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CNN Live Today
Drawbridge Accident in Jersey City; Tsunami: One Year Later; Post-Holiday Shopping; Free Up More Time Tips; Hurricane Katrina Victims Spend Bleak Christmas On Docked Cruise Ship; Heartwarming Story Of "Paying It Forward" Offers Hope To Leukemia Stricken Child In Louisiana; Washington D.C. Offers Grandparents Aid; One-Year Anniversary Of Tsunami Disaster Marked By Baby Boom In Region
Aired December 26, 2005 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: That's it. Or they're explaining it to you, as it usually might happen.
You guys have a great day in New York City.
We'll go ahead and get started for the next two hours. Let's do that by taking a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will head back to the hospital in the next few weeks. Doctors want to seal a tiny hole in Mr. Sharon's heart that was discovered after his stroke. It's believed the hole was the reason for the clot that caused last week's stroke.
At least 16 people have been killed in separate attacks in Iraq over the last 24 hours. The victims include eight Iraqi security forces and a university lecturer. The attacks are part of the recent spike in violence following the December 15th elections.
The Japanese government is ordering emergency inspections of railway wind gages following a train accident yesterday. At least four people were killed and 32 others injured. The train was running behind schedule during a snowstorm. The driver said the train was buffeted by a gust of wind before it derailed.
And good morning to you on this day after Christmas, the second day of Hanukkah. I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta.
Just about 90 minutes ago, hopes of a Christmas miracle faded along the banks of the Hackensack River. Crews spending the night scouring the frigid waters in Jersey City in New Jersey hoping to rescue two police officers who had plunged off an open drawbridge last night. This morning, those hopes were crushed with word that both men are dead. CNN's Chris Huntington joins us now with the latest.
Chris, hello.
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, hello.
A terrible tragedy on the night of Christmas and the first night of Hanukkah. At about 8:00 last night, here in Jersey City, two officers, Sean Carson, 40 years old, a 16-year veteran of the force, and Robert Nguyen, a six-year veteran, 30 years old, responded to what should have been a manageable traffic issue on that drawbridge over there that spans the Hackensack River.
The issue was that one of the safety gates was malfunctioning -- it had been broken apparently in an accident the day before -- and police had been called in to manage traffic as the drawbridge was required to go up last night.
Here's how the police chief and the mayor gave the details of what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF ROBERT TROY, JERSEY CITY POLICE: These two officers, these heroes, they went over the bridge and they delivered the flares. And when they got done delivering the flares, the other officers were setting the flares up. And another incident did occur there, not related to what they were doing, which distracted a lot of the officers at the scene. These two officers got back in their truck and headed east, not knowing that the bridge was open for an oncoming tug.
MAYOR JERRAMIAH HEALY, JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY: Because of the hour, the darkness, the rain, the fog, I'm sure it was impossible for those two fine young men to see what they were driving into. Their own demise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTINGTON: Now, again, as the mayor there of Jersey City pointed out, dense fog, rain, it was dark here last night. Rescuers were on the scene within minutes, we're told by the police. They were able to recover Sean Carson, 40-year-old Sean Carson, but he was pronounced dead on arrival in a local hospital.
Daryn, they still have not recovered the body of Robert Nguyen, but he is presumed dead. Keep in mind, it's been more than 12 hours since he plunged into what we're told are 41-degree waters of the Hackensack River. Virtually impossible to survive that length of time -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And, Chris, I don't know if you can see this where you are there live in New Jersey, but we are just starting to get pictures of the officers. There's Officer Sean Carson. You said they were able to recover his body. And Officer Nguyen, where the search still does go on for his body. And as I think you reported, they say the search will continue until they find his body.
Chris, thank you for that report.
We travel across the world now for another tragedy that's being remembered today. It was one year ago today that the Indian Ocean tsunami slammed into the coastlines of 10 countries and rippled around the world. It was triggered by a massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra.
The wall of water swept away more than 200,000 lives. Because of the devastation, the true death toll will likely never be known. And 1.8 million people were displaced. The scope and scale of the disaster remained awe-inspiring even a full year later. Coastal damage was reported across the region from Eastern Africa to India to South Asia.
