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Dead Sea Treatment Alive and Well in Chicago; An Embarrassing Failure for Baggage Screeners This Week

Aired December 16, 2004 - 11:30   ET

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

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


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are right at the half hour, good morning once again, I'm Daryn Kagan.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez. And here's what's happening right "Now in the News."

It's a new message of terror today, believed to be from Osama bin Laden. The speaker praises the December 6th attack on the American consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Saudi royal family comes in for sharp criticism from the Al Qaeda leader.

Also the second day of President Bush's economic summit is taking a hard look at Social Security. The president wants to allow workers to put some Social Security cash into stock market accounts. He's going to have some remarks on this at 1:30 Eastern and we here at CNN will bring it to you live.

Also, the Bush administration plans to designate Hezbollah Television a terrorist organization. The Lebanese broadcaster has drawn scrutiny for inciting terror. It has shown, for example, in one case, the Statue of Liberty dripping blood. It also juxtaposed pictures of President Bush and Adolf Hitler.

And Ukranian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko thinks that he was poisoned by the government. He contends it happened at a dinner with Ukraine's spy chief. Dioxin has disfigured Yushchenko's face. Keeping you informed, we're CNN, the most trusted name in news.

KAGAN: An embarrassing failure for baggage screeners this week. It happened at one of the airports that was used by the 9/11 hijackers. Here's national correspondent Gary Tuchman with today's CNN "Security Watch" report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a training exercise at Newark International Airport which did not go so well. A fake bomb set off an alarm on a machine like this. But then the bomb got lost. Billie Vincent is the former head of security for the FAA.

BILLIE VINCENT, FORMER FAA SECURITY CHIEF: No system is perfect, people or the equipment that we have now, nor will it be in the immediate future.

TUCHMAN: A supervisor for the Transportation Security Administration planted the simulated bomb, complete with wires and a clock. It ended up on a Continental Airlines flight, making it all the way from New Jersey to Amsterdam.

Less than two weeks ago, national police in France planted a real bomb in a random suitcase to do a similar test. It did not have a detonator, so police said it could not explode. But it also made it on an international flight, and the bomb yet has not been found.

The TSA acknowledges the handling of the simulated bomb in Newark, an airport used by the 9/11 hijackers, was mishandled, but says, "It's arguable that this was even a breach of security, as there was absolutely no threat to passengers at any time."

But that doesn't mean passengers won't be worried about the simulated bomb that set off an alarm but still got on the plane.

VINCENT: Their failure then to follow up on that would be cause for concern, that's true. But if they knew it was a simulant, maybe they let their guard down.

TUCHMAN: There has been no comment if the screeners will be disciplined.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: By the way, the head of Homeland Security for Newark sat down with CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" today.

ROCCO MALANGA, NEWWARK HOMELAND SECURITY DIR: There was no passengers that were put in harm's way with this but it is very concerning to us how that something like that could happen. I think it really comes down to a training issue and I think that they -- I know there's an investigation under way. We've had conversations with the Port Authority officials and also TSA. They're looking into this and how something like this could happen.

SANCHEZ: And if you want more on CNN "Security Watch" and what the United States is doing to fight terror, you can find it at cnn.com/fightingterror, it's a Web site we put together for you. It's an interactive guide to the terror alert levels and a timeline of al Qaeda attacks as well and much more.

Then stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. If you are looking to feel the Christmas spirit or even just any kind of holiday spirit, stay tuned for this. It's the story of the grinch who could not steal Christmas in one Georgia town. When word got out that someone had stolen gifts collected for needy children by a church in Lilburn, that's just outside of Atlanta. Hundreds of donors came forward to replace those gifts.

Reporter Jeff Dore of CNN affiliate WSB has the story. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Calgary Baptist Church, this is Suzy (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Calgary Baptist, this is Jennifer (ph)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The phone is ringing off the hook.

JEFF DORE, REPORTER, WSB ATLANTA (voice-over): They had more than 30 messages already when they opened the church office.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am, this is the church.

DORE: Just hours earlier, the church was a shambles. Sunday night, thieves broke in, smashed doors and windows and stole gifts church members had collected for orphans and other kids in the Georgia Baptist Children's Home. We did a story, then radio stations across Georgia picked it up and calls flooded in.

REV. JOHN DARSEY, PASTOR: Calling to say what can they give, what could they do to help.

DORE: People swarmed the church with toys like these from a retirement home and these dolls and dozens of other things.

DANNY DOON, ASSOCIATE PASTOR: People have been coming by, bringing cash, bringing checks. We had a company came by and donated 50 of these remote control vehicles.

