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American Morning
Peacemaker Dies; "Let's Assume He's Been Nice"; Giving Snow The "Bot"; Halle Berry Supports L.A. Center for Battered Women; Assange To Stand Extradition Trial in Britain; Golden Globe Nominees Announced
Aired December 14, 2010 - 07:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Thanks so much for being with us on this Tuesday, December 14th. For a lot of you, you're waking up to some snow out there.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of the country. A little dusting here in New York City, but elsewhere where we're talking in terms of feet of snow. We're coming up to the top of the hour. It's almost 8:00 Eastern. Time for the top stories.
A monster storm keeps battering the Midwest from Wisconsin to New York, cars are buried in up to five feet of snow. Roads are closed and it is bitter cold outside. This beast of a system not done yet. In parts of the northeast, a lot more snow could fall today.
CHETRY: Well he dedicated his life to making the world a peaceful place and this morning the nation is mourning the death of top diplomat Richard Holbrooke. He died yesterday, at 69 years old, after an aorta tear and several hours of surgery to try to repair it. We'll look back at a career that started in Vietnam and ended trying to end the war in Afghanistan.
ROBERTS: And "The Social Network" has been golden with critics from coast to coast. Will the Hollywood Foreign Press show it some love whe nomiations for the Golden Globe awards are announced, just about 40 minutes from now. We'll find out.
CHETRY: Also, it is not over yet. A big bruising winter storm pounding the Midwest, burying cars in up to five feet of snow. Millions suffering in single-digit temperatures and the system is not done yet.
ROBERTS: Freeze warnings issued for the south and parts of the Northeast, could be in for more snow today. Our Rob Marciano is live in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, this morning, where they are quite chagrinned about the amount of snow that they've been receiving.
Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
The big freeze is on again. It's on this week. And the snows continue to come down.
They have done a pretty good job of keeping the roads clear. Of course, when you live in this part of the world, you know, they know how to do just that. But when the cold is this severe, you've got water mains lines that have burst. Flooding in some cases freezing and shutting down roads and a couple of suburbs outside of Cleveland, they're under a water boil restriction.
So, this is a serious business. You get off the roads and, obviously, the snow piles up quite a bit. They have about a foot again here again last night. But considering it's come on top of what they had last week, they're about three times what they normally see in the month of December and for the folks here, including mayor of Chagrin Falls, it's a little too much too soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR TOM BRICK, CHAGRIN FALLS, OHIO: In terms of early, this is nasty. In terms of winter, this is normally as bad as it gets. But so, we have had storms like this in the past. But you don't have them every winter and you certainly don't have them on a repeated basis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: And that's just what beats you down, when you get it week after week, and we don't sew this pattern shifting really for the next week or so. Might be -- have might have to wait for a January thaw up here before they get any temperatures that are remotely bearable.
As I mentioned, here, they got about another foot of snow last night. Other spots in northeast Ohio is getting 19, 20 inches. There are sporadic power outages because of the winds that have been relentless of the Lake Erie this morning. Waking up, walking outside of Cleveland, blowing 30, 40 miles an hour, temperatures in the teens that drops the wind chills below the zero mark. So, it is just a bone-chilling cold.
All right. Let's talk a little bit about weather. Obviously, we've got some lake-effect snows that are happening here and shifted a little bit to the north and east.
Here's the radar. Zoomed in a little bit toward Lake Erie. This is one of the first lakes to freeze but that doesn't happen until January and February. Until that time, when you get cold -- warm air moving over the relatively water, that's when the lake-effect snows happen.
We got a bit of shift today towards begin to shift a little bit more to the east as the winds go a little bit more to west-northwest. And we had trouble yesterday in Indiana, northwest Indiana, La Porte getting almost 20 inches of snow. We had -- we can tell you about the reports of a number of motorists that were at least temporarily stranded in some of the roadways there. Upstate New York, as well, you see that on the radar, looking at some snows there.
Below average temperatures, 20 to 25 degrees below average in spots across the Northeast. I know it's a time of year, John and Kiran, and certainly places like here, cute little towns to do it up right. You know, you have to go into the gazebo to warm up at all. But even when it's this cold and this time of year, it's hard to be happy about the bitterly cold temperatures.
Back over to you.
ROBERTS: I'm curious as to how you warm up in a gazebo that's open to the elements.
MARCIANO: Well, you know, it breaks the wind just a little bit. Actually, it is a little bit warmer here.
ROBERTS: Really?
CHETRY: See that?
MARCIANO: About a half a degree.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Well, it makes more a beautiful picture. Very Norman Rockwell this morning. Thanks, Rob.
ROBERTS: Very often, if you think it's warmer, it feels like it is.
He's remembered as America's toughest peacemaker this morning. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, one of the world's well known and an accomplished diplomats, died yesterday at the age of 69.
CHETRY: His passing, many say, leaves a big void in the president's strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Ed Henry joins us live from the White House this morning.