Many of those countries took part in memorial services today. Sri Lanka's president took part in a wreath-laying ceremony in a tsunami memorial near Galle. That is near the site when the tsunami waves washed a passenger train off of its tracks. You remember those pictures from last year. More than 1,000 people were killed in those giant waves.
Mourners also gathered along the coast of Thailand. They released paper lanterns and wreaths to remember the 5,000 people killed when the waves slammed into the resort-filled beaches. Another 2,800 people are still missing.
The largest losses were suffered in Indonesia. About 130,000 people died just in the Aceh province. Indonesia's president thanked the world for its swift and generous response to his country's disaster and reminded that much of the reconstruction is still incomplete. Banda Aceh was closest to the magnitude nine earthquake that unleashed that wall of water.
And in India, another memorial took route. A new park filled with more than 6,000 saplings, one for each person killed when the tsunami crashed into the nearby coast. In all, more than 10,000 people died in India. Many were hastily buried in mass graves that now dot India's southern coastline.
So where does the recovery stand? It is one year after the tsunami. CNN's Hugh Remington has a progress report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUGH REMINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): It was everyone's disaster. A disaster of the global edge to which the world responded. In human memory, there had never been this. An earthquake so great its waves killed from one side of the Indian Ocean to the other. It left communities mourning from Sri Lanka to Sweden, Sumatra to Somalia. More than 200,000 people dead or missing. A force that marked forever the survivors. That awed anyone who even glimpsed its power.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: This is indeed an international tragedy and we're going to do everything we can to assist the nations that have been affected.
REMINGTON: A year later (ph), the tropical winds blow swiftly again and clean. The smell of death is gone. But what happened to all those faces mute and stunned, stretched and desperate? What happened to the villages and the cities that were leveled? What lies now where businesses and their owners were swept away where peasant husks disappeared.
And what about the money? The world responded with unprecedented feeling, with billions of dollars from national treasuries and from personal piggy banks. Well, it did keep people alive. The toll after the tsunami would have been much greater without their help. The money has repaired or replaced fishing huts, its immunized children, restored basic shelter and sanitation.
International attention brought other positives, too, helping bring a peace deal to the worst-hit area of Aceh after a generation of civil war. But a million people pitched into poverty by the tsunami remain. The salt incursion has ruined huge swags of farmland, some of it permanently. Two-hundred-thousand businesses, most of them tiny, family concerns are lost in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, the Maldives.
In Aceh, there is still little in the way of permanent housing, unemployment remains demoralizing and debilitating. Small businesses are sprouting again in the ruins, fishing communities are again work the seas. People are alive who without international help and their own extraordinary resilience would not be. But the disaster of the generations might still take a generation to put right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: That was CNN's Hugh Remington reporting.
Be sure to join CNN's "Paula Zahn Now" for more of our special coverage of "The Tsunami One Year Later." That's tonight at 8:00 Eastern only on CNN.
But there's more on the tsunami ahead right here on CNN LIVE TODAY. We'll go back to Banda Aceh, Indonesia. There's not only a construction boom, there's a baby boom as well.
And recovering from tragedy in the U.S. How the story of one young victim of Hurricane Katrina, a boy stricken with cancer, inspired an unbreakable bond among strangers. It is a tear-jerker. We'll have the hanky alert out for that one.
And many happy returns. Shoppers hitting the stores early, returning those gifts they don't want. Also looking for bargains. See why this week could be the make or break time for stores when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Those shoppers not looking too happy this morning.
The feast is over, now it's the leftovers and the gifts are torn open, but your holiday wish list does not need to be a near afterthought. This morning, shoppers are flocking to stores to return that disappointing gift or maybe they're looking for their heart's desire among the post-holiday bargains. CNN's John Zarrella is surveying the retail landscape. He's in Aventura, Florida.
Good morning, Mr. Zarrella.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Oh, the landscape is busy today, I'll tell you that. We're at the Target store in Aventura, which is in the north Miami area. And they opened here at 7:00 a.m. this morning. And I was shocked, because frankly, I wouldn't be coming out if I wasn't working this morning, that's for sure.