DORE: 50?

DOON: 50 of those.

DORE: A plumbing company gave $500, a law firm gave $600 in gift cards.

DOON: The meanness we saw on Monday has been overshadowed with a joy unspeakable by how people are responding.

DARSEY: Someone tried to do something destructive, but God has taken it and he's turned it into something very positive.

(on phone): OK. Thank you and God bless you. Bye-bye.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Well, as you just saw, gifts galore have been pouring into this church just outside of Atlanta. Some are donors of the -- church members, others are members of the community. Joining me now to talk about this outpouring of support, Children's Minister, Gwen Howard. Miss Howard, good morning.

GWEN HOWARD, CALGARY BAPTIST CHURCH: Thank you.

KAGAN: Now this is all unfolding very quickly. Take us back to Sunday night into Monday morning when the realization takes place that all this stuff is gone.

HOWARD: Oh, what a tragic event for us. Our secretary came into the office Monday morning, found glass broken all over. It was such a terrible and horrible mess. Then later after we really discovered that not only had our offices been trashed and things stolen there, where we had all of the gifts for the children, someone had gone in, had actually ripped open packages, taken just what they wanted. And basically almost everything had been taken.

KAGAN: So it's for the police to figure out who did this. As church members, you don't have time for that...

HOWARD: That's right.

KAGAN: You have some children who are expecting some things, or hoping, wishing -- these are needy children. And it's not just a matter of getting a bunch of stuff. There are some specific requests that you are trying to fill.

HOWARD: That's exactly right. We had wish lists from these children, and so we want them to have exactly what they wanted. So as we speak, we have people out shopping right now trying to locate all of those items that were stolen. But thanks to the generosity of the public and we're so thankful for the media, we have received donations, toys, money, gift cards. And probably this will be an even better Christmas than we expected.

KAGAN: How about that? So as devastating as the realization and the discovery on Monday morning was, what you've seen and the goodness of people's spirit has been even, I would guess, more overwhelming. That's the lead story as we say around here.

HOWARD: Most definitely. It's overwhelming. I never dreamed -- I knew we'd have some response but I never dreamed what it has been. Even as far away as Macon, we've had people calling and as I left the office this morning, someone had sent in a check. And people are just coming in, the phones are ringing off the hook. How nice...

KAGAN: Speaking of phones, we have the phone number of the church, if people -- because this is coming from across America. Get ready. Think you've gotten a lot of response? You haven't seen anything yet.

HOWARD: Well, that'll be wonderful.

KAGAN: Let's show, it's the Calvary Baptist Church in Lilburn, Georgia. There's the phone number, 770-921-9106. The church also has a Web site. If you could tell us what that is and how many children you're trying to serve here on Christmas day.

HOWARD: The Web site is cbclilburn.org. And we had about 50 children that we were buying specific gifts for. We also have a project that we were going to be doing in early January. The children's home that we are helping here was built some time ago, so the cottages are extremely old, in need of great repair. And so we, as a church, was planning to go down, evaluate what needed to be done, raise the funds, go down and many of our members would be actually doing the work.

KAGAN: So if there's any spillover from the generosity of people trying to help make these children's Christmas a good one, it will go to next project. Going to needy children all the way around.

HOWARD: Yes. That's what we're hoping. In fact, instead of one cottage, maybe we'll do more than one.

KAGAN: You know, it just might happen. Good luck to you on that. And happy holidays and thanks for sharing this heartwarming story.

HOWARD: Thank you so much.

KAGAN: Gwen Howard, thank you. And we will go over to Rick.

SANCHEZ: Job well done, ladies.

Well, you know, there's still time to ship those last-minute gifts. We're going to go to a live sorting facility where they are trying to do everything they can to get your packages to where they're supposed to go. This will be fun.

Also, if you're looking for an exotic winter travel spot with health benefits, Dr. Sanjay Gupta may have the very place for you. And he's going to tell you about it when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: There's a new government study out that says that marriage is good medicine. We knew that. The study found that married people tend to be healthier than their single, divorced, never married or cohabitating counterparts. The study says married people are sick less often, smoke and drink less, are more active, and in general, feel better than other adults. It does say most married men tend to put on a little extra weight, though. I know about that one.

KAGAN: The Dead Sea may have been the world's first health spa, it turns out. Its healing waters were well known in biblical times. The Dead Sea treatment is alive and well in Chicago, where a clinic is using its ancient secrets to treat skin diseases.

Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The gentle lapping water of the Dead Sea, witness to millions of years of history, millions of pilgrimages and healing properties acknowledged since the dawning of time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cleopatra of Egypt knew about this form of therapy, it was written in Egyptian scrolls. It was known of in Biblical times.

GUPTA: In the Bible, it was said that water flows to the valley of the Dead Sea, healing whatever it touches, including those seeking to cleanse, even lepers. They were drawn to the salts. The Dead Sea heals because it has the highest volume of minerals and salt. It has the highest saline content of any body of water known to man.

Thousands of years later, the same type of water flows in a much different type of environment, the Mavena Derma Center in Chicago.

DR. JEFFREY ALTMAN, MEDICAL DIR. MAVENA DERMA CTR: What we try to do is recreate the Dead Sea therapy to the greatest extent possible.

GUPTA: By using a combination of a bath using salt imported from the Dead Sea and UV light therapy to mimic Dead Sea rays. 38-year-old Richard Strasol floats in a Dead Sea bath several times a month to get relief from psoriasis, a cronic skin disease that causes his skin to scale and become inflammed. A Dead Sea bath seemed like a last resort. By the time he ad been through several treatments, he says his psoriasis was almost completely gone.

Dermatologist, Jeffrey Altman says Strasos results are pretty typical.

ALTMAN: About a 75 percent overall improvement. However, the response rates are not quite as durable as what we see in the Dead Sea.

GUPTA: And the results can last several months.

Doctors say Dead Sea therapy also works for eczema patients, but there is no cure for either exzema or psorisis so the therapy must be ongoing.

ALTMAN: It's probably almost the perfect situation created by nature for treating psoriasis and other skin diseases.

GUPTA: Ancient waters that after thousands of years remain a fountain of healing.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: To get your daily dose of health news online, log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest news, a health library and the latest information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I guess a deuce would be a double dose.

If you've sent any holiday packages by UPS, keep watching.

In fact, do we have a live picture? I think we can go with this. Yes, there it is. You're watching.

KAGAN: That's my present I sent to you.

SANCHEZ: It doesn't seem to be moving.

KAGAN: But it's there.

Look, to Rick Sanchez.

SANCHEZ: This is a ups facility, folks, out in Illinois. We're going to be taking you there for an update on how it's going so far, to get to the gifts to point a to point b, my address.

KAGAN: It's not moving. All right, coming back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. 'Tis the season to ship. UPS is going to deliver a startling 230 packages a second -- a second -- somewhere around the globe on its peak shipping days. That's next Tuesday, the 21st, when they have scheduled to do an awful lot of work with an awful lot of elves. Their top elf is the one who's telling you the story. He's CNN's Keith Oppenheim. He's watching those packages inch your way, closer to your door.

A little while ago we were watching the conveyer belt and it wasn't moving. What do they stop it from time to time to readjust it or something?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Rick. They get a chance to take some breaks, too. But believe it or not, this place moves very quickly, with two million parcels on this day alone being sorted and distributed, though sometimes there are problems with the labels. And if there are problems with the labels and the machines can't read them, then they come to this area, called data acquisition.

And with us right now is Rhonda Lambert. She's working hard. First of all, Rhonda, can you show us a good box which has a proper label?

RHONDA LAMBERT, UPS PACKAGE HANDLER: This is a good box here. It has a proper label, because it has the (INAUDIBLE) code in there. And everything is indicated on here. You check the label, you check the zip code, you checked the -- where it's going to. This is a good label, and I'm going to put it on this belt.

OPPENHEIM: Now show us a box that has problems with it.

LAMBERT: This is a bad label, because I have to key this in. So I'm keying this package in, the box right now.

OPPENHEIM: It has no MAXI (ph) code on it, so the machines won't really know where to send that box?

LAMBERT: No, it do not.

SANCHEZ: Send it to my house.

LAMBERT: (INAUDIBLE) verifying this. I look on my screen. We check to make -- because this says life insure (ph). I take, and I scan the package right here, and I double check to make sure everything is clear. And I pull the paper out, and this is the MAXI. Everything is there. I put it on the box, and I verify everything, and I put it on the belt.

OPPENHEIM: All right, good job, Rhonda.

By the way, we're going to give you graphic information about online tracking requests, because on average, UPS has 9.1 million online tracking requests. And, Rick, that number for the people trying to check where their packages are, actually doubles during the holiday season. And there are a couple of belts here. The upper belt, near where I am, is the return belt. For the lower belt is where the packages are found.

And let's see if a package comes along where I can grab and actually show you that (INAUDIBLE) have sent it along. Here you go. I got it. And I will try to hide the address to maintain some confidentiality. And this one has a proper label with the right MAXI code on it, and I'll send it back on its way.

