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CNN Sunday Morning
Continental Airlines Plane Catches Fire; Bad Economy Causes Increase in Church Attendance
Aired December 21, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is December 21st. Hope you're having a good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
And developing this morning, nearly 40 people recovering after a Continental Airlines flight veers off the runway and catches fire. This happened at Denver International Airport.
NGUYEN: Well, in a northeastern town. It has been hard hit by the wintry mix and power outages are actually pushing people to the brink. We'll explain.
HOLMES: Also this morning, we're going to explore what some say is happening in many churches across the country. The down economy leading to folks...
NGUYEN: Right there front and center.
HOLMES: ... filling up the pews. Yes. So, a very interesting -- a whole study has been done about this actually, and examine some of the economic downturns over the years. So, it's a quite interesting.
NGUYEN: Faith and money, yes.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Sometimes, people say that goes hand in hand. And something else that goes hand-in-hand when we talk about the first day of winter. What? We're like three minutes away, right?
HOLMES: Yes. Some people...
NGUYEN: From the official beginning?
HOLMES: Ask people in the Midwest right now and they're like winter hit a while back.
NGUYEN: We've already seen that folks.
HOLMES: Yes. NGUYEN: Yes. Reynolds Wolf, though, has the latest on the travel forecast. And, in fact, we have all of that up for you throughout the day. You see it right there on the screen, at the bottom, the forecast, and on the side of your screen, we've got delays and all of that hairy stuff that some of you are going to face as you head out.
But first thing, listen to this. And you may not want to hear it, especially if you are at an airport.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: The frightening runway accident in Denver. We've got to talk about this morning because investigators, they are still searching for what caused Continental flight 1404 to skid off the runway and catch fire.
HOLMES: Yes, 112 people on board. A hundred and seven of those were passengers, five crews. And they got out. They used those emergency slides. Hopefully, and most of you haven't had to use those before.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: But, you know, we're talking about they had to hop down, slide down that plane. At least 38 people were hurt and one of the injuries described as being serious. But right now, CNN's Randi Kaye has the details of what happened out in Denver.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Continental flight 1404 was streaking down the runway, bound for Houston, when something went wrong -- fire. One passenger says the nose lifted up, then suddenly came back down. She says the 737 veered off the runway, coming to rest in a small ravine.
The accident was near one of the airport's fire departments, and emergency crews were on the scene almost immediately. The scene could have been catastrophic.
CHIEF PATRICK HYNES, DENVER FIRE DEPARTMENT DIVISION: They described a surreal scene when they pulled up, heavy fire on the right side of the aircraft, all chutes deployed from both sides of the aircraft, people evacuating and walking up the hillside towards them. They had to drive off-road to get to the aircraft, but were able to extinguish the fire rather quickly. It was described as a heck of a fire fight from the commanding officer on the scene.
KAYE: All 107 passengers and five crews were safely evacuated. At least 38 people were transported to local hospitals. None of the injuries appears to be life-threatening. The airport is still open, but flight delays are expected through Sunday.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Also, we want to let you know that Continental Airlines has issued this statement about that accident, saying, quote, "Continental and Denver International Airport are providing assistance to the passengers. The company is in the process of collecting additional information and will communicate additional information once it is known."
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN: Your severe weather headquarters.
HOLMES: Winter is roaring in today with the season's first snowstorm. Forecasters expect it to dump up to 11 inches in some northeastern spots, that's on top of the snow and icy mix left over from Friday's deep freeze.
There's been at least one weather-related death to report. A Massachusetts man was killed when a tree limb fell on him. This nasty weather also is making driving treacherous. Officials are asking people who must travel to please, please slow down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. JOHN NAGEL, MINNESOTA STATE PATROL: We're seeing way too many people driving way too fast, not paying attention. And they need to get off their cell phones, they need to have both hands on the wheel, and they need to pay attention to the weather around them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Both hands on the wheel. Yes, that helps when you are riding on ice.
A Minnesota State Patrol officer is talking there about the driving conditions. Last night, the weather was so bad there, officials pulled a snow plows off the roads. Yes, the snow plows which were out there to get the snow off the road and should be equipped to handle that snow, they had to be pulled as well.
The skies now -- so far, flights seem to be leaving on time. That's a whole lot different from yesterday and Friday when there were major weather-related delays as well as cancellations.