But there were 50 to 60 people, you can see them there, just poured in the doors. And I asked a lot of those folks, Daryn, what they were here for. If they were here for returns. And they said, no, not at all. They were here to get those big bargains, 50 to 60 percent of.
This is considered one of the 10 busiest shopping days of the year. And for Target, a lot of what they hope people will do is to come in and spend those gift cards that they got. Twenty-five percent of the sales Target makes during the holiday season is on gift cards.
And they're really hoping, as many other retailers are, that people who did get gift cards will be coming in to cash those out in these days after Christmas. And it's funny, we had an opportunity to talk with some of the folks who were pouring through the store early this morning picking up things. And you know what, for them, this is a tradition. They do it every year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my second stop.
ZARRELLA: Second stop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the first go-round.
ZARRELLA: The first go-round.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll be back.
ZARRELLA: You're coming back?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ZARRELLA: You didn't -- you cleaned it out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. You see, what we did is, this is the Christmas stuff. Now you've got to go and get the household stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: See, they all have a routine. You come in, you get the Christmas stuff, you take the three buggies out, you come back in. And I've got to show you, these are some of the big sellers this year. It's all of that outdoor ornament items. All the outdoor animated figures you can get. The woodland deer. You can't find too many of these in the store anymore. The four tube candy cane lighting. Of course, you've got the wrapping paper. This is a light up twig tree. Over here, Daryn, hugely popular, the purple stocking. And look here. How about the Santa chair, 50 percent off. That's going really, really well. As well as my favorite is, of course, the train.
KAGAN: Oh, yes.
ZARRELLA: The animated train from outside. And, frankly, this working today, Daryn, is going to cost me a lot of money because I know I'm walking out of here with several of these items.
But, yes, today and the next few days, big days for retailers. Shopping was a little bit sluggish in places, particularly here in south Florida, before the holidays. A lot of people -- a lot of retailers blaming it on the Hurricane Wilma experience. The surveys saying that sales in south Florida were actually fairly flat before Christmas. Although Target says they did about a 35 percent increase in business -- Daryn.
KAGAN: So folks in south Florida are just happy to have power and phone after Wilma.
ZARRELLA: Yes.
KAGAN: John, let me ask you this. So this is all your stuff? You're going home with all this?
ZARRELLA: No, no, no. Our cameraman, Jerry Siminson (ph), he's got one buggy full.
KAGAN: OK.
ZARRELLA: Our sound tech, he's got a buggy full. And I've got orders for several of these other items.
I do have one other thing I do want to show you, things that you can't return. I wasn't going to do this, but I'm going to do it anyway. These are things you get from relatives like from my son Michael, the Godfather belt I got for Christmas.
KAGAN: You did not. This was you gift?
ZARRELLA: Yes, I did. And there's -- this was a gift from my 16-year-old. So you can't return it. There's no way I can return it.
KAGAN: No.
ZARRELLA: And one of these days I'm wearing it in a live shot in one of our broadcasts.
KAGAN: No.
ZARRELLA: Yes.
KAGAN: Even more appalling, wear it to like his prom.
ZARRELLA: There you go. KAGAN: There's payback.
ZARRELLA: You think he's going let me anywhere near that prom?
KAGAN: We'll talk. That's a story for another time.
John, thank you.
ZARRELLA: All right. Thank you, Daryn.
KAGAN: All right, be brave out there in the stores.
Well, it was a white Christmas in the Sierra, Nevada. It should continue today with another big storm -- a storm front that's coming from the Pacific. Lake Tahoe and the back country could get hit again with heavy snow. Up to 2 « feet at higher elevations. Strong winds are also in the forecast. So let's check in with our severe weather expert. Chad Myers is here with today's weather outlook.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Checking in New York City. The mayor there, Michael Bloomberg, estimating last week's transit strike cost the big apple and businesses there a billion dollars. Transit workers walked off the job and onto the picket lines last Tuesday. That, of course, being right before the Christmas week buying rush.
Bloomberg says that lost sales tax revenues will add up to tense of millions of dollars, and then you add to that about $10 million a day that taxpayers shelled out for police overtime and other costs. Transit workers are back on the job as of Friday while they keep negotiating with the Metro Transit Authority.