So that's the nature of the business here, Rick, where the packages have to keep flowing, and the amazing thing, they come into this facility, this distribution facility and it takes just 15 minutes on average for a parcel to come in and go out, and to go to its proper destination. Pretty quick. Back to you.

SANCHEZ: That's fascinating. Most of that is computerized, right?

OPPENHEIM: That's right. What you have here is lasers and also CCD cameras. They are reading those labels that Rhonda was working hard at fixing, and by having a label that is readable, that's the key. If the machines could read the label, it takes 15 minutes. If it doesn't, then you have to take a side trip to a place like data acquisition where the boxes are then relabeled.

SANCHEZ: All right, thanks a lot, Keith. If you see a set of golf clubs, those are mine by the way. Go ahead and grab them and bring them home.

Appreciate it, Keith.

KAGAN: That's what I got you. How did you know?

SANCHEZ: I'm just knew, I'm good like that.

KAGAN: Get ready to have your heart warmed once again. We're going to the holiday homefront. A soldier serving in Iraq gets a video visit with his family back home, and you're going to see it right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Well, the holiday's season is here. That means many U.S. servicemen and women are learning that they're, in many cases, not going to be coming home. KAGAN: They won't, but AMERICAN MORNING's Jack Cafferty sad down with the Pender family. They will be spending Christmas apart. Specialist Jason Pender talked to Jack about his job in Mosul and how he's getting through this tough time of year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON PENDER, SPECIALIST: I'm an intel analyst. We actually work in a room with no windows, but we decorated it real nice for Christmas. We probably will spend the day working, though. There's no real breaks here.

CAFFERTY: I got your wife and one of your children and your dad on a different satellite coming out of Cincinnati. Katie Pender is with us. How do you handle three kids with him that far away? I mean, that's yeoman's work if there are two parents at home.

KATIE PENDER, WIFE OF SPEC. JASON PENDER: It has been a great blessing to have my family and his dad and stepmom around. They have been a tremendous help.

CAFFERTY: You've got a 5-year-old, Michaela (ph) I think is her name. She's old enough to understand a little bit about what's going on. How do you handle the fact that her dad's away at war?

K. PENDER: Well, I think it helps that we are able to talk as often as we are. She knows that daddy's in Iraq. We talk about, you know, that he's there. We pray for him every night, so that she, you know, has an opportunity to talk about him and, you know, pray that he's going to be okay and going to be safe. And I keep pictures of him around so that she and Alex (ph) and Shawn (ph), when he gets a little bit bigger, can see him every day so that they don't forget what he looks like.

CAFFERTY: Gary, let me ask you, you spent time in Vietnam. What goes through your mind when you see the pictures coming out of Iraq and the fact that you've got a son over there in that theater?

GARY PENDER, FATHER OF SPEC. JASON PENDER: Great concern, actually. Having lived through the Vietnam War, having actually lost a brother in Vietnam, there's a lot of concern, a lot of prayers for both Jason and his comrades in arms. You know, we still feel it's the right mission at this point in time, but it's different when you have a son that's right in the heart of it.

K. PENDER: How you doing, honey?

J. PENDER: I'm doing great. How are you guys?

K. PENDER: Oh, we're doing okay. We're hanging in there. Well, you look good!

G. PENDER: Yes, you do. You do look good.

K. PENDER: You look really good.

J. PENDER: Thank you.

CAFFERTY: Jason, hang on one sec, you know what, we're going to bring the kids in.

K. PENDER: You wish Daddy a merry Christmas?

MICHAELA PENDER, DAUGHTER OF SPEC. JASON PENDER: Yes.

K. PENDER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

G. PENDER: Say merry Christmas, Daddy.

K. PENDER: Can you say merry Christmas?

M. PENDER: Merry Christmas, Daddy.

G. PENDER: You hear her, Jason?

J. PENDER: Merry Christmas, Michaela.

M. PENDER: Daddy, can you come home for Christmas? Can you?

J. PENDER: I don't think so, darling. I'm here helping other people. OK?

K. PENDER: He's helping out everybody else right now. He'll come home.

G. PENDER: But he loves you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Well, that will break your heart -- "Daddy, can you come home for Christmas?"

SANCHEZ: Daddy's not coming home for Christmas.

KAGAN: Not this year, but hopefully very soon the Penders will be back together.

SANCHEZ: Tells a story, though, doesn't it.

KAGAN: On that note, I don't think we can top that. I think that little girl kind of stole our thunder. That's going to do it for us. I'm Daryn Kagan.

SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez. Let's head on over to Wolf Blitzer, find out what's coming up in the next hour.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

9


Aired December 16, 2004 - 11:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are right at the half hour, good morning once again, I'm Daryn Kagan.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez. And here's what's happening right "Now in the News."

It's a new message of terror today, believed to be from Osama bin Laden. The speaker praises the December 6th attack on the American consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Saudi royal family comes in for sharp criticism from the Al Qaeda leader.

Also the second day of President Bush's economic summit is taking a hard look at Social Security. The president wants to allow workers to put some Social Security cash into stock market accounts. He's going to have some remarks on this at 1:30 Eastern and we here at CNN will bring it to you live.

Also, the Bush administration plans to designate Hezbollah Television a terrorist organization. The Lebanese broadcaster has drawn scrutiny for inciting terror. It has shown, for example, in one case, the Statue of Liberty dripping blood. It also juxtaposed pictures of President Bush and Adolf Hitler.

And Ukranian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko thinks that he was poisoned by the government. He contends it happened at a dinner with Ukraine's spy chief. Dioxin has disfigured Yushchenko's face. Keeping you informed, we're CNN, the most trusted name in news.

KAGAN: An embarrassing failure for baggage screeners this week. It happened at one of the airports that was used by the 9/11 hijackers. Here's national correspondent Gary Tuchman with today's CNN "Security Watch" report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a training exercise at Newark International Airport which did not go so well. A fake bomb set off an alarm on a machine like this. But then the bomb got lost. Billie Vincent is the former head of security for the FAA.

BILLIE VINCENT, FORMER FAA SECURITY CHIEF: No system is perfect, people or the equipment that we have now, nor will it be in the immediate future.

TUCHMAN: A supervisor for the Transportation Security Administration planted the simulated bomb, complete with wires and a clock. It ended up on a Continental Airlines flight, making it all the way from New Jersey to Amsterdam.

Less than two weeks ago, national police in France planted a real bomb in a random suitcase to do a similar test. It did not have a detonator, so police said it could not explode. But it also made it on an international flight, and the bomb yet has not been found.

The TSA acknowledges the handling of the simulated bomb in Newark, an airport used by the 9/11 hijackers, was mishandled, but says, "It's arguable that this was even a breach of security, as there was absolutely no threat to passengers at any time."

But that doesn't mean passengers won't be worried about the simulated bomb that set off an alarm but still got on the plane.

VINCENT: Their failure then to follow up on that would be cause for concern, that's true. But if they knew it was a simulant, maybe they let their guard down.

TUCHMAN: There has been no comment if the screeners will be disciplined.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: By the way, the head of Homeland Security for Newark sat down with CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" today.

ROCCO MALANGA, NEWWARK HOMELAND SECURITY DIR: There was no passengers that were put in harm's way with this but it is very concerning to us how that something like that could happen. I think it really comes down to a training issue and I think that they -- I know there's an investigation under way. We've had conversations with the Port Authority officials and also TSA. They're looking into this and how something like this could happen.

SANCHEZ: And if you want more on CNN "Security Watch" and what the United States is doing to fight terror, you can find it at cnn.com/fightingterror, it's a Web site we put together for you. It's an interactive guide to the terror alert levels and a timeline of al Qaeda attacks as well and much more.

Then stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. If you are looking to feel the Christmas spirit or even just any kind of holiday spirit, stay tuned for this. It's the story of the grinch who could not steal Christmas in one Georgia town. When word got out that someone had stolen gifts collected for needy children by a church in Lilburn, that's just outside of Atlanta. Hundreds of donors came forward to replace those gifts.

Reporter Jeff Dore of CNN affiliate WSB has the story. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Calgary Baptist Church, this is Suzy (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Calgary Baptist, this is Jennifer (ph)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The phone is ringing off the hook.

JEFF DORE, REPORTER, WSB ATLANTA (voice-over): They had more than 30 messages already when they opened the church office.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am, this is the church.

DORE: Just hours earlier, the church was a shambles. Sunday night, thieves broke in, smashed doors and windows and stole gifts church members had collected for orphans and other kids in the Georgia Baptist Children's Home. We did a story, then radio stations across Georgia picked it up and calls flooded in.

REV. JOHN DARSEY, PASTOR: Calling to say what can they give, what could they do to help.

DORE: People swarmed the church with toys like these from a retirement home and these dolls and dozens of other things.

DANNY DOON, ASSOCIATE PASTOR: People have been coming by, bringing cash, bringing checks. We had a company came by and donated 50 of these remote control vehicles.

DORE: 50?

DOON: 50 of those.

