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New Day Saturday

Bitter Cold Conditions Across U.S.; Prank Call, Crash Set Off Panic At LAX; Hopes High For Deal With Iran; An 85-Year-Old American Held In North Korea; "Catching Fire" Cruising To Record Weekend; Jennifer Lawrence: Hollywood's Newest Rising Star; The Future Of Cell Phones On Planes; Senate after New Filibuster Limits; Plastic Surgery for Migraines; Playstation vs. Xbox One

Aired November 23, 2013 - 08:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: I hope Saturday has been good to you so far. It's 8:00 here in the east. I'm Christi Paul. We are glad to have you company.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Always a pleasure to be with you as well. This is NEW DAY SATURDAY. More than 43 million people are expected to travel this Thanksgiving. I am one of them. It will be tough because severe winter weather is going to hamper the holiday travel plans.

PAUL: As if we need anything to hamper them anyway. In Colorado, I want to show what's going on already. People are waking up to snow and slick roads this morning. It is expected to be much of the same as we head into the holidays. Several states are already under a winter warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL (voice-over): Already the west has been hammered by severe weather, from icy road conditions in Oklahoma City to flooding in Arizona and California and snow in Nevada. Now the weather out west has been difficult and dangerous. In California alone, strong winds downed trees and power lines in the San Francisco Bay area. High winds are also being blamed for stoking the wildfire in Napa County. A man had to be pulled from the fast moving water of the Santa Ana River after a massive downpour in the San Bernardino Valley. Plus the system is expected to move east just in time for peak Thanksgiving travel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Let's look at Chicago live.

PAUL: It looks cold, doesn't it?

BLACKWELL: Yes, it looks cold, 24 degrees there. If you live in the northeast, an arctic blast headed your way. So don't make too fun in Chicago. It's coming your way too. Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is in the severe weather center, severe indeed.\ KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. For Chicago, just 24 degrees, that is not the end of it. The wind chill factor makes it feel like it's 14 degrees. For tomorrow night, those temperatures expected to be 15 for the temperature. The actual outside air temperature. Wind chill factor could make it feel below zero.

All right, New York City, expecting 47 degrees this afternoon so it's a little chilly, but guess what you wake up tomorrow and tomorrow afternoon, it will be about 31. There will be some lake-effect snow expected across the Great Lakes region. As that cold air marches toward the east, yes, cold air in place, just in time for Thanksgiving, it looks like.

But this area of low pressure that's across the southwest, it did produce fairly significant snowfall in some place, some rainfall to make it one of the rainiest Novembers on record for Phoenix. Well, that moves to the south. The secondary area of low pressure system develops and look at that, right across Central Texas could be icy in the panhandles of Oklahoma and into Texas over the next several days. We will watch that moisture into the southeast.

Cold air dives to the south. What happens? We will bring that area of low pressure off the coast of the mid-Atlantic. Just how close it becomes to the close will determine whether we have a nor'easter or not. Now I say that because the computer models are all over the place, but rainfall in place at least across the coastal areas. Windy weather conditions into interior northeast and snow expected there. We will see if the coastal areas pick up the snowfall as well. Back to you.

PAUL: All right, Karen Maginnis, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: We know when we see the colors we have never seen on the map before, that's bad. Karen, thanks.

We got a live look at LAX, everything pretty normal weather was not the problem, but there were some scary moments because it looked like another shooting had erupted at Los Angeles International Airport.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone on the ground. Everybody get down!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: OK, but here's the thing. Police say someone called and claimed a gunman was on the loose in Terminal 4 last night. More than 4,000 passengers were rushed outside. Some were even pulled off planes. At about the same time, a woman had a medical emergency and lost control of her SUV and ended up crashing outside Terminal Five. So then police were able to put it together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF PATRICK GANNON, LAX POLICE: After a short period of time, the officers were able to determine that there was not a shooting that had occurred in Terminal Five, but rather the sounds from the traffic collision caused people to think that there may have been shots fired. Part of that, we believe, is some hypersensitivity on what occurred on November 1st, three weeks ago, here at the airport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, as the officer stated, it was three weeks ago that a shooter opened fire inside the airport and killed TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez. Now a copy of the coroner's report obtained by affiliate KTLA says 12 bullets struck Hernandez. Those bullets shattered into 40 fragments, one grazed his heart. Another severed his spinal cord. The coroner says Hernandez died within 2 minutes to 5 minutes. The 23-year-old Paul Cianca is charged with Hernandez's murder. He spent almost three weeks in a hospital after he was shot. Cianci is now in a federal facility.