Ed, the president is set to meet with his Afghanistan team today. What is the White House saying about Holbrooke's loss and what it will mean to the efforts in Afghanistan?
ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president himself made it clear that this was a true giant in diplomatic circles. They know here that this is -- it's going to be a huge void to fill as you suggest.
On paper, though, not a lot is going to change. Let's face it. I mean, the president's policy is already in place. He surged U.S. troops to Afghanistan. He's already made public that he wants to start rotating some of those U.S. troops out in the summer of 2011. Have all the U.S. combat troops out based on the conditions on ground by the end of 2014. All of that is in place.
So, on paper, things don't change, but there's sort of an intangible factor that Richard Holbrooke brought to the table based on his experience going back to the Vietnam War, the war in Bosnia that he helped end, which is that, in some ways, he was sort of the undiplomatic diplomat when you talk to his friends.
In private, he could very coarse. He could be abrasive. He could e tough.
But that tough as nails sort of persona enabled him to get difficult decisions done and implemented and that's what this administration is going to need in the days ahead. They've got the policy. They need to implement it. They need to get tough on Afghan President Karzai, for example, to make sure that this turnover to the Afghan forces really works.
Missing someone like Richard Holbrooke, who was so effective at those difficult diplomatic tasks, is going to be a void that's so difficult to measure in terms of how they try to fill it, John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Is anyone prepared to fill it?
HENRY: Well, you know, he was the special envoy. And, obviously, there are a lot of people here at the White House and the National Security Counsel staff over at the State Department with Secretary Clinton who have been on the margins of this policy. He was obviously not the only person who was working on this.
But there is no one when you talk to senior officials who's ready to just immediately step in because he sort of one of those irreplaceable folks.
ROBERTS: Ed Henry for us at the White House this morning -- Ed, thanks so much.
Ed kind of glanced at this, but let's take a little more of an in-depth look at who Richard Holbrooke really was. He helped turn the wheels of history over the course of his long career, that spanned 45 years going all the way back to JFK and Vietnam. He was best known for being the chief architect of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in Bosnia.
He also served as ambassador to the United Nations under President Clinton. And two days after taking office, President Obama turned to him to be his point man in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
CHETRY: A final vote on the Senate on tax cuts could come today. A compromise package easily cleared a procedural vote yesterday. This deal combines the extended unemployment benefits and payroll tax break that President Obama had wanted with Bush tax cuts and lower estate taxes that Republicans wanted. Disgruntled Democrats in the House, though, are not happy about the estate taxes and the tax cuts for the highest income earners.
ROBERTS: And the embattled head of the Republican National Committee says he will fight to keep his job. Chairman Michael Steele announced plans to seek a second term during a conference call last night with members of the RNC.
Many Republicans expected Steele to step down. Surprise! He'll face at least six challengers when the RNC selects a chairman next month.
CHETRY: And a scare on stage briefly brought Oprah Winfrey's Australian extravaganza to a screeching halt, all because Hugh Jackman forgot to hit the brakes. He's trying to make a grand entrance, swooping in on a zip line yesterday amid cheers to the crowd. Maybe should have had his hand on the actual brake instead of waving. Poor guy.
Well, he didn't brake in time and he actually smacked the stage against some scaffolding, holding up light. He's actually lucky he didn't get more badly hurt. Paramedic and Oprah herself to the star's eye which was bruised. He had a black eye. He returned to the stage 10 minutes later saying he was OK, that he just forgot the brakes.
ROBERTS: Have you gone on a zip line before?
CHETRY: Yes. But --
ROBERTS: You get that rush as you're coming up toward the end and you can be very close to it long before you realize it. So --
CHETRY: Yes, it will sneak up on you.
ROBERTS: I guess it snuck up on him.
Some breaking news in the world of baseball this morning. "Mr. Clutch" Cliff Lee is a Philly. It's not a repeat from 2009. The left hander is reportedly signed a new five-year deal with Philadelphia worth somewhere between, cha-ching, $100 million and $135 million for throwing a baseball.
Almost everyone thought the Yankees would buy him or that he might stay with Texas. The Phillies once traded Lee for Roy Halladay, the guy who pitched a no hitter in the playoffs last year. Now, they have decided -- well, they love him again and he's back and they're going to be pitching in the same rotation.
CHETRY: Oh, everyone's -- all the Philly fans are thrilled this morning.
ROBERTS: We don't love you. Hey, guess what? We love you.
CHETRY: Well, the fans are glad.
ROBERTS: We love you 100 million times.
CHETRY: Oh, yes, oh, yes.
Well, the NFL and the Jets coming down hard on an assistant coach. You may have seen the video yesterday on our show. He tripped a Dolphins player.
ROBERTS: That was bad.
CHETRY: As the player was running down the sideline. The team now suspended Sal Alosi for the rest of the season. He's also been fined $25,000.
Alosi apologizing that his actions were inexcusable and irresponsible.
ROBERTS: What was he think?