DORE: A plumbing company gave $500, a law firm gave $600 in gift cards.

DOON: The meanness we saw on Monday has been overshadowed with a joy unspeakable by how people are responding.

DARSEY: Someone tried to do something destructive, but God has taken it and he's turned it into something very positive.

(on phone): OK. Thank you and God bless you. Bye-bye.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Well, as you just saw, gifts galore have been pouring into this church just outside of Atlanta. Some are donors of the -- church members, others are members of the community. Joining me now to talk about this outpouring of support, Children's Minister, Gwen Howard. Miss Howard, good morning.

GWEN HOWARD, CALGARY BAPTIST CHURCH: Thank you.

KAGAN: Now this is all unfolding very quickly. Take us back to Sunday night into Monday morning when the realization takes place that all this stuff is gone.

HOWARD: Oh, what a tragic event for us. Our secretary came into the office Monday morning, found glass broken all over. It was such a terrible and horrible mess. Then later after we really discovered that not only had our offices been trashed and things stolen there, where we had all of the gifts for the children, someone had gone in, had actually ripped open packages, taken just what they wanted. And basically almost everything had been taken.

KAGAN: So it's for the police to figure out who did this. As church members, you don't have time for that...

HOWARD: That's right.

KAGAN: You have some children who are expecting some things, or hoping, wishing -- these are needy children. And it's not just a matter of getting a bunch of stuff. There are some specific requests that you are trying to fill.

HOWARD: That's exactly right. We had wish lists from these children, and so we want them to have exactly what they wanted. So as we speak, we have people out shopping right now trying to locate all of those items that were stolen. But thanks to the generosity of the public and we're so thankful for the media, we have received donations, toys, money, gift cards. And probably this will be an even better Christmas than we expected.

KAGAN: How about that? So as devastating as the realization and the discovery on Monday morning was, what you've seen and the goodness of people's spirit has been even, I would guess, more overwhelming. That's the lead story as we say around here.

HOWARD: Most definitely. It's overwhelming. I never dreamed -- I knew we'd have some response but I never dreamed what it has been. Even as far away as Macon, we've had people calling and as I left the office this morning, someone had sent in a check. And people are just coming in, the phones are ringing off the hook. How nice...

KAGAN: Speaking of phones, we have the phone number of the church, if people -- because this is coming from across America. Get ready. Think you've gotten a lot of response? You haven't seen anything yet.

HOWARD: Well, that'll be wonderful.

KAGAN: Let's show, it's the Calvary Baptist Church in Lilburn, Georgia. There's the phone number, 770-921-9106. The church also has a Web site. If you could tell us what that is and how many children you're trying to serve here on Christmas day.

HOWARD: The Web site is cbclilburn.org. And we had about 50 children that we were buying specific gifts for. We also have a project that we were going to be doing in early January. The children's home that we are helping here was built some time ago, so the cottages are extremely old, in need of great repair. And so we, as a church, was planning to go down, evaluate what needed to be done, raise the funds, go down and many of our members would be actually doing the work.

KAGAN: So if there's any spillover from the generosity of people trying to help make these children's Christmas a good one, it will go to next project. Going to needy children all the way around.

HOWARD: Yes. That's what we're hoping. In fact, instead of one cottage, maybe we'll do more than one.

KAGAN: You know, it just might happen. Good luck to you on that. And happy holidays and thanks for sharing this heartwarming story.

HOWARD: Thank you so much.

KAGAN: Gwen Howard, thank you. And we will go over to Rick.

SANCHEZ: Job well done, ladies.

Well, you know, there's still time to ship those last-minute gifts. We're going to go to a live sorting facility where they are trying to do everything they can to get your packages to where they're supposed to go. This will be fun.

Also, if you're looking for an exotic winter travel spot with health benefits, Dr. Sanjay Gupta may have the very place for you. And he's going to tell you about it when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: There's a new government study out that says that marriage is good medicine. We knew that. The study found that married people tend to be healthier than their single, divorced, never married or cohabitating counterparts. The study says married people are sick less often, smoke and drink less, are more active, and in general, feel better than other adults. It does say most married men tend to put on a little extra weight, though. I know about that one.

KAGAN: The Dead Sea may have been the world's first health spa, it turns out. Its healing waters were well known in biblical times. The Dead Sea treatment is alive and well in Chicago, where a clinic is using its ancient secrets to treat skin diseases.

Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The gentle lapping water of the Dead Sea, witness to millions of years of history, millions of pilgrimages and healing properties acknowledged since the dawning of time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cleopatra of Egypt knew about this form of therapy, it was written in Egyptian scrolls. It was known of in Biblical times.