Right now, the world's top diplomats are trying to strike a deal with Iran and prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

PAUL: Yes, the stakes could not be higher this time around. Secretary of State John Kerry and other foreign ministers are in Geneva right now. So is CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto. So Jim, do we know where negotiations stand at the present?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It has been a morning of shuttle diplomacy now between countries, between hotel rooms at the Intercontinental Hotel here in Geneva where they are holding these talks. Secretary of State John Kerry were getting updates, meeting with the French foreign minister, the French foreign minister meeting with the British foreign minister and then others meeting with the Iranians as they work through these final issues here.

We have been told for the weeks leading up to this that the foreign ministers and secretary of the states and top diplomats of these countries would not come here unless they were close to a deal. They are all in place now, but they are cautioning, doing some expectations management, some issues still remain. Here is how the British Foreign Secretary William Hague described the state of play a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM HAGUE, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: There is a huge amount of agreement and progress has been made in recent weeks on this and the state of the negotiation is entirely different from a few months ago with Iran. That is positive, but some of the difficult areas remain very difficult.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: So we have a general sense of what those difficult areas are. One is the status of the so-called Iraq heavy water facility. It is a plutonium facility in Iran. This is something that the west wants to put severe restrictions on. Iran is resisting the severity of the restrictions. The other is how much sanctions relief for Iran. The figures we heard single digits in the billions. We are not sure that is sufficient for the Iranians to sign on the dotted line. So that's where we stand, a lot of momentum in these talks, but we are waiting for resolution.

BLACKWELL: Jim, what is the U.S. get out of this deal?

SCIUTTO: Well, from the administration's perspective, they get better transparency on the Iranian nuclear program than has ever been really and also limitations. They say there will be limitations as well as steps to roll back portions of the program. That is the administration perspective here. These really are the most serious talks that have taken place and most serious restrictions that have been discussed regarding the Iranian nuclear program.

Now to do that though, the U.S. is giving something up. The administration says there are going to give up none of the legislative sanctions. Things pass by Congress, for instance, restrictions on Iran's oil program. But they are willing to unfreeze some frozen Iranian assets overseas to the tune of billions of dollars. That's the give there.

Plus another give, quite frankly, there is a risk because Iran has made deals like this before and broken them. That is a risk going forward.

PAUL: Does it change anything the fact that Iran has a new president?

SCIUTTO: It does make a difference. These talks would not be taking place had Hassan Rouhani not been elected two, three months ago and he was elected in part to help the change the sanctions regime. The Iranian economy is suffering. The Iranian people are suffering under these sanctions. They voted in someone who in effect ran on a more conciliatory foreign policy with regards to the west so he does make a difference. Does he make enough of a difference, we don't know and hopefully later today in the 24, 48 hours, we'll see how that comes through.

BLACKWELL: All right, chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto in Geneva for us. Thanks.

PAUL: We want to tell you about a California family going through a nightmare right now. North Korea has confirmed that it is holding 85- year-old Merrill Newman of Paulo Alto. The Korean War veteran and grandfather was yanked off a passenger plane on October 26th just minutes before it was scheduled to leave the North Korean capital. His family says he has a heart condition and he may not have any medicine left.

OK, are you ready for "The Hunger Games?"

BLACKEWLL: Am I. The only thing scarier though than the movie, for some, is standing in the lines to see it especially in the temperatures and the weather we have been talking about. You know all those people add up to big bucks for the studio.

PAUL: Some of that money will line the pockets of its star Jennifer Lawrence who is top of the "A"list right now. We will have more on the big release next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: All right, all you "Hunger Games" fans I know you cannot wait to see the arena again. You are waiting in line to see "Catching Fire," the sequel, of course, to the blockbuster film. It's expected to have the hottest November opening ever. It could rake in as much as 150 million bucks.