CHETRY: I don't know. We had Max Kellerman on yesterday. Max said that sometimes you're so -- you know, you see it happening. You want your team to win so badly and just do something so stupid. But --
ROBERTS: Yes. But that was really, really stupid.
CHETRY: Well, he's paying the price -- suspended for the season.
ROBERTS: Yes, he should.
The streak is over after 279 consecutive starts over 19 seasons. It was an injured shoulder that sidelined Brett Favre last night. And he sat there sort of wishing he were on the field because the Giants just ran all over his Minnesota Vikings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT FAVRE, QUARTERBACK, MINNESOTA VIKINGS: Probably been long overdue. It's probably been a lot of times that streak should have ended. Whether it ended today, several weeks, end of last season, it's been a great run. Great run.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, Favre's streak began back in 1992. He was just 23 years old at the time. There had been 212 other starting quarterbacks in the NFL since Favre began his career.
CHETRY: Well, is there a financial future a little frightening and should you explain your cash problems to your children? Money 101. Many say it's time to teach kids financial literacy early on.
ROBERTS: Teach them how to be frugal.
Tourism has a new frontier -- you're not going to believe this -- Chernobyl, site of the world's biggest nuclear disaster. Seriously. We're not fooling here. Details coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thirteen minutes past the hour now.
Teens today must make big financial decisions. Where should they take thousands of dollars in student debt? Should they buy a car? A lot of teens have received no formal education on financial matters. So, what can you do as a parent to make sure your child is headed down the right path?
Well, joining me this morning from Washington is Janet Bodnar. She's the editor and columnist for "Kiplinger's" on personal finance, and the author of "Raising Money Smart Kids."
Thanks for being with us this morning, Janet. We appreciate it.
JANET BODNAR, EDITOR FOR KIPLINGER'S PERSONAL FINANCE: Oh, my pleasure. My pleasure.
CHETRY: So, when is it the right time to teach kids about money?
BODNAR: I think, Kiran, when the kids -- I always tell parents, when kids start asking questions about money, and this can be very simple questions when they're preschoolers and they want to go on McDonald's for lunch and you say, well, I don't have any money today. And they said, well, why don't you just go to the cash machine and get some? Because, of course, that's what they've seen you do ever since they were, you know, sitting in the kiddie seat in the car.
And so, you explain to them that the bank is like a big piggybank for mom and dad, and just as the piggy bank is sometimes empty, when they spend money, you have to wait until you put money in your piggybank from your paycheck, from dad's paycheck, mom's paycheck, that sort of thing. So, just to give them an idea that this money is real and it's not just a little machine in there spewing out the $10 bills.
CHETRY: Yes, it is interesting because the fact that you can use your credit card, obviously. We have had that for decades.
BODNAR: Right.
CHETRY: But the fact that you can, you know, use PayPal, just make a click on the computer -- how do you sort of make that connection in young minds that this is all the same money, this is all coming out of the same pot, whether it's a greenback, whether I swipe my credit card, whether I go to the ATM or whether I click on PayPal?
BODNAR: Cash, cash, cash, Kiran. You know, I used to talk about this a couple of years ago and people said, oh, you know, cash is passe. It's all plastic.
Well, now, what do we have? The return of layaway plans, because of what we've gone through with the economy.
CHETRY: Right.
BODNAR: People are much more conscious of how they're spending money. And for kids of all ages, you really have to keep it as concrete as possible. I really believe that.
Because for them, a plastic credit card, they think that's money. And you have to make the distinction that it really isn't money. You know, it's a loan that you're taking out from the issuer of the credit card, which is something that teenagers can understand if they know what real money is and if they had the experience of having to reach into their pocket, you know, plunk the money down and then see the great big empty in their pocket or the great big empty in their wallet.
So, keeping things as concrete as possible in an age appropriate way is really good for kids, I think, and then, they can move into the more sophisticated ways of spending money.
CHETRY: Right. You also talk about starting an allowance. You think that the right age is probably around six. How do you sort of make that happen?
BODNAR: Well, I think, first of all, allowance is really great because it's a great money management tool, and it teaches kids to make choices, and that's really what spending and saving money is all about. And I say six, it doesn't have to be exactly, but at that age, six and seven, when kids are learning about money in school, they know if you're going to be giving them $3 a week or $3.50, a week, they can compute in their minds how much that really is and how far it will go. So, that's why it's, I think, a pretty good age to start.
CHETRY: And then, should an allowance or money given to the kid be tied to chores or things that they need to do for you or for the household?
BODNAR: The big question, Kiran, I would do it in two ways. I say that basic allowance, no. What I say the basic allowance should be tied to financial chores. So, these are certain financial responsibilities that the kids have. And for younger kids, it can be buying their own collectibles, small things. For teenagers, it could be a clothing allowance, but I think that the chore should be a separate issue. The chores of, you know, doing the dishes and cleaning up the room.
I really like the idea of the financial chores to make it clear to the kids what the money is all about. And then, if you want to teach them the idea of working for pay, you can give them additional jobs to do on a job by job basis so they could get paid for washing the car or vacuuming the family room or something that you define as an extra chore, and it's also has the virtue of being easier for you to keep track of.