Stop smoking, lose weight, exercise more. Just some of the more common new years resolutions. But how about this one? Freeing up more time. Do you think it can be done? We're going to show you how. "Top Five Tips" coming up.
And the financial strain of raising kids. Not your own. How about grandkids. There's very little government assistance available. One city is stepping up to help.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's talk new year's resolutions. This one's a little bit different. Perhaps your resolution is to make more time for yourself. For that we have today's "Top Five Tips." "Money" magazine's Cybele Weisser is sitting in for the vacationing Gerri Willis today.
Good morning and happy new year and all the other happys out there Cybele.
CYBELE WEISSER, "MONEY" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Daryn. Happy, happy. KAGAN: Let's talk how making the new year happier for people to find more time. First of all, give me the thing you need to do to somebody else. Outsourcing.
WEISSER: Exactly. I'm not talking about a call center in India here.
KAGAN: Good.
WEISSER: We're talking about delegating tasks. Maybe more to your spouse, your kids. Nothing wrong with paying the kids a little extra to do a couple things around the house. Or hop online. Online grocery delivery can be a fantastic time saver. Craigslist.com is a great source to find a handyman, a babysitter, whoever you need.
KAGAN: Automatic bill paying. This has been a big time saver for me.
WEISSER: Huge. I know. And, you know, a lot of people don't start doing it because they're a little daunted by the process of setting it up. So our suggestion is to just start by getting your account set up and entering one bill. You need your social security number and your account number. That should take about 20 minutes. And gradually add other bills throughout the year. By the end of the year, you'll be fully online. Ready to go.
KAGAN: That's a really good idea.
OK. And then this applies to everything, stop the procrastination.
WEISSER: Right. I know, easier said than done.
KAGAN: Absolutely.
WEISSER: OK. We have a couple of tips. One is to break things up into small, manageable pieces. So, you know, say you're thinking about cleaning out the garage and, oh my God, that just seems huge. Well, you know, OK start -- you're going to clean out the tools. You're going to organize the tools and then you're going to take out the boxes. And so, you know, break it down. Also, turn off the technology. I am so guilty of this one.
KAGAN: The BlackBerry.
WEISSER: The BlackBerry, the e-mail, the voicemail, the instant message. We can go on and on. The average worker wastes two hours a day on this kind of stuff. Shut it down when you really need to get something done.
KAGAN: Which might lead you to your next tip, and that is taking a vacation.
WEISSER: Taking a vacation. Speaking of work, how about stop working? You know, there's a new survey that the average worker, a third of us, don't take all our vacation time. Isn't that amazing? We want more but then we . . .
KAGAN: Use it or lose it.
WEISSER: Use it or lose it. We don't take it. And a third of us check in with work while we're on vacation. Isn't that amazing? So our suggestion is, put it on the calendar really early. You know, book your plans for summer now and pay in advance, that way you're much less likely to cancel.
KAGAN: That's right, it's paid for.
WEISSER: Yes, it's already paid for.
KAGAN: And then finally, where do you go to learn how to relax?
WEISSER: All right. Well, you know, this is a tough one. A lot of us spend al our -- you know what is our "free time." We're rushing around. We're multitasking. We're committed. We've got a million activities. Stop. Try cutting down to just the activities that you really love. And, you know what, there's nothing wrong with just booking some time to do nothing.
And while you're doing those activities, you know, pick the ones that are the most fulfilling. Research shows that what fulfills us most, what makes us feel most relaxed, socializing with friends, getting outdoors and activities that feel challenging, ice skating, Scrabble, whatever it is that, you know, feels like it really works your mind. That will make you feel like you really had some you time.
KAGAN: Whatever does it for you.
WEISSER: Whatever does it for you.
KAGAN: Cybele, thank you for the tips. Good luck implementing them in 2006.
WEISSER: Yes, thank you.
KAGAN: We'll check in to see how you're doing.
WEISSER: You're welcome.
KAGAN: Cybele Weisser from "Money" magazine, thank you.
Looks like President Bush is taking the tip about vacation. New video into CNN. Oh, it looks like he has, perhaps, Barney or one of the White House dogs. And Mrs. Bush, they are making that transition. They spent Christmas at Camp David. Now they're at Andrews Air Force Base boarding Air Force One and they are heading out to the ranch in Texas where they will spend the rest of the week for their holiday, end of year holiday.