BLACKWELL: Numbers like that have turned its star into an "A" list celebrity. Last time around, Jennifer Lawrence was a relative new comer with a few films to her credit. Well, today she may be Hollywood's brightest star at only 23 years old.

PAUL: Yes. She defines the usual stereotype of the Hollywood starlet.

BLACKWELL: It seems as if -- it's incredible. Her success has not gone to her head. Christine Romans has more on Lawrence's rise to the top. Hi, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christi and Victor. "Hunger Games Catching Fire" out this weekend. That means big money for the girl on fire. Here is a look at the business of being Jennifer Lawrence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS (voice-over): One Oscar. Two hit franchises and the highest grossing heroine of all time is hungry for more. Jennifer Lawrence was born in Louisville, Kentucky. She started her acting career when she was just a teenager. Her true star turned came at the age of 20 in "Winter's Bone." The greedy role resulted in Lawrence becoming one of the youngest women nominated for best actress. Two years later, she won taking home the Oscar for her performance in "Silver Linings Playbook."

JENNIFER LAWRENCE, ACTRESS: I'm sorry.

ROMANS: Lawrence is also up for "Fun and Games." She became Mystique in the "X-men" franchise and then went from comic book hero to super stardom as the lead in the wildly popular "Hunger Games."

LAWRENCE: I volunteer.

ROMANS: Hardly a volunteer, Lawrence earned $500,000 and the first installment of "The Hunger Games" series made almost $700 million worldwide, time to ask the boss for a raise. Lawrence will get $10 million to re-prize her role as Katniss Everdeen for the sequel "Catching Fire." She will bring home $26 million in the last year according to "Forbes." With all the cash, Lawrence is careful with her spending. She may be the face of Dior, but she says she is a bargain shopper.

LAWRENCE: It is so awkward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: On top of that $10 million, she could get more in bonuses if "Catching Fire" is the blockbuster everyone expects -- Christi and Victor.

BLACKWELL: That's a huge increase. Thanks, Christine. Five hundred thousand dollars?

PAUL: For the first one. That is shocking. Of course, she is not the only breakout star from "Catching Fire." Josh Hutcherson plays her opposite. He is going to be on "Saturday Night Live" tonight. And based on the ad (inaudible) still expects plenty of "Hunger Games" binged jokes.

BLACKWELL: Still to come on NEW DAY, the FCC is considering letting you make calls during flights. Tell us what you think. There is a catch. The costs could be phenomenal.

PAUL: First, though, with the victory at the U.S. Open in 2012 and Wimbledon earlier this, Scotland's Andy Murray has made tennis a more popular in his hometown. Here is this week's "Open Court."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: The roar of the crowd is gone, but a lasting sense of pride on the streets of Scotland. This is 2013 Wimbledon Champion Andy Murray's hometown. The courts where Andy learned to play are filled with children competing in their first tournaments, the Judy Murray Cup.

JUDY MURRAY, ANDY MURRAY'S MOTHER: This is the Andy refuge.

ANNOUNCER: Judy is Andy's mom.

MURRAY: I have always been about creating opportunities for kids and this little event that we have here is just a perfect starter tournament. You feel the parents getting involved. This is where it started at our local club. Hopefully it will inspire more kids to try tennis and certainly in the local area to get more people down to our local club.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Check this out, a mysterious fire ball over the skies of Oregon that no one seems to know what it is yet. Some say it is a meteor. Others say it is contrails from a jet. Still others say it is the rising sun reflecting off the clouds. I don't buy that one. Just three weeks ago, another fire ball believed to be a meteor reported over the Pacific Northwest. Others say it likely landed in the Pacific Ocean.

The FCC is considering letting you use these on the flight, but not just to play a game or listen to music, a phone call for the entire -- when I get there, no. It is still up in the air whether it is a good idea.