CHETRY: Right.
BODNAR: Because if they're only doing one thing, one job, you can say, oh, they've done the job well. Yes, you're going to get paid or no, you're not going to get paid because you haven't done it quite as well as I think. No, do the vacuuming under the furniture, too.
CHETRY: You know, and my parents and my husband's parents both felt strongly that we should have jobs even as young children or not young children, but you know, as young people and earn your own money.
BODNAR: Exactly. CHETRY: When do you recommend that? Because there are a lot of people who link their credit card -- I mean, the child has a credit card that's linked to the parent's account, and they don't necessarily have to work for a living all the way through college.
BODNAR: I prefer that when a child gets into high school and is old enough to get a job, he has his own checking account or access to his own money, perhaps, through a savings account before he's old enough for a checking account, but the point is that children have access to their own money that they are earning, and they are making decisions with their own money.
So, they're not waiting for mom and dad to top up the account when it runs low. You're not on mom and dad's credit card and using that when they go to the mall. They're using their own money for those expenses. I really think that's critical.
CHETRY: Yes. Learning these lessons early can spare kids a lot of pain when they're adults. Janet Bodnar, the author of "Raising Money Smart Kids." Thanks for joining us this morning.
BODNAR: Oh, my pleasure, Kiran.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: Coming up now at 18 minutes after the hour, what is the best movie of the year? The Golden Globe nominations are coming up. We'll take you there live.
Plus, remember this YouTube sensation with the fellows in this car saying, whoa, double rainbow. Well, it was viewed by millions of people and that's not even the number one viral video of the year. We'll tell you what is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Time for look now at some of the stories that got us talking in the newsroom. How about this one? Chernobyl. Radiation hot spot and soon to be tourist hot spot? Are you kidding? (ph) The government opening the site of the world's worst nuclear accident to visitors next month. Yes, we're serious here. You can see the plant's reactor that blew up, tour the town's villages, abandoned ever since.
The government there claims that radiation is returning to normal levels. Almost 25 years later, yet, one expert recommends saying if you're going to go take a look at Chernobyl, you wear something that you wouldn't mind leaving behind just in case it gets dirty.
CHETRY: Sign up?
ROBERTS: No, no.
CHETRY: Cancun, Chernobyl. I don't know. Tough choice.
ROBERTS: I mean, it's a fascinating, you know, historic spot, but I think I'll leave it for others to discover.
CHETRY: Depressing.
CHETRY: What's the first lady getting the president for Christmas? Well, Michelle Obama isn't telling, but she did ask the kids for some suggestions yesterday. She was visiting the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, and they have some creative ideas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Any president gift ideas?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: A watch.
OBAMA: A watch? OK. That's a suggestion. What do you think I should get him?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: You should get him a new suit.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: Good idea. President needs new suit.
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Maybe you should get Barack Obama a new hot tub.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED KID: You think he's got an old hot tub?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Even saw the Santa trying to hold back the laughter there. Mrs. Obama said daughters, Malia and Sasha, by the way, are in charge of getting Bo the dog's Christmas presents.
ROBERTS: It may not have an old hot tub, but according to kid, certainly, does an old suit.
There's snow all around. Temperatures in the teens. This, though, could relieve some of that frozen frustration. It's called the snow-bot. It's a remote controlled robotic snow blower designed by a group of student of Purdue University. Snow-bot not quite ready for primetime. One of the reasons is it's not really throwing the snow, more just kind of chewing it up and spitting it out. They're still testing the pro-type, and that's obviously one little flaw that they have to fix.
CHETRY: Yes, I don't know if they would be able to put a dent in all the snow they've got in parts of the Midwest.
ROBERTS: I wouldn't think so. Maybe if you left it out there until 2016, it might make a dent, but --
CHETRY: Until July.
Hitching a ride. This is the first test fly of Boeing's new phantom ray spy drone. It didn't fly on its own. Take a look. It was strapped to the back of a NASA 747, the jet that usually carries something a little bigger, the space shuttle. This was actually the first time it was used to carry something other than the shuttle. You see that? Lots of room. They can fit three on there (ph).
ROBERTS: Double rainbows, Justin Bieber, a dose of "Twilight." Those are just a few of the most popular YouTube videos of the past year, but if you're wondering what the number one video was with more than 48 million plays, it was the auto-tune version of Antoine Dodson's TV interview which was also knows as "The Bedroom Intruder Song." Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING) hide your kids, hide your wife. You don't have to come to confess. We're looking for you. We going to find you so you can go and tell that homeboy homeboy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Things turned out really good for Antoine because it was scary for his family, Obviously, when that happened and they had this potential rapist on the loose as what they were talking about, but he collaborated with the auto-tune guys.
ROBERTS: Yes, the Gregory Brothers.
CHETRY: Yes, the Gregory Brothers. We had him on our show. They got a share of all of the downloads which, I mean, was extremely popular. He said he bought his mom a new house, even buy himself a car. So, things turning around.