We're keeping an eye on a lot of things. We're getting help from our affiliates today in doing so. This is a live and beautiful picture from WMUR in New Hampshire. People there not only dealing with today's expected snowfall, but thousands there still don't have power from the ice storm from more than a week ago.
CNN is monitoring what is happening there. The weather and will bring you, of course, the absolute latest.
And this just in to CNN...
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know.
HOLMES: It's winter.
WOLF: I know, hard to believe.
HOLMES: I mean right now, it hit.
WOLF: Do we need confetti guns? Do we them? I think so.
HOLMES: Maybe we should. You guys explain to this me. And we do this and we talked to you about it all the time. It's officially winter now. Why do we have this "officially winter now"? It's been cold. It's been snowing. And all the season -- why is today, 7:04 Eastern Time, winter official?
WOLF: Because meteorologically, we split up the year in four increments -- winter, spring, summer, and fall. It's just that simple.
HOLMES: So, for you guys...
WOLF: For us. Yes, officially, this is the starting time. But I'll tell you, I mean, if you look outside, if you happen to be in Buffalo, you are saying, you know, what are you talking about?
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: It's been snowing for a while. This is one of those mornings where we could spend 20 minutes talking about the weather, but for your sake and for our -- and for viewers out there, we're going to go a little faster than that.
(INAUDIBLE) first and foremost, many people still trying to go see the holiday, going to see their friends, their family, that kind of thing. You're going to have some issues in New York, in Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Portland. In fact, any place you happen to be, say, the northern tier of states, you're going to have some issues when you travel. It's going to be one of these really frustrating days for you. There's no question about it.
We're going to get thing started in parts of northeast, where we have the combination of rain, sleet, and snow. New York, you are going to be seeing some precipitation. But for the most part, it's going to be rain. A little of bit sleet mixed in.
But if you look a little bit farther to the north where you have the higher elevations back into parts of New Hampshire and back into Vermont, that's where you're going to have the heavy snowfall. And take a look at, anywhere from eight to 20 inches of snowfall expected. In Boston, I'd say about three to six inches of snowfall. Then in Buffalo, you have that lake effect action, six to 12 is how it's going to spell out for you. In parts of Michigan, about four to eight inches of snowfall, south of Traverse City. But when you look at the Arrowhead in Minnesota, six to 10.
And not a great deal of snowfall expected for either Minneapolis or over towards Green Bay or Milwaukee. But still, a very breezy conditions, with wind gusts topping 30, 40, 50 miles an hour. Only a few inches of snow with that wind just roaring across the landscape, you're going to have all kinds of issues with visibility. That's part of the story. Same part of the story is going to be the bitter cold.
Very quickly, I want to show you some temperatures that we have out there. These are actual temperatures, not the windchills. Twelve degrees below zero in Minneapolis, minus six in Sioux Falls, minus six over in Pierre, same story in Bismarck, and Kansas City -- flat zero.
If you look at the national perspective, your friends and neighbors that happened to be in Kansas City or St. Louis, they're dealing with, look at that -- anywhere from zero to seven degrees. Meanwhile, Atlanta, it's 51. Crazy weather around the nation.
We're going to talk more about what's happening in the Pacific Northwest. Huge issues there, another blizzard warning in effect in that part of the world. The nation is just really feeling the full effects of winter on this the first official day. Good times.
HOLMES: Yes. And it's officially the first day because you guys decide you want to break the year up into four different seasons, and you decided that this was the day that winter starts.
WOLF: Call me crazy, you know, we weather people. And it happens like that.
HOLMES: Yes, we know.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: Four of those seasons, good times (ph).
HOLMES: All right. We appreciate you. We'll see you again soon. Lot going on right there.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's talk about this right now. Toddler Caylee Anthony's remains, they have been identified. But the search for evidence continues inside her grandparents' home. Investigators served Cindy and George Anthony a third search warrant yesterday to comb the place for more clues. Now, both grandparents were present at the search. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPTAIN ANGELO NIEVES, ORANGE COUNTY, FLA. SHERIFF: It's never a good time for anyone who has lost a granddaughter and they have that information that they just received. It's devastating information to them. Obviously, we're going to treat them with respect as well due to the fact that the pain that they are going through. But we also have an investigation to continue to process, evidence that needs to be recovered, and we'll continue to do that in the coming days and weeks as is necessary. (END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Caylee and her mother lived in the house before the little girl disappeared last summer, and her mother Casey is facing murder as well as other charges. Well, as investigators search the Anthony home, sympathizers continue to gather at a makeshift memorial close to where Caylee's remains were found. Fully (ph) affected by the little girl's tragic story, well, they left flowers, notes, stuffed animals, even their prayers.