PAUL: Is it something we will regret once we're all there and talking about it? Alexandra Field joins us from LaGuardia Airport in New York. I tell you, I'm reading my tweets. We have asked people to give us their take. One person wrote, sound retched, stuck in a grocery line is bad enough. I have no need to listen to a stranger's life. What's your take?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, we have all been in that situation, the grocery line on the bus, in a taxi or on the train where someone will not stop talking. This could very well be a case of careful what you wish for. Yes, being able to use your cell phone would be convenient, but the estimate is that it would also come with a very high price. Passengers have to decide if it is really worth it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (voice-over): A proposal to allow airline passengers to use cell phones in flight has travelers talking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You might want to talk the entire flight in a loud voice about your family, blah, blah, blah.

RICHARD SANDOMIR, AIRLINE PASSENGER: I don't have to listen to everybody chattering on the phone.

FIELD: It may not be long before we say so long to the idea of sitting back and relaxing. Some international airlines already allow passengers to talk and text. Now an FCC proposal would give American carriers the ability to do the same.

DIANE GELERICH, AIRLINE PASSENGER: I would allow the phone call as long as it is short and to the point. Otherwise, it is better they don't use their cell phone.

FIELD: The Flight Attendants Union was against the idea when it was floated in 2004. They still are.

VEDA SHOOK, PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: You know, airplanes fly thousands of feet in a metal tube in the air. We don't want any situation that could increase any ability to have a volatile situation.

FIELD: If given the option, it is already cleared, but some airlines are not on board. Delta says if the FCC changes the policy, will Delta allow voice communications on flights? No. It is a big opportunity for telecommunications companies. Service in the skies could have customers paying through the nose.

CRAIG AARON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, FREE PRESS: This is potentially a multibillion dollar industry for cell phone companies and device manufacturers. Once this ban is lifted, it is not like your regular phone will work perfectly. You will have to sign up for extra service or pay serious roaming charges, probably in excess of $2 per minute.

FIELD: Expensive, right? That's because experts say installing the new equipment on board could cost $3 million to $4 million per plane.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: While using your cell phone on board is expected to be very expensive. Some passengers say they will pay more for a quiet zone -- Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: Well, I have one from a guy who says I think it is a great idea. Probably increase sales as well.

PAUL: I got that one, too.

BLACKWELL: That is one gentleman. All right, Alexandra Field, thank you.

Politicians like to talk, maybe on their cell phones. In the Senate, they do the talk-a-thons called filibusters, but the rules are changing. Is that a good thing? We will ask our political experts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, how's breakfast? Hope it's going well. Bottom of the hour for you now. Welcome back. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you. Five things you need to know for your NEW DAY.

Number one, police thought another shooter was on the loose at Los Angeles International Airport after someone reported gunfire. It turns out a woman having a medical emergency lost control of her SUV and crashed outside Terminal Five. More than 4,000 people had to evacuate. You remember the TSA officer was shot dead three weeks ago. They are on high alert.

BLACKWELL: Number two, the sequel to "Hunger Games" could set records this weekend for the biggest November opening ever. "Catching Fire" could haul in $150 million. That would top the current record holder, the Twilight saga, "New Moon," which raked in about $142 million. It is the second of four movies to be made from the book series.

PAUL: Number three, no deal yet on Iran nuclear program, but Iran's foreign minister says they are 90 percent of the way there. Secretary of State John Kerry and other foreign diplomats are in Geneva for more talks today. They want to keep Iran obviously from developing a nuclear weapon. Iran meanwhile wants to be allowed to keep enriching uranium and get tough economic sanctions lifted.

Up next, 27 corrections officers at the Baltimore City Jail are now facing conspiracy charges. That's about half the corrections staff there. Authorities say they smuggled marijuana and cell phones and other contraband to inmates. Some hid the items in their clothes and in their private body parts.

PAUL: Number five, 719 pounds of marijuana. That's what was seized after a suspected drug smuggler's boat capsized off the coast of Florida. Apparently they hit some rough waters after leaving the Bahamas. Cops say this bust is worth more than $1 million.

BLACKWELL: You know, it's a landmark shift, no doubt. But to hear Republicans tell it, Democrats blew up the Senate this week by deploying this nuclear option.