ROBERTS: It's amazing what you can do with the little musical device.
CHETRY: Yes, especially if, you know, grab on to that opportunity which he did.
ROBERTS: Well done.
CHETRY: "Big Stars, Big Giving" is up next. Alina Cho gets the chance to sit down with Oscar winner, Halle Berry, to talk about one of her most important roles, helping woman and turn their lives around.
ROBERTS: Plus, WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, is appealing to the courts. We'll have that story coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-seven minutes past the hour. You know Halle Berry as the first African-American woman to win an Oscar for best actress, but did you also know that she's been raising awareness for a problem that many women hide.
ROBERTS: Our Alina Cho is here to explain that is part of our special series, "Big Stars, Big Giving." Good morning to you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And it is very personal for Halle Berry. You know, she is committed to the Genesee Center, a shelter for domestic violence victims in Los Angeles. She donates her time and her money there, and there's a big reason for it. she lived with domestic violence herself, and it's inspired her to give back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): It's been a personal crusade for Halle Berry for more than a decade. A secret that she's kept hidden for the early part of her life, watching her mother being abused.
How does that shape you as an adult?
HALLE BERRY, ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING ACTRESS: Well, you know, honestly, I think I've spent my adult life dealing with the sense of low self-esteem that that sort of implanted in me. Somehow, I felt not worthy.
CHO: Do you know how many people in the world would say, are you kidding me? You're Halle Berry.
BERRY: I'm sure because that's Halle Berry, but before I'm Halle Berry, I'm Little Halle who was a little girl growing in this environment that damaged me in some ways. And I've spent my adult life trying to really heal from that.
CHO: This is amazing.
Part of that healing happens here at the Genesee Center, a shelter for victims of domestic violence in Los Angeles where she volunteers. And she often shows up unannounced.
BERRY: I come here sometimes, and I play with the kids. I see the children, and so, I'm just regular old crackers to them. you know?
CHO: Really?
BERRY: And I love being regular old crackers. I have to say.
CHO: A far cry from the glamorous screen siren we know from the movies. But it is this work that Berry says is more important. More meaningful.
BERRY: Please help. Any way that you can.
I have a spot in my soul that understands the devastation that this causes a family and how hard it is to rebuild your self-esteem when you suffered.
CHO: It's the reason why she's taking on a personal project. Renovating these rundown apartments, so women who flee their abusive partners have a safe, happy place to live.
Very happy.
BERRY: Happy and where they can rejuvenate and feel hugged and loved.
CHO: And see what life can be like so they can dream of a better future.
BERRY: Well, we can turn these apartments around in two weeks.
CHO: It is something she couldn't do for her mother -- give strength to women who have been beaten, battered, and broken down.
CHO (on camera): What is your message to any woman who might be watching out there who might be in a relationship that's abusive?
BERRY: Get out. Don't stay a moment longer. If there's no shelter, go to a friend. Go to the police station. Go somewhere, but go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: She is so committed to the Genesee Center. I was lucky enough to spend a couple of hours with Halle Berry in Los Angeles recently. So for all of the behind scenes photos or to get involved with the Genesee Center, go to CNN.com/amfix to make a difference. All of the interviews this year from big stars, big giving will live on "Impact your World."
I talked to the director of the Genesee Center and she said she does what she says and better than her word. And meeting with the women, she said, well, you know she says this beautiful thing. She said. I care, and they can see it.
CHETRY: And also just so inspiration to know living it and got through it. It is just wonderful.
CHO: That's right. She is someone they look up to. You hear the women talk about her and inspiring to hear.
CHETRY: Beautiful person inside and out. How about tomorrow?
CHO: Tomorrow I'm talking to Edward Norton, a real actor's actor. He spent a lot of time off camera raising a lot of money for charities, more than $100 million. And what he noticed is there's something lacking on the internet, that the fundraising platforms really weren't there.
And so he created something himself with a couple of friends called crowd rise. It's really an innovative new web platform to raise money. There's a gaming aspect. You can earn points, you can win prizes. He's enlisted the help of celebrity friends and he's really an interesting guy. We'll talk to him tomorrow.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to that. And don't miss Alina's one- hour special "Big Stars, Big Giving" airs Christmas Eve at 7:00 p.m. eastern and on Christmas Day at 8:00 p.m. eastern.
CHETRY: Well, we are at 32 minutes past the hour. A look at the top stories. A monster storm still battering the Midwest leaving some cities buried in five feet of snow. The system is moving to the northeast right now where more snow and frigid temperatures up and down the east coast are in the forecast today.
ROBERTS: His last words were, "You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan." Richard Holbrooke, one of the world's most known and distinguished diplomats dead at age 69. He had emergency surgery to fix a tear in his aorta, but it couldn't save him. President Obama calling him one of the giants of American foreign policy.
CHETRY: Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private accused of leaking thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks earler this year could be officially declared a hero by the city of Berkeley, California, today. Council members there scheduled to vote on a proclamation urging the military to release Manning from custody. Berkeley's resolution declaring, quote, "Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime."