It was a Christmas like no other for residents along the Gulf Coast. A few decorations or gifts, no homes for thousand of victims of Hurricane Katrina. We'll look at how many spent the holiday. And sometimes it only takes one story to inspire. Coming up, a young cancer victim. His family homeless after the hurricane. How a stranger hundreds of miles away made a big difference.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Welcome back to the next half hour of CNN LIVE TODAY. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here's a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
Search crews continue to scour the Hackensack River. They are looking for a missing Jersey City police officer who is presumed dead. A police vehicle carrying the officer and his partner plunged through an open drawbridge last night. The body of the second police officer has been recovered. They were directing traffic around an accident on the bridge which was shrouded in fog and rain.
In world news, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will undergo surgery in the next two weeks or three weeks perhaps to repair a small hole in his heart. Doctors there say that they will perform a heart catheterization procedure to prevent future blood clots. It was that restricted flow of blood that caused the Israeli leader to suffer a minor stroke earlier this month.
In South China Christmas Day fires are blamed in the deaths of more than two dozen people in an unlicensed bar. Residents and state media are reporting 26 deaths and eight injuries. It took only minutes for the fire to gut the bar, which is near Hong Kong.
Officials in China are citing safety concerns in the forced closing of about 2400 coal mines. About 13,000 other mines have been ordered to suspend operations for safety inspections. The closures are the last steps in China's campaign to reduce the death toll in its mining industry, that is the deadliest in the world.
It is the day after Christmas but the first day of Kwanzaa. The non-religious holiday celebrates African-American culture. It started back in 1966 amid the civil rights movement. It's estimated more than 20 million people celebrate it in the U.S., Canada, England, the Caribbean and Africa.
Christmas in Louisiana was tough to celebrate this year for hundreds of churches and their congregants. A lot of churches couldn't even open their doors in St. Bernard Parish because of extensive damage four months after hurricane Katrina.
Only one Catholic Church in the parish held services yesterday. It now serves as home to nine other congregations; 900 folding chairs were brought in for that service to replace the heavy oak pews that were destroyed in the flooding.
Hundreds of others in Louisiana spent Christmas on the Mississippi River, but on a cruise to nowhere, it might sound like a vacation to you, but not when you've been living on this ship for months. CNN's Gulf Coast Correspondent Susan Roesgen reports this is a temporary home for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over ): Say Christmas on a cruise ship and some people think of the Bahamas, but this ship is in St. Bernard Parish. And the passengers are on anything but a vacation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, honey.
ROESGEN: This is home for Becky and Joey Muscarello (ph) and their little daughter, Jonah. Becky says they couldn't afford Christmas decorations for their cabin and it just didn't seem worth it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would be different if it was floating in the waters some where, and it was a cruise. But hey, this is better than not having anything at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they have people that don't have even that.
ROESGEN: FEMA pays the room and board for 946 passengers, but everyday the Muscarellos get off the ship to go to work on their real home; a 3,000 square-foot house ruined by the flood and an oil spill after the hurricane. Then it's back to their 8-by-12 foot cabin on a cruise to nowhere.
(On camera): Normally, this ship sails on the Atlantic, from Portland, Maine to Nova Scotia. But for the last three months it has been sitting right here, on the Mississippi, not moving anywhere.
CAPT. BENGT WIMAN, SCOTIA PRINCE: To start with I was quite frustrated, to just stay here on the river and doing nothing. But now after -- after about six weeks or so, we get to know a lot of people. It's more like a family now. We're all -- I mean, the crew, we get to know the crew, we got to know the St. Bernard people here. And now it's, I would say it's quite nice here now.
ROESGEN: The ship is supposed to stay at least until March. After that, nobody knows. For now it's a home for the homeless; those who hope to really be home for the holidays, next year. Susan Roesgen, CNN, Violet, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Now to Atlanta, Katrina's impact was clear at the annual Josiah Williams Feed the Hungry Christmas Dinner. Organizers say they dished out holiday meals for 12,000 people. That's up about 20 percent from previous years. An additional 7,000 meals were delivered, doubling last year's figure. Organizers attribute the rise to a number of Katrina evacuees now living in the metro area.