PAUL: Yes hyperbole dramatically maybe to slam Democrats for changing the rules on filibusters. But before the number it took 60 votes to move a presidential nominee forward. Now a simple majority of 51 will do except for Supreme Court nominees. But with Democrats in control Republicans can no longer block most presidential choices.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today's pattern of obstruction is just isn't normal. It's not what our founders envisioned.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: They will pay a very, very heavy price for it. It will change the way that this -- this institution functions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right let's bring in a pair of our CNN political commentators. We've got Maria Cardona a Democratic strategist in Washington and in New York this morning Will Cain, a columnist for "The Blaze". Good to have both of you.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

WILL CAIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Victor and Christi good morning.

BLACKWELL: So let's start here because what's most interesting to me about this conversation is just a few years ago in 2005, both sides here were on the opposite sides that they're arguing now -- Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid, President Obama when he was then Senator Obama.

I'm going to start with you, Maria, about the -- some would call it hypocrisy of what happened this week.

CARDONA: So I think the issue here, Victor, is that when the -- when President Obama was Senator Obama, the partisanship was not at the level that it was today, that it is today. And in fact, Senator Reid said this. No side has completely clean hands on this. Both sides have used the filibuster as a tool.

But this is, I think, the feature that got me. In the history of the United States, 168 times, the filibuster has been used. Half of those times Victor has been used during President Obama's tenure. And so I think that the partisanship and the gridlock has gotten to a point where it was historic absolutely nothing was getting done.

And the reasons why the Republicans were blocking the nominees were not substantive at all -- had nothing to do with qualifications. It was pure partisan politics. And that's what Senator Harry Reid wanted to get rid of to be able to get done what the Senate needs to get done.

BLACKWELL: Let's get Will in here on this. Senator McConnell in 2005 was in favor of this nuclear option.

CAIN: Right you know Victor you said earlier, you said Republicans are saying Democrats are blowing up the Senate let's not take Republicans word for it ok. Let's just use Democrats words from six years ago, five years ago where President Obama for once said that this would increase gridlock in the Senate.

But Joe Biden -- Joe Biden is the interesting clip when he was in the Senate he said I pray God that we do not make such a naked power grab once we're in power. You see what's flipped. And Maria has her stats right by the way, Republicans have used the filibuster extensively. But what's flipped is the Democrats are now in the majority. And that is what's -- that's the hubris of the entire deal. When I'm in the majority I don't anyone to stand in my way.

And as you said Mitch McConnell wasn't so opposed when he was in the majority. The entire system of American government was set up to protect minority viewpoint. This is a big deal, guys. This is -- this is a dramatic shift in the way we govern.

PAUL: Ok but think about this, if this is how it's going to be now, what happens when there is a shift in power again and now it would be on the Republicans, right, Maria? I mean are they thinking this through? What are the risks?

CARDONA: Well sure. There is no question that we could come one day to regret this. I guarantee you that this will focus Democrats a lot more on making sure that we keep the Senate in the coming years.

But you know to Will's point, yes, several years ago, both sides were on the opposite side. But again the stats were not to the extent that we see them today when Democrats were in power -- or I'm sorry, when Republicans were in power and Democrats were the minority. Democrats did not use the filibuster to this end.

And when Democrats filibuster Republican nominees, it was on substance it was on qualifications. It wasn't just because they did not want to see the courts tilted more Republican or more Democrat. That is a ridiculous political argument that should not get in the way of doing the nation's business and not filling the courts.

PAUL: Will, go ahead.

CAIN: I just want to say look our principles can't be so convenient that when we're in -- the rules only matter, the rules only apply when we're in charge. We got to change them -- the only thing that matters is whoever's in charge. That means you have no principles.

And just to add to the statistics, I gave you earlier, Maria that the 168 filibusters are largely on and have happened during President Obama's tenure. But to add accurate facts to that Republicans have approved 74 percent of President Obama's judicial nominations, as compared to Democrats approving 67 percent of Bush's. While it's been used more judicial nominations have been passed through.