ROBERTS: After spending a week in a prison cell, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will appear in a London courtroom today. His attorneys are expected to argue for his release on bail.
CHETRY: They also plan to fight extradition to Sweden where Assange is wanted for questioning on sex crimes charges. Atika Shubert is live this morning outside of London's Westminster Magistrate Court where all of this is getting under way in little more than an hour. Hi there, Atika.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. Well, we're outside the court and I just want to show you a little bit of the chaotic situation happening here. You can see the amount of press that is come out here, the line of cameras, the amount of press trying to get inside to the hearing. And in addition to the press, there's protesters out here, and that's also expected to grow somewhat.
In the meantime, we have been seeing people going into the hearing. Julian Assange's mother flown in from Australia. She is here as well as his lawyers are here, and some of his supporters, namely, two celebrity names here.
Now, what we expect to hear today, basically, is the lawyers requesting for him to be released on bail, trying to assure the judge that he will remain in the country. There has been some discussion even of him wearing some sort of a tracking device to make sure he doesn't leave and that they can monitor his movements.
And we also may find out whether or not another hearing will be set to fight the extradition and whether or not the -- on what grounds the lawyers may try to set up that fight. So those are some of the things hoping to hear from today, John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: And at the same time that all of this is going on, Atika, "TIME" magazine is getting ready to unveil the person of the year for 2010 and there's growing speculation that the person may be Julian Assange.
SHUBERT: Well, you know, if you go by the online polls, certainly Julian Assange is way ahead of others. And one of the reasons for that is because he has tremendous online support as has been evidenced by the sort of online campaign we have seen.
And it's interesting to note that even here among the British public, he does have quite a bit of support. We did a poll showing that 44 percent of people felt that WikiLeaks and Julian Assange was right in releasing the classified documents, and they also 44 percent felt that the Swedish charges were a set-up. Sorry. There's a lot of police coming by the area. But basically 44 percent of the people here believe that the Swedish charges a set-up to get him into U.S. custody. So there is a significant amount of support for him.
CHETRY: All right, Atika Shubert for us this morning, we'll see how it goes as this hearing gets underway shortly. Thanks.
And still ahead, we are heading live to Hollywood. Which TV show with the most sizzle, what about the best movie of the year? The Golden Globe nominations coming up next and we'll take you there live. It's 36 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All right, happening right now, the Hollywood foreign press honoring the year's best in film and television with the nominations of the 68th Golden Globe.
ROBERTS: All right, let's take you live inside the Beverly Hilton Hotel while we're getting the announcements.
BLAIR UNDERWOOD, ACTOR: Clair Danes, "Temple Grandin," Judy Densch, "Return to Cranford." and Jennifer Love Hewitt, "The Client List."
Best performance by an actress in a motion picture, comedy, or musical -- Annette Benning, "The Kids are All Right," Anne Hathaway, "Love and Other Drugs," Angelina Jolie, "The Tourist, "Julian Moore, "The Kids are All Right, and Emma Stone, "Easy A."
(APPLAUSE)
You like Emma Stone, all right.
Best performance by an actor in a motion picture, comedy or musical, Johnny Depp, "Alice in Wonderland," Johnny Depp, "The Tourist," right, Paul Giamatti, "Barney's Version," Jake Gyllenhaal, "Love and Other Drugs, and Kevin Spacey, "Casino Jack."
JOSH DUHAMEL, ACTOR: Best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture, Christian Bail, "The Fighter, Michael Douglas, "Wall Street, Money Never Sleeps." Andrew Garfield, "The Social Network," Jeremy Renner, "The Town," Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech."
Best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a motion picture. Amy Adams, "The Fighter." Helen Bonham Carter, "The King's Speech," Mila Kunis, "Black Swan," Melissa Leo, "The Fighter," Jackie Weaver, "Animal Kingdom."
Best performance by an actor in a television series drama. Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire," Brian Cranston, "Breaking Bad, Michael C. Hall, "Dexter," Jon Hamm, "Mad Men," Hugh Laurie, "House."
Best director, motion picture. Darren Aronovsky, "Black Swan" David Fincher, "The Social Network," Tom Hooper, "The King's Speech," Christopher Nolan, "Inception," David O. Russell, "The Fighter."
Best motion picture comedy or musical, "Alice in Wonderland." "Burlesque," The Kids are All Right," "Red," "The Tourist."
KATIE HOLMES, ACTRESS: Best television series drama, "Boardwalk Empire," "Dexter," "The Good Wife," "Mad Men," "The Walking Dead."
Best performance by an actress in a motion picture drama, Halle Berry, "Frankie and Alice," Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole," Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone," Natalie Portman, "Black Swan," Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine."
Best performance by an actor in a motion picture drama, Jesse Eisenburg, "The Social Network," Colin Firth, "The King's Speech," James Franco, "127 Hours, Ryan Gosling, "Blue Valentine," Mark Wahlberg, "The Fighter."