Our next story. We'd like to tell you, stand by, Kleenex, hankie, you'll need it for this one because we're talking about hurricane Katrina and the images of death and destruction coming to mind, but the storm also created connections between people who otherwise might never have crossed their paths. This story now, from Elizabeth Cohen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over ): When we first told the story of Tony Nata, a six-year-old from Slidell, Louisiana, who is battling leukemia, we had no idea what an impact it would have on this man Jeff Parnes who lives more than a 1,000 miles away in New York City.
JEFF PARNES, NEWYORKSAYSTHANKYOU.ORG: We saw a wonderful story on CNN about the family. My wife and I watched the video and we just kind of looked at each other and said, how can we not do something to help?
COHEN: Tony has a 50/50 chance of survival.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take a deep breath. You have a chocolate face, man.
COHEN: He needs more chemo, plus radiation and a bone marrow transplant. He's getting the medical attention he needs, but he's doing it without a home. Hurricane Katrina devastated Slidell, including Tony's house and his fishing deck. Fishing is Tony's passion. And at this point it's the only sport he can do.
But now Tony's living in a FEMA trailer far away from his fishing spot. That's where Jeff Parnes comes in. Jeff lost one of his best friends on September 11th, to say thank you for all of the kindness he and other New Yorkers received, Jeff founded New York SaysThankYou.org. They travel around the U.S. helping other devastated communities. After seeing our story --
ROBIN NATA, TONY'S MOTHER: Jeff flew down with his organization and the group of guys and decided to rebuild our decks for us.
COHEN (on camera): What do you think?
R. NATA: It's overwhelming, you know? How do you thank these guys for taking the time out of their lives and families to come and lend a hand for us.
COHEN (voice-over ): And he didn't come alone. He brought New York City firefighters with him.
R. NATA: Nice to meet you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Glad to meet you.
COHEN: And residents from Utica, Illinois came, too. Jeff's group helped their community after they were hit with tornadoes, and this couple from San Diego.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. COHEN: Jeff's foundation rebuilt their house after it was destroyed in the wild fires of 2003 and locals here in Slidell helped, too.
PARNES: We had Slidell Lion's Club. A whole bunch of 70-year- old men who unpacked this 18-wheeler yesterday, 750 pieces of lumber.
COHEN: They all gathered one freezing cold Friday morning tearing up what was left of the old deck and laying down the new. And then, Jeff had a surprise for Tony. His fishing idol, ESPN's Jimmy Houston.
JIMMY HOUSTON, ESPN, PROFESSIONAL ANGLER: Oh, man. (Smack)
COHEN: Best known for kissing the fish.
HOUSTON: The biggest speckle trout. Show me about how long it is, yes.
TONY NATA, TONY'S FATHER: Jimmy was great, he was a class act. Tony doesn't speak to everybody. He's in his own little world.
HOUSTON: That's an 18-wheeler, they call them 18-wheeler. Look over here, now.
T. NATA: He talked to him like he knew him all his life and Jimmy just sat at this table and they played with his truck. I didn't know which one was the kid, whether it was Jimmy or Tony. And they got along well.
COHEN (voice-over ): In just two days they finished the deck. Tony drove in one of the last nails and then cast his line.
T. NATA: All of my heart, from all of our heart, you know. This has been special.
R. NATA: To, Jeff, we couldn't thank him more.
T. NATA: It's powerful.
R. NATA: Yes.
T. NATA: Yes. We're on our way. We're on our way back. You know, we're going get back. That's special.
COHEN: Now, finally Tony has his fishing spot back.
(GROUP SHOT): Let's go fishing!
COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Slidell, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: I told you. He's got the fishing spot, Jimmy Houston shows up. It's good stuff. Hope you had your Kleenex handy. And then there's this. If all goes well, the family will move into a repaired home in just a few weeks and little Tony should be getting his bone marrow transplant in February. Meanwhile, Jeff Parnes and his group expect to travel to tornado-damaged Indiana for their next project. Doing some really good work. Elizabeth, thank you for that story.