Erik von Ancken of CNN affiliate, WKMG in Orlando, Florida has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIK VON ANCKEN, WKMG REPORTER (voice-over): A note for a little girl, Katherine Kubano (ph) never knew but wished she had.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a 45-year-old woman who could not bear a child. I would have been extremely blessed with a beautiful little girl like you. I want to you know that I'm very sad and hurt with how your life was abruptly ended without even yet be given...
VON ANCKEN: Her note is neatly nestled among hundreds of other mementos where the hope has now left Hope Spring Drive. Never before has this corner seen so much grief. So many people all day with so much hurt. This little girl couldn't help from being drawn in. The resemblance is heart-wrenching.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, those are Caylee's. She would see the pictures of Caylee on the news and would scream that's me. I guess just because of her age and how she looks similar to Caylee in a lot of the things that she would do at home was similar to Caylee and playing house, watching Spongebob Squarepants. I couldn't see where somebody could take a child like this and harm it. When I got to the corner and it's just emotional.
VON ANCKEN: Caylee's memory lives on in so many other's memories.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Although we never meet, I love you, and I will forever miss you and your sweet smile and your big precious brown eyes of innocence. I'm very sorry that this happened to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Just so heart wrenching. Well, after 10 days of searching, the site where Caylee's remains were discovered, investigators removed the crime scene tape yesterday and that is allowing people to pay their respects at the site where Caylee was found.
HOLMES: All right. We'll turn now back to politics and the transition. And Barack Obama has been busy transitioning the past couple of weeks. Well, the man deserves a little break.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: He's taking a little vacation, a little R&R, but the work continues. Find out what he is doing now. He had a big ambitious plan to get 2.5 million new jobs in this country. Well, he's upped the ante a bit. More new jobs, we'll be talking about that coming up.
NGUYEN: Also, if you have an ambitious plan to get out and do some shopping today and you live in the Northeast, whoa, you may want to, maybe, shop online, because outside is a little frightful. Thanks to the wintry mix. We get a low down on all of this weather when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
NGUYEN: And that is Melissa Etheridge singing last night at the Muslim Public Affairs Council's annual convention. The keynote speaker at the event was controversial pastor, Rick Warren.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK WARREN, PASTOR: I love Muslims.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERS)
WARREN: I also happen to love Hindus and Jews and Buddhists. Now, this one will shock you. I happen to love Democrats and Republicans. And for the media's purpose, I happen to love gays and straights.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Warren is known for his outspoken views against gay marriage. He's a public supporter of California's Proposition Eight, and President-elect Barack Obama has drawn some fire for inviting Warren to speak at his inauguration, but not from Etheridge. The gay rights activist says that she supports Warren's involvement.
HOLMES: We got to show the fancy graphic first, Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, we do.
HOLMES: Yes.
President-elect Barack Obama, you thought his plan was ambitious before, well, get a load of this now. He is getting even more ambitious with his plan to get Americans working again. CNN has learned that he will promise to save or create 3 million jobs, that's up from the 2.5 million he's been promising since late last month. Democratic officials say he decided to raise his goal after meeting with his economic team. Meantime, Obama's fast-paced transition is set to slow down a bit in the days ahead. There he is and his family arrived in Hawaii yesterday for a two-week Christmas vacation.
Well, back to the jobs now. CNN deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, joins us now live from Washington this morning.
Paul, good morning to you. And I want you -- I'm going to see if you can help me with the phrasing of this: He wants to create or save 3 million jobs. Now, what does that mean? He's not just talking about creating new jobs, he's talking about saving them. So, what does that semantical difference there mean?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, I think part of that is because there are predictions that we could -- the country could lose that many jobs over the next year. Now, we've already lost 500,000 jobs when that last report came out and economic officials talking about losing another 1 million or 2 million jobs over the next year, the first year of his administration. So, what he wants to do, now, he's upping the ante, T.J., as you just mentioned, to 3 million jobs over the first two years of his administration, to either create or save those jobs that have been lost.