Best motion picture drama. "Black swan," "The Fighter," "Inception," "The King's Speech," "The Social Network." Thank you.
ROBERTS: There you go, the Golden Globe nominees for 2010. Interesting choices for best picture of the year, "Social Network" in there, "King's Speech," which I thought was interesting.
CHETRY: Just out this week, though, right?
ROBERTS: And Colin Firth with the nod for best actor. Mark Wahlberg, too.
CHETRY: For "The Fighter." People say great things about that.
So, yes, a lot going on. Halle Berry who we just featured for her wonderful work for the Genesee charity to help domestic women who have been victims of domestic violence also getting a Golden Globe nomination.
ROBERTS: And Natalie Portman for the new film "The Black Swan." She had to lose 20 pounds?
CHETRY: She said she had to lose weight. I believe she's 5'3" or 5'6". So that's very jarring.
ROBERTS: And then there's that whole controversy with the reviewer of "The New York Times" who dinged the woman in the New York City ballet lie for, quote, "eating one too many sugar plums." She had had a weight problem and Natalie Portman relates to that. So ballet, really, you know, kind of out there on the forefront this season in a number of different ways.
CHETRY: You can check them out online to see if your favorite show or actor or actress was nominated, the Golden Globes just announced..
Meantime, how low will the temperatures go? Rob Marciano is actually braving the frigid cold outside. He's up next with more details on more snow. It's 45 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Look at that.
CHETRY: Yes, we got a little bit of snow.
ROBERTS: I haven't looked outside since we came in to work this morning. We got snow in New York City.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: New York City.
ROBERTS: All right. That's something to rock about. Cloudy right now at 21 degrees. Later on today, a little more snow not a whole lot. The high only 26.
CHETRY: Yes, we got what they probably got in an hour out in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, where Rob Marciano is this morning. Where they haven't gotten a break between all of the -- the snow that's been falling for the past several days. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. A little bit of a break right now. We're on Main Street. Not a whole lot of window shopping going on but here at Chagrin Fine Jewelry, you may want to come over here and find yourself a little something for your sweetie. Another -- other -- other spot, this is a very small town. Only about 4,000 people live here. It's about 20 miles or so east to northeast of Cleveland.
And they got about a foot of snow. Just last night alone on top of what they saw last week. So this is the second week in a row they've seen an incredible wave of not only frigid cold temperatures but snow that continues to come down with winter storm warnings that are posted until 7:00 tomorrow morning.
You can come on through. No worries about that. Traffic still flowing pretty good here. You know they are keeping -- they do a pretty -- they do a pretty good job of keeping the roads clear. But, you know, all the brutally cold temperatures have actually frozen a couple of water mains so some pipes have burst that have led people to have to boil some water. Some power's out in some of the suburbs and -- and outside of Cleveland.
So it's not all fun and games here even though we're getting closer to the holidays.
A couple of weather maps for you. Snow is still coming down in northeast Ohio even though the -- the winds have shifted just a little bit. So they're coming off Erie, coming off Ontario, upstate New York, getting as well. And winds off Lake Michigan are continuing to bring snow into parts of northern Indiana where yesterday they had some problems.
The other problem is the bitter cold temperatures all the way down to the south. Yes, a couple of snowflakes across parts of the north -- parts of the northeast..
A quick shot of what I found just around the corner. John Roberts still on, not kidding. J., I didn't know you had a side business up here in Chagrin Falls. But they -- you know, they've -- they've got people out there getting their haircuts. Maybe I'll go in there for a trim a little bit later on.
CHETRY: People would kill for his head of hair. So you know he opened up several of these outpost all across the nation.
ROBERTS: I also have a BMW dealership in Dallas. You know? This business, Rob, you got to diversify.
CHETRY: Yes and he sits on the Supreme Court in his spare time.
MARCIANO: You do, you never know when they're going to pull the --
ROBERTS: Pull the what?
MARCIANO: Yes, whatever it takes. You've got to have a back-up plan.
ROBERTS: All right, thanks, Rob.
So you know all -- all morning we've been looking at this -- this wonderful new thing. Of course, if you've got an iPhone, you're probably familiar with the CNN app for the iPhone. Well, we got a CNN app for your iPad.
CHETRY: Yes, we had a chance to check it out this morning. It unveiled actually --
ROBERTS: Dean, don't be shy. Come on over here. Hit this darn thing.
CHETRY: It's free.
ROBERTS: We're not going to bite. CHETRY: You can just download it now. It's free if you have an iPad, the iPhone app is also free but it's pretty cool the way that you look at the stories --
ROBERTS: Ok. Wait a minute. If we going to bring a camera over, you've got to take the camera, all right.
CHETRY: But there it is, see?
ROBERTS: It's right here.
There you go. I knew we could talk them into it. So -- so here's -- here's the iPad and this is the -- the new app for it. You can see that we've got all these key frames here and each one of those key frames is a video that you can pop up after a brief little advertisement which only lasts three, two, one seconds. There you go. And there's Michelle Obama walking in with the Santa Claus. That's the story that we did earlier today.