BLACKWELL: Well let me bring to you Will about something CNN obtained this playbook. The Republicans on Obamacare strategy memo filled with talking points and social media, video and digital flyers. Listen this fight over Obamacare has of course intensified because of the problems of healthcare.gov. But this has been discussed and legislated and upheld by the Supreme Court. Is this going to be the focus going into 2014 for the GOP Will?

CAIN: Oh it better, Victor, better. I mean the program is falling apart. And forget whether or not you like the law or it's the law of the land. The question now is if the law of the land is good. If the Republicans -- look this is going to play out perfectly for them in 2014. Not just because they're going to hold the trumpet to highlight how bad it is. The problems for Obamacare are not over they will continue into 2014.

Guys, things like this, I promise you, you'll hear about bailouts of the insurance industry in 2014. You're going to hear about people losing their health insurance because of the employer mandate. Somebody needs to make the American public aware. I just say this one extra thing, Republicans, I believe, should be ready to provide a solution and alternative. But that does not mean ignoring the faults of Obamacare. Trumpet those to the mountain tops.

BLACKWELL: All right Will Cain and Maria Cardona you know these are always too short -- if we could do much more on this.

CARDONA: Yes.

BLACKWELL: I thank you both of you. Thanks guys.

PAUL: Thank you, both.

CARDONA: Thanks, Christi.

PAUL: All right. Sufferers say migraines can be unbearably painful. Wow. There is a new treatment that could offer relief but it's also sparking some controversy.

That's coming up next. Stay close.

Also Christine Romans has a review of "YOUR MONEY" coming up in an hour from now. Good morning Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi Christi and Victor.

Five years after the financial crisis, you still feel like the banks got away scot-free. But the man who just negotiated the $13 billion penalty from JPMorgan says not so fast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be able to -- to put together something that's extraordinary that I think can be a template as we go forward when you look at other financial institutions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: That's coming up at 9:30 a.m. on a brand new "YOUR MONEY".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: All right. Here's an eye opener for you. Your morning cup of coffee may help your blood vessels work better.

BLACKWELL: Researchers measured blood flow to the finger tips after participants drank just one cup of coffee. They found a 30 percent increase in vascular function.

PAUL: Before you refill your cup though we should tell you that the research was paid for in part by a Japanese Coffee Trade Association.

BLACKWELL: It makes sense now.

PAUL: I'm just saying.

So you want to know if you have been exposed to the flu? Well there is an app for that. Here is how Sick Weather works. It collects public post within a certain area and warns you when people are posting about being sick. So let's say someone at your child's school post on social media that I have the flu. A sick weather app user dropping kids off at that school would get a real-time alert on their iPhone warning them of their proximity to the flu.

BLACKWELL: Well then what am I supposed to do. I mean don't go to work, don't go to school?

PAUL: Just call in and say my app told me not to come in today.

BLACKWELL: Yes call your boss and say that yes.

Officials at Princeton University they are trying to figure out if a dangerous strain of meningitis -- meningitis B is spreading. Now an eighth student has fallen sick with this bacterial disease. Princeton officials say they hope to provide students with the vaccine. But here's the problem it has been approved in Europe, but has not yet been approved in the U.S.

PAUL: Meanwhile the numbers are staggering -- 36 million Americans suffer from migraines.

BLACKWELL: Yes and a growing number are taking extreme measures to relieve this pain. If you've ever had one, you know how extreme it is. They're undergoing migraine surgery. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more. Good morning Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey guys you know nearly 10 years ago plastic surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic they noticed something curious after performing certain operations known as brow lifts. Some of the patients came back saying that they used to have frequent migraines but then went away after the operations. Now the surgeons became intrigued by this and they began to experiment. And today they start to toss around this word cure or at least something close to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORENNE HA, SUFFERS FROM MIGRAINES: I just want to have a life. I operate on half a life.

GUPTA (voice over): Corenne Ha says she has about 15 good days a month.

HA: Hold on.

GUPTA: The other 15, she deals with crushing migraine pain.

HA: It feels like a boa constrictor around my head. I thought -- it feels like a snake going like this. I tried oxygen tanks. I tried acupuncture, every migraine medication; every seizure medication, anti-depressant -- everything.

