know really what's going on. That's why we're seeing the White House make such a big push.

We saw last week Michelle Obama hosting some mothers at the White House. We saw also President Barack Obama, really trying to go on this two-week effort to try to get people behind the health insurance law. But as you saw, the fact is, more and more people are really becoming frustrated with the health insurance law.

PHILLIPS: Yes, the majority of Americans if you look at the numbers. We know that Republicans are critical of the law, that's a given. But you know, a prominent Democrat continues to express his concerns as well.

PRESTON: You know, Carol, we heard this yesterday on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley. We saw Joe Manchin he's the senator from West Virginia, the former governor of West Virginia, he wants to extend the deadline that you would have to get health insurance. In fact this is what he had to say yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST: Do you think this thing falls of its own weight.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Oh it falls on its own weight. It basically -- the cot becomes more than we can absorb -- absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: -- which goes back to the whole sticker shock number that we have just shown at the top of the segment there Kyra. People think that this is going to cost them more money.