And that I guess that is the semantics right there. This is not going to be cheap. This is going to cost a lot of money. But Barack Obama and Vice president-elect Joe Biden had been saying that bold action is needed because if not, the consequences would be even worse.
On Friday, when he was announcing some more members of his cabinet, he was asked about the jobs program. Here is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT-ELECT: What we're going have to do is make the best decisions that we can with the hand that we're dealt. And what I think that is going to mean, although we haven't finalized our actual plan, is that we focus single-mindedly on job creation, increasing demand, getting the economy back on track, fixing our financial markets. That is going to cost a significant amount of money on the front end. What we want to do is make sure that in spending that money to help jump-start the economy, and...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: So, there he is. And, you know what, T.J.? The first thing, I guess, on his agenda, as he just mentioned, on January 20th when he's sworn in and takes over as president, will be this plan. He wants to work immediate with the members of Congress to pass this plan to create those jobs, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Create those jobs and saving those jobs. Is there any way to, I don't know, just give you some political cover, if you will? You can always claim you saved a job. But can anybody ever really agree that a job was actually saved? STEINHAUSER: Yes, the semantics are a little difficult here. But one thing about jobs is important. Jobs are very popular with Americans.
HOLMES: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: We talk about spending all these billions of dollars to save Wall Street banks or the big autos, maybe not so popular. But when you talk about creating jobs or saving jobs, that is quite popular with Americans and I think that's why this plan will be a lot more favorable to Americans than the bailout of the automakers or the big bailout for the financial -- for Wall Street that we saw a couple months ago.
HOLMES: All right. I didn't mean to get into too much word play with you this morning, but it is. It's quite a difference between saying create and save.
STEINHAUSER: It certainly does (ph).
HOLMES: All right. Paul Steinhauser, I know we're going to be talking to you again this morning. See you soon, buddy.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks.
HOLMES: All right. For all the latest news and notes from the world of politics, be sure to check out CNN.com. Just go on there and log on for news and analysis from the best political team you will ever find assembled.
NGUYEN: Well, tackling their credit card companies. There are new rules that have been approved. But, what does that really mean for both you and me? Well, Josh Levs is taking a look at that.
And, we talked a little bit about it yesterday.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We did.
NGUYEN: But things are changing, and we're going to benefit from it, it sounds like.
LEVS: Yes. I mean, that's the idea, hopefully. And I want to show you that as well coming up. Coming up: What is changing, how to take advantage of it, and also, what everyone should watch out for.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, we've got some big changes coming to your credit cards that could help millions of people work their way out of debt.
NGUYEN: Sounds pretty good, right?
HOLMES: Sounds great.
NGUYEN: But, it's not a quick fix. You knew that was coming, right? Our Josh Levs is looking at what exactly is going on with these new rules.
Good morning.
LEVS: Good morning to you. Guys, stay with me for a second. I want to start off showing you a couple startling numbers. Let's go to this graphic. Look at this. I had no idea that the debt in the United States is that huge. We almost have $1 trillion -- as a nation, $976 billion in revolving. Does that number surprise you? I was amazed it was that high. And 5 percent of credit cards are delinquent in the last check, which means you got tens of billions of dollars out there at any given time that are delinquent, that are still being owed.
And actually we can do it on the board behind me, "Fed OKs Credit Card Crackdown." That's what we've been saying about -- the CNN money headline on this. Basically, federal regulators got together and they approved a series of new rules in what is supposed to be a crackdown. They're going to take effect in 2010.
Let me show you just a few of those, bank-driven (ph) right here. Let's start off with this: An end to double-cycle billing. That's where they charge you interest rates on average debt over two months, even if you paid off some of it. Also, no raising interest on a balance that you already owe unless your payment is late by 30 days.
And two more I want to show you here. Your payments will be applied to high rate balances first and no more universal default. A lot of people don't know what that means. That's when a company raises your rate because you missed payments on another credit card from a totally different lender. No more of that starting July 2010.
But, Betty, as you were just saying there, it's no quick fix. Some analysts don't think the changes will accomplish what they are supposed to and in the "NEWSROOM" yesterday, I got to speak with the founder of DebtSmart.com. Let's look at what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT BILKER, CREATOR OF DEBTSMART.COM: I feel that although I like these new changes and they are great for consumers, that they're going -- the banks will just adopt and find new ways to charge us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: I guess there's no shock there. They probably will. But at least it's something. He said he expects credit card companies to take advantage of every loophole they can find and they'll still be able to raise your rates, guys. So, some good news, but don't put too much faith in it there.