GUPTA: In the Bible, it was said that water flows to the valley of the Dead Sea, healing whatever it touches, including those seeking to cleanse, even lepers. They were drawn to the salts. The Dead Sea heals because it has the highest volume of minerals and salt. It has the highest saline content of any body of water known to man.

Thousands of years later, the same type of water flows in a much different type of environment, the Mavena Derma Center in Chicago.

DR. JEFFREY ALTMAN, MEDICAL DIR. MAVENA DERMA CTR: What we try to do is recreate the Dead Sea therapy to the greatest extent possible.

GUPTA: By using a combination of a bath using salt imported from the Dead Sea and UV light therapy to mimic Dead Sea rays. 38-year-old Richard Strasol floats in a Dead Sea bath several times a month to get relief from psoriasis, a cronic skin disease that causes his skin to scale and become inflammed. A Dead Sea bath seemed like a last resort. By the time he ad been through several treatments, he says his psoriasis was almost completely gone.

Dermatologist, Jeffrey Altman says Strasos results are pretty typical.

ALTMAN: About a 75 percent overall improvement. However, the response rates are not quite as durable as what we see in the Dead Sea.

GUPTA: And the results can last several months.

Doctors say Dead Sea therapy also works for eczema patients, but there is no cure for either exzema or psorisis so the therapy must be ongoing.

ALTMAN: It's probably almost the perfect situation created by nature for treating psoriasis and other skin diseases.

GUPTA: Ancient waters that after thousands of years remain a fountain of healing.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: To get your daily dose of health news online, log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest news, a health library and the latest information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I guess a deuce would be a double dose.

If you've sent any holiday packages by UPS, keep watching.

In fact, do we have a live picture? I think we can go with this. Yes, there it is. You're watching.

KAGAN: That's my present I sent to you.

SANCHEZ: It doesn't seem to be moving.

KAGAN: But it's there.

Look, to Rick Sanchez.

SANCHEZ: This is a ups facility, folks, out in Illinois. We're going to be taking you there for an update on how it's going so far, to get to the gifts to point a to point b, my address.

KAGAN: It's not moving. All right, coming back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. 'Tis the season to ship. UPS is going to deliver a startling 230 packages a second -- a second -- somewhere around the globe on its peak shipping days. That's next Tuesday, the 21st, when they have scheduled to do an awful lot of work with an awful lot of elves. Their top elf is the one who's telling you the story. He's CNN's Keith Oppenheim. He's watching those packages inch your way, closer to your door.

A little while ago we were watching the conveyer belt and it wasn't moving. What do they stop it from time to time to readjust it or something?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Rick. They get a chance to take some breaks, too. But believe it or not, this place moves very quickly, with two million parcels on this day alone being sorted and distributed, though sometimes there are problems with the labels. And if there are problems with the labels and the machines can't read them, then they come to this area, called data acquisition.

And with us right now is Rhonda Lambert. She's working hard. First of all, Rhonda, can you show us a good box which has a proper label?

RHONDA LAMBERT, UPS PACKAGE HANDLER: This is a good box here. It has a proper label, because it has the (INAUDIBLE) code in there. And everything is indicated on here. You check the label, you check the zip code, you checked the -- where it's going to. This is a good label, and I'm going to put it on this belt.

OPPENHEIM: Now show us a box that has problems with it.

LAMBERT: This is a bad label, because I have to key this in. So I'm keying this package in, the box right now.

OPPENHEIM: It has no MAXI (ph) code on it, so the machines won't really know where to send that box?

LAMBERT: No, it do not.

SANCHEZ: Send it to my house.

LAMBERT: (INAUDIBLE) verifying this. I look on my screen. We check to make -- because this says life insure (ph). I take, and I scan the package right here, and I double check to make sure everything is clear. And I pull the paper out, and this is the MAXI. Everything is there. I put it on the box, and I verify everything, and I put it on the belt.

OPPENHEIM: All right, good job, Rhonda.

By the way, we're going to give you graphic information about online tracking requests, because on average, UPS has 9.1 million online tracking requests. And, Rick, that number for the people trying to check where their packages are, actually doubles during the holiday season. And there are a couple of belts here. The upper belt, near where I am, is the return belt. For the lower belt is where the packages are found.

And let's see if a package comes along where I can grab and actually show you that (INAUDIBLE) have sent it along. Here you go. I got it. And I will try to hide the address to maintain some confidentiality. And this one has a proper label with the right MAXI code on it, and I'll send it back on its way.