So all this stuff is just available really at the touch of a fingertip (ph) .
CHETRY: And it's just -- the video is so bright and so easy to see on the iPad. And another interesting aspect of this, is if you pull up an actual story. So this is CNN Politics, vote on the Senate clearing the tax deal, at least the first procedural hurdle. You can check out comments by just clicking here and you can scroll through what other people are saying, you can comment yourself by logging into your CNN account.
And then another cool feature that we're talking about is this hourly radio update which you can hear it any time by just clicking on your screen and getting, you know, just a quick two-minute version of what's going on in the world.
ROBERTS: Yes, all our buddies in radio will appreciate the plug.
So that's it, it's the new iPad. It's available in the iTunes store, it's the iPad App and the best part of that it is our last App which was $1.99. This one, not $1.99, not 99 cents, not even, 49 cents, folks. It's free --
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: -- it's free to use.
CHETRY: And if you surf it for about 15 minutes, you will be much smarter than if you're just playing "Angry Birds" all day.
We're going to take a quick break.
ROBERTS: Something wrong with "Angry Birds"?
CHETRY: We'll be right back.
ROBERTS: They got all the levels and that must be the way to the golden eggs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: This morning we want to introduce you to two extraordinary young men. A 16-year-old who's been living with a chronic disease and his friend from the hospital who is now trying to help.
ROBERTS: And here's our Dr. Sanjay Gupta with this week's "Human Factor".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's 5:30 in the morning and Kiwane Clay is arriving at the hospital for his dialysis. The 16-year-old has been fighting an uphill battle with his kidneys since he was born.
(on camera): He needs a kidney transplant?
KEIONNE CLAY, KIWANE'S MOTHER: Yes. I lost 30 pounds so I can give him a kidney.
GUPTA (voice-over): Like most moms, she wants to do everything she can for her son bit just paying for treatment is a real struggle.
Just do what I have to do for my son and I've been doing it for 16 years. So I feel that I'm a good mom.
GUPTA (on camera): What about financially? How hard has this been on your family?
KIWANE CLAY, PATIENT: It's been real hard.
GUPTA: This is the sort of physical, emotional and emotional hardship that -- he's just 16 years old. This is what he's had to overcome. But he's about to get help from a pretty unusual source.
In fact, his friend Kyle over here. Good morning, Kyle. 14 years old. Have a seat. How do you guys know each other?
KYLE COBB, KIWANE'S FRIEND: I met Kiwane in dialysis clinic.
GUPTA: So you were right here, as well?
COBB: Right. I was also on this machine as he was for about three hours Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
GUPTA (voice-over): Kyle Cobb looks like think healthy teenager, but it wasn't always case. In 2009, Kyle's kidneys failed and it took months of dialysis and a new kidney to save him. But Kyle never forgot his friend Kiwane.
(on camera): What made you decide that after all that you'd been through that you wanted to give something back?
COBB: I just want to help him any way I can. He just gives me a sense of joy and made me think that I'm thinking outside of myself for once in my life. And just to help someone else is a blessing to me, also.
GUPTA (voice-over): So far, Kyle has raised $ 3,100 for Kiwane and his family with some help from the local motorcycle club.
KEIONNE CLAY: He help with everything that Kiwane needs.
GUPTA (on camera): He didn't really get a Christmas last year?
KEIONNE CLAY: No.
GUPTA: He's going to get a Christmas this year?
KEIONNE CLAY: Yes.
GUPTA (voice-over): Kiwane continue his fight with Kyle by his side both agreeing that a kidney would be the best gift of all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: I'll tell you, you know, it is amazing just how draining that whole process of dialysis is. You can probably tell looking at Kiwane there.
This is what happens. Someone who has kidney problems, early on in life, their whole life three to four times a week, they're going to dialysis early in the morning. You can imagine how difficult it is to get anything in their lives done, even going to school. But again, getting some help from an unlikely in this case stranger, Kyle, was just an amazing thing.
CHETRY: To help raise money, I mean, makes all the difference to get some of those creature comforts just to be able to have a Christmas.
GUPTA: Christmas, yes.
CHETRY: So sad.
GUPTA: Exactly. He wasn't able to have Christmas. His mom actually told me that last year she was able to buy a couple of presents but in fact, they got robbed right before Christmas.
ROBERTS: Oh.
GUPTA: So, just like one thing after another.
ROBERTS: Oh my goodness.
GUPTA: Kyle heard that story and really he helped and he got a lot of other people to help, as well. ROBERTS: Oh, it's great when people step up like that.
Doc, great story this morning. Thanks for bringing it to us.
GUPTA: Any time. You got it guys.
ROBERTS: We have two minutes to the top of the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: That's going to do it for us. We'll see you back here bright and early tomorrow morning.
ROBERTS: Thanks for joining us.
"CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now. Good morning, Kyra.