It was one year ago today, it hardly seems that long, but that's when the devastating tsunami ripped through South Asia. Ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY, the road to recovery, and why mixing the sounds of hammers and saws, signaling reconstruction, you can also hear the sounds of babies crying, lots of babies. Don't go away. We're back with that story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: It is one year exactly after the tsunami and Indonesia's Aceh Province is actually in the midst of a baby boom. CNN's Atika Shubert has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ratna is a midwife in Aceh, one of the lucky ones to survive last year's tsunami. Today she is making a house call to a special patient, baby Sidilla (ph), who was born just hours after the disaster.
Ratna remembers the father's panicked cry for help as they fled the giant waves on foot.
RATNA, MIDWIFE: "I told them she can't wait, she's going have the baby right now," Ratna recalls. "Get some string from the rice sacks and a knife. It's not ideal, but this is an emergency."
As aftershocks rumbled around them, Ratna delivered Sidilla safely, with little more than a piece of string and a razor. Sidilla's mother wasn't sure she'd make it.
HUSNAWATI, MOTHER: "Thankfully, we found a house and some hot water, but that was all. I was resigned to my fate."
Sidilla's father still can't believe he outran the tsunami waves carrying his family.
RAHMADIAH, FATHER: "I had a kid in each arm and my pregnant wife on my back. I don't know how did I it. If you asked me today, I couldn't do it again."
One year later conditions have improved dramatically. Ratna has a new clinic serving up to 35 women a day.
(on camera): Ratna still needs help. The clinic she says runs short of contraceptives and she needs electricity to run a 24-hour baby ward for a batch of newborns she's expecting.
(Voice over): In fact, Aceh is in the middle of a baby boom as surviving mothers want to replace the families they lost. An estimated one-third of the tsunami fatalities were women and children.
RATNA: "The quicker the better, these mothers say. I don't think they feel at peace without their children," Ratna says. It is getting so busy here, we may be creating more problems down the road."
December 26th will mark one year since the tsunami, Ratna is mindful that it is also Sidilla's birthday. They family says they will treat it as an ordinary day, thankful just to be together. Atika Shubert, CNN, Ruyung, Aceh, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: For more post-tsunami stories be sure to join CNN's "Paula Zahn Now" for our special coverage of "Tsunami, One Year Later". That's tonight at 8:00 Eastern, only here on CNN.
Raising children can put a financial strain on a lot of families, but for grandparents who are suddenly raising their grandkids, the burden can be even greater. Ahead what one city government is doing help them out.
And saved by the bell, how early Christmas morning wishes may have saved the life of a sleeping man. That story's ahead when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: All right, parents you might be reeling from the Christmas spending bill. You know that raising a child can be very expensive, but think about what it's like for millions of grandparents a fixed income, who for one reason or another are now raising their grandkids. The city of Washington, D.C., realizes the hardship and CNN's Gary Nuremberg has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, who's next?
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For 14-year-old Johnetta Brooks and her 12-year-old sister Janay, it was a weekend for the Christmas tree and for goofing around.
JANAY BROOKS, GRANDDAUGHTER: Me and Usher, together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he your favorite?
NURENBERG: Janay Brooks' 76-year-old grandmother knows about Usher.
DELEPHINE JONES, GRANDMOTHER: He's a ladies' man. He got too many women for me.
(LAUGHTER)
NURENBERG: Delephine Jones has been raising the girls since their mother died six years ago on Christmas day, becoming -- her daughters believe -- an angel.
J. BROOKS: When she died, and she went to a better place and that some is called heaven and that's where the angels go.
NURENBERG: Jones didn't expect to be raising her grandchildren. It's a stretch.
JONES: I don't get food stamps so I have to buy food for them. And they participate in a lot of things in church and I have to buy their dresses and things that they need for special occasions.
NURENBERG: Jones is one of an estimated 8100 grandparents raising children in Washington . AARP puts the number at about 6 million nationally.
LINDA CROPP, WASHINGTON CITY COUNCIL: If the grandparents didn't step up then the government would have to take over these children at a much higher rate and it would be probably with less love and care for the child.
NURENBERG (on camera): But grandparents like Jones haven't always qualified for the same levels of government assistance as foster parents. D.C. City Council has just changed that, allowing low-income grandparents more than $700, per child, per month.