So that's the nature of the business here, Rick, where the packages have to keep flowing, and the amazing thing, they come into this facility, this distribution facility and it takes just 15 minutes on average for a parcel to come in and go out, and to go to its proper destination. Pretty quick. Back to you.

SANCHEZ: That's fascinating. Most of that is computerized, right?

OPPENHEIM: That's right. What you have here is lasers and also CCD cameras. They are reading those labels that Rhonda was working hard at fixing, and by having a label that is readable, that's the key. If the machines could read the label, it takes 15 minutes. If it doesn't, then you have to take a side trip to a place like data acquisition where the boxes are then relabeled.

SANCHEZ: All right, thanks a lot, Keith. If you see a set of golf clubs, those are mine by the way. Go ahead and grab them and bring them home.

Appreciate it, Keith.

KAGAN: That's what I got you. How did you know?

SANCHEZ: I'm just knew, I'm good like that.

KAGAN: Get ready to have your heart warmed once again. We're going to the holiday homefront. A soldier serving in Iraq gets a video visit with his family back home, and you're going to see it right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Well, the holiday's season is here. That means many U.S. servicemen and women are learning that they're, in many cases, not going to be coming home. KAGAN: They won't, but AMERICAN MORNING's Jack Cafferty sad down with the Pender family. They will be spending Christmas apart. Specialist Jason Pender talked to Jack about his job in Mosul and how he's getting through this tough time of year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON PENDER, SPECIALIST: I'm an intel analyst. We actually work in a room with no windows, but we decorated it real nice for Christmas. We probably will spend the day working, though. There's no real breaks here.

CAFFERTY: I got your wife and one of your children and your dad on a different satellite coming out of Cincinnati. Katie Pender is with us. How do you handle three kids with him that far away? I mean, that's yeoman's work if there are two parents at home.

KATIE PENDER, WIFE OF SPEC. JASON PENDER: It has been a great blessing to have my family and his dad and stepmom around. They have been a tremendous help.

CAFFERTY: You've got a 5-year-old, Michaela (ph) I think is her name. She's old enough to understand a little bit about what's going on. How do you handle the fact that her dad's away at war?

K. PENDER: Well, I think it helps that we are able to talk as often as we are. She knows that daddy's in Iraq. We talk about, you know, that he's there. We pray for him every night, so that she, you know, has an opportunity to talk about him and, you know, pray that he's going to be okay and going to be safe. And I keep pictures of him around so that she and Alex (ph) and Shawn (ph), when he gets a little bit bigger, can see him every day so that they don't forget what he looks like.

CAFFERTY: Gary, let me ask you, you spent time in Vietnam. What goes through your mind when you see the pictures coming out of Iraq and the fact that you've got a son over there in that theater?

GARY PENDER, FATHER OF SPEC. JASON PENDER: Great concern, actually. Having lived through the Vietnam War, having actually lost a brother in Vietnam, there's a lot of concern, a lot of prayers for both Jason and his comrades in arms. You know, we still feel it's the right mission at this point in time, but it's different when you have a son that's right in the heart of it.

K. PENDER: How you doing, honey?

J. PENDER: I'm doing great. How are you guys?

K. PENDER: Oh, we're doing okay. We're hanging in there. Well, you look good!

G. PENDER: Yes, you do. You do look good.

K. PENDER: You look really good.

J. PENDER: Thank you.

CAFFERTY: Jason, hang on one sec, you know what, we're going to bring the kids in.

K. PENDER: You wish Daddy a merry Christmas?

MICHAELA PENDER, DAUGHTER OF SPEC. JASON PENDER: Yes.

K. PENDER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

G. PENDER: Say merry Christmas, Daddy.

K. PENDER: Can you say merry Christmas?

M. PENDER: Merry Christmas, Daddy.

G. PENDER: You hear her, Jason?

J. PENDER: Merry Christmas, Michaela.

M. PENDER: Daddy, can you come home for Christmas? Can you?

J. PENDER: I don't think so, darling. I'm here helping other people. OK?

K. PENDER: He's helping out everybody else right now. He'll come home.

G. PENDER: But he loves you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Well, that will break your heart -- "Daddy, can you come home for Christmas?"

SANCHEZ: Daddy's not coming home for Christmas.

KAGAN: Not this year, but hopefully very soon the Penders will be back together.

SANCHEZ: Tells a story, though, doesn't it.

KAGAN: On that note, I don't think we can top that. I think that little girl kind of stole our thunder. That's going to do it for us. I'm Daryn Kagan.

SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez. Let's head on over to Wolf Blitzer, find out what's coming up in the next hour.

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