GUPTA: Well, almost everything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are we doing for you today?

HA: Surgery.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What kind of surgery?

HA: Migraine surgery.

GUPTA: Migraine surgery. It's a controversy treatment for what many neurologists say is an intrinsically brain-based problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I'm just going to make a couple of marks.

GUPTA: Corenne's plastic surgeon says that tight muscles and connective tissues are literally choking her nerves, especially in the neck. And that may mark the beginning point of her migraines. So he plans to make incisions and remove bands of muscles in what he says are trigger points -- frown lines around the eyes, the temples, the base of the skull basically, relieve the pressure.

DR. KAVEN ALIZADEH, PLASTIC SURGEON: We have patients that are almost three years out and they're still reporting no headaches.

GUPTA: To be sure, migraine surgery has its detractors. The American Headache Society calls migraine surgery a last resort option that is not appropriate for most sufferers. We caught up with Corenne 12 weeks now after surgery. Her headaches she says are down to three a month.

HA: Three a month for me is very good. I had a tough recovery, but it's definitely working for me. (END VIDEO CLIP)

Gupta: Now it's safe to say that look many neurologists are still skeptical that this can be a cure for migraines. But Dr. Alizadeh says the procedure can be very helpful to a certain subgroup of patients.

So to see if someone is a good candidate surgeons will often test by injecting lidocaine or botox into the suspected trigger points. If that helps, they say the operation could be a more permanent fix.

Guys -- back to you.

PAUL: All right. Sanjay, thank you so much. You can see more of him this weekend on CNN, "SANJAY GUPTA, MD" airs today at 4:30 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

BLACKWELL: All right. Still to come, you're going to have to buy some presents soon. The console wars have begun and it's time to answer the million dollar question. Should you buy the new Playstation 4 or the Xbox One? We will talk with a gaming expert next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: You know, Apple's fingerprint scanner.

PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: This was supposed to be, you know, the game changer -- the next big thing.

PAUL: Yes, you know what -- some people are saying it is not even worth using. It is hard to guess just how many people are having trouble with the so-called Touch ID, but some users are reporting some serious problems.

BLACKWELL: It has annoyed some people to the point where they don't even bother using the thing. Apple has not said whether it's working on an update to the Touch ID software. But hope so, if people paid all that money hoping to use it.

PAUL: I know. Speaking of paying money, if you don't see your kids or boyfriend all weekend, maybe they are playing the hottest new video game systems. Playstation 4 or Xbox One -- which to choose?

BLACKWELL: Well, the latest console wars have begun with the PS4 dropping last week and the Xbox -- Xbox One, rather, coming out on Friday. John Davison is a gaming expert, director of content for the video game company Red Robot Labs.

So let's talk about the good news and the bad news for Sony. They've already sold more than a million units, John. But some of them are turning out to be broken, full of glitches -- this is the wrong time heading into the holiday season, right, for people to hear about all these problems. JOHN DAVISON, RED ROBOT LABS: Yes, I think -- I mean we tend to hear about this stuff a lot more now because of social media than we used to. So I mean Sony is saying that it's considerably less than one percent of the Playstation 4s that have that problem. But when everyone has Twitter and Facebook and if anyone had anything wrong with one of their consoles they're immediately broadcasting about it. So we'll hear about it a lot more now.

PAUL: All right. So I want to know the million dollar question. Which is better in your opinion?

DAVISON: So they're both -- in terms of what they can put on your television, they are both incredibly similar. The big difference between the two is Playstation 4 is a very pure video game system. It will play Netflix and stuff, but its core design is to put video games in your living room.

The Xbox One, on the other hand, has been designed to be kind of the center of your entertainment life. They are chasing the Apple and Google stuff a little more as well so you can plug your cable or your satellite box into your Xbox and it can control that so it becomes a hub. And then with the Kinect camera which comes with it, you can talk to it so you can tell it Xbox, I want to watch CNN and it will change the channel on your cable box for you and turn the TV on, you know.

So there is a very different approach with the two. The PS4 is $100 cheaper. That is a big consideration for people (inaudible).