CROPP: Obviously, if the grandparent could take care of their child it keeps them out of the foster care system. And it also provides an opportunity for the children to know their relatives, and to be in a family environment.
NURENBERG (voice-over ): Jones, says the new aid is welcome.
JONES: As they grow older they're going need more things and I'm trying to get a bigger place for them because they're big enough to have their own room.
NURENBERG: Washington is among the first cities to provide help to grandparents, but as census figures show an increase in grandparents raising children, other city governments may follow. Gary Nuremberg. CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Let's take a look at other stories making news coast to coast.
Gunfire ringing out in Christmas morning in an affluent neighborhood outside Washington . Police say they found five people shot dead at two homes in Virginia in an apparent murder-suicide. "The Washington Post" reports a 27-year-old man killed his mother in her home and three other people at another home.
Police in Madison, Wisconsin are investigating a homemade bomb explosion at a parking ramp in the downtown area. The authorities say the explosion over the weekend didn't hurt anyone, but it did damage a car. It's the third time since late last month that police have investigated such incidents.
The world famous Boys Choir of Harlem is about to be homeless. The city of New York is evicting the group from a public school building where it practices for free. The eviction comes amid allegations that the founder ignored reports of sexual abuse. Also the city says instructors have failed to show up for their classes at the Choir Academy of Harlem, which is part of the boys choir.
A text message on a cell phone may have saved an Oklahoma City man's life on Christmas morning. His house was on fire, but he was sleeping through it, until a cell phone message woke him up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody had text messaged me, Merry Christmas, and that's when I got up. I opened the door and all the smoke came in. Only thing I could do is jump out the window. I couldn't do nothing else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Best message he ever got.
Let's check the time around the country, it is 7:51 in snow- covered Truckee, California, and 10:51 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where snow is in the forecast. A check on your morning forecast is just ahead. Plus, Christmas in Iraq. Delivering holiday cheer to American troops. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: New Yorkers mark the beginning of the Hanukkah season by the ceremonial lighting of the menorah last night. Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish commemoration of the victory over the Syrians and the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Hanukkah began at sundown yesterday.
There is no holiday for U.S. troops in Iraq, but many find ways to celebrate Christmas on their bases, perhaps with turkey dinner or impromptu caroling. Some simple pleasures far from home. Our cameras found more examples at Camp Victory in Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to be proud of what you're doing today and the statement you're making to the whole world about freedom. Hoo-hah?
SOLDIERS: Hoo-hah!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have at it, boys.
SOLDIERS: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is gold. Merry Christmas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here you go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch this. Yes!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's my teddy bear. Can't go anywhere without your teddy bear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Candy for the kids! Get some candy for the kids!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Merry Christmas, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pleasure, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for the cakes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Merry Christmas to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Merry Christmas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We call him Fred.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fred? The teddy bears are hot out here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. I love my teddy bear. I had to leave my other one at home. She's going to be two years old in another eight, nine months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Merry Christmas, Mom!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Teddy bear's with me. Merry Christmas.
KAGAN: Beautiful sunset. At least they have that. Chad Myers, what about weather here in the U.S.?
(WEATHER FORECAST)
KAGAN: Chad, I have another kind of snow for you. Did you get any packages with this stuff in it?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Which one is that, that is the --
KAGAN: The packing peanuts.
MYERS: Is that the advanced edible kind?
KAGAN: No, it's that Styrofoam stuff.
MYERS: OH, yes.
KAGAN: That you open it and it gets everywhere.
MYERS: Yes. They actually make it out of corn now.
KAGAN: And you eat it?
MYERS: No, but it's biodegradable. That stuff last forever. KAGAN: Still a mess. A lot of people have ideas for it and that's what we have coming up in the next hour. Personally, I regifted mine. I used it in packages that had other gifts in it. But we are going to tell you, there are ideas out there for getting rid of these packing peanuts and we're going to tell you about that, as the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins, in a moment.
Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News": Across South Asia, victims of last year's tsunami are being remembered on this one-year anniversary of the tragedy. The massive waves generated by an earthquake killed more than 200,000 people. Hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless, they're still living in tents or other shelters, or with relatives.
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