BLACKWELL: So this is going after -- these companies are going after a huge market base. They have a broad spectrum of buyers. Is there one that is better for the 15-year-old who plays video games four hours a day? Is there one that's better for the 30-year-old who wants to incorporate it into his or her life beyond video games?

DAVISON: I think if you're -- again, if you want one device that's going to do everything for you, then the Xbox is the one. This year, we are also seeing that the Nintendo console which came out last year, WII-U -- it's had a bit of a drought of software the last year. We are just starting to see now some really good games for that coming as well -- so.

The same day that the Xbox One came out, Super Mario 3D world came out for the WII-U which obviously Mario and Nintendo is a big classic. So for, you know, for a younger gamer, that could be the one this year.

BLACKWELL: All right. John Davison, breaking this down for us. A lot of people have that nephew or grandson that they have to buy one of them. And they definitely got some help this morning. Thank you.

DAVISON: Thanks.

PAUL: Thanks, John.

You know, we've all heard the cynical phrase, "no good deed goes unpunished" -- right. Sometimes good deeds get rewarded, too. A homeless man right here in Atlanta did the right thing and now he is enjoying a weekend in the lap of luxury.

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BLACKWELL: Let's get you some good stuff now.

PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: In today's edition, 10-year-old Jordyn Self.

PAUL: "Selfless" I think we should actually call her. The resourceful fourth grader recently -- well, she went snooping around the house and found her mom's big Christmas surprise for her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDYN SELF, FOURTH GRADER: I walked in the closet on an accident.

AMY SELF, MOTHER OF JORDYN: I was pretty upset when she first ruined her big surprise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: On an accident.

BLACKWELL: No accident. Yes, no accident.

PAUL: I like how she says that. It's no ordinary gift though. This is a limited edition American Girl doll -- rare and expensive. We know even the regular ones are kind of pricy.

Jordyn also noticed something else. The bins at her school collecting donations for U.S. troops in Afghanistan were nearly empty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J. SELF: I thought well, why aren't people donating? It is a school project, usually like if we have other school projects, we get more stuff. Out there, they don't have chocolate, they don't have hamburgers. And they're really missing all the stuff that we usually get every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So what did she do? She offered her precious Christmas gift, that American Girl doll, as a raffle prize. It's gotten a lot of attention. Before the raffle even happened, it raised nearly $1,000.

BLACKWELL: Wow.

PAUL: No word on what Jordyn's going to get for Christmas instead of that doll. But you know what, we hope it is something good.

BLACKWELL: Yes, she deserves it.

PAUL: Absolutely. BLACKWELL: Someone else who deserves something good. A homeless man -- he is getting it. He is spending the weekend in one of Atlanta's best hotels as a reward for a simple -- very simple act of kindness. He was rooting around in the trash for food when he found a woman's wallet.

PAUL: And you know what? Instead of keeping it, he turned it in to the front desk. The hotel's manager thought that deserves something, so he is putting the guy up in a room through the Thanksgiving holiday with room service and $500.

BLACKWELL: It could be a life-saving gift too, with temperatures expected to drop below freezing this weekend. This comes at the right time.

PAUL: Look at the guy in tears -- I love it. I mean I love that it's such a good story.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: Bless his heart.

All right. Thrill seekers, you might want to go to Kansas perhaps. That's where a new water slide is in the works. Look at this thing. It is still under construction, obviously, but it's going to be a good one. The park won't give details until the slide opens. But it is being built as the tallest and fastest and steepest in the world. It is called the Verruckt (ph) Mega Blaster. Set to open in May. And verruckt, by the way, is the German word for "insane".

BLACKWELL: Just the idea of going down that slide, I get that gut thing you get on roller coasters.

PAUL: That looks almost vertical, doesn't it?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: I mean just straight up and down there.

BLACKWELL: I would pass on that. But it's, you know, for people who like that kind of thing, head to Kansas.

Glad you are starting your day with us.

PAUL: Yes. Don't go anywhere. We have much more ahead for you on the next hour of NEW DAY SATURDAY which starts right now.