NGUYEN: And, I know that we are posing some questions today to our viewers, e-mail questions when it comes to their debt in these credit cards. LEVS: Right, exactly. We got the debt that a lot of people were struggling with that this time of year. Let's show everybody. We are inviting to you send an e-mail question this morning. Is the economy affecting your holiday plans? E-mail us at weekends@CNN.com. here's what's going to happen. We're going to take a look starting right now at what you're writing us and we're going to share some of your responses starting next hour. So, you send it to us, we show it, you see it on TV, and what, about 45 minutes from now.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Josh.
HOLMES: Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
NGUYEN: All right. So, this weekend, find out how to recover from the current financial crisis. Ali Velshi has the answers. In fact, he's going to lead you down the path to taking control of your finances and actually learning to grow your money. It sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Well, that's why you don't want to miss "Gimme My Money Back." I like that title. "Gimme My Money Back," CNN tonight at 8:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: All right. It's the end of the year, a lot of people making New Year's resolutions. Well, maybe one of them should be to get back on track with your finances. Christine Romans has some advice now how to get financial fit in 2009 and it's "Right on Your Money."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are just enough days left in 2008 to get your 2009 budget in check. After all, keeping your household budget in the black should be your number one resolution.
HILARY KRAMER, AUTHOR, "AHEAD OF THE CURVE": When it comes to budgeting efficiently in 2009, look for these big expenses that you are incurring, but you don't realize what a hit it is to your bottom line.
ROMANS: The first step in developing a budget, know where you're spending your money now.
KRAMER: The beauty of credit cards, the beauty of a debit card, is that you're able to sit down and look at an extended period of time, and review your spending habits and your patterns, and pick up on certain expenses that you didn't realize are adding up over the long term.
ROMANS: Cutting back is helpful, but big monthly costs like an expensive car loan or high credit card bills can create the biggest drain on your bank account.
KRAMER: The most important part of your budget planning is to get rid of those big, huge expenses that are really dragging down your portfolio and the value of your personal accounts.
ROMANS: And that's this week's "Right on Your Money."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: So, you're demanding power in New Hampshire? A lot of people are.
HOLMES: A lot of people are.
NGUYEN: These stories are really pretty interesting to see how far people will go to try to get that power back on -- extreme measures. You've got to watch this one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, everybody, welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: We're keeping you updated - you see on the screen there - with the weather conditions and also the travel conditions and a travel situation we got going on out there in Denver. Investigators expected back on the scene today at the airport there in Denver to try to determined what caused a Continental Airlines flight to veer off the runway. Not clear, however if this was related to weather, though. It's cold out there, but it wasn't really slushy or rain or snow or anything coming down at the time. 112 passengers and crew escaped while the plane burned. We just heard from one of the passengers on that plane, we are actually just getting this in from one of our affiliates. Let's take a listen to one of these passengers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABRIEL TREJOS, PASSENGER: We hit the ground and the plane kind of buckled towards the middle. It was what I saw and I saw the seats kind of buckled in towards each other and I braced my knees up in front of me, because all of the chairs were kind of closing in, and I didn't want him to get crushed you know by the seat in front of me. And it just seemed like it took forever for the plane to stop, and on my side of the plane, I could see the engine. I noticed it was on fire. I could feel the heat coming from the window.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: 38 people in all were injured. One of those injuries described as serious.
NGUYEN: President-elect Obama and his family are taking some time off. They are on vacation in Hawaii for the holidays. It's been a busy few days for the incoming administration. Obama has held a news conference naming a new member or two of his team every day last week. HOLMES: A solemn prayer is marking the opening of the Taj Hotel in Mumbai. Yes, Taj, the site of those bloody attacks in the city just three weeks ago, the lower wing of the hotel is reopening today, part of the other hotel that was under attack the Oberoi Hotel is also open again. Extra security was on hand for those reopenings.
NGUYEN: So the last few days before Christmas could help your 401(k) slightly, that is. Analysts say with more traders on vacation, stocks may see a short-term rebound. This week we're also expecting to get an update on the state of the economy. Monday, a group that helps homeowners in foreclosure releases its annual report. Tuesday, we find out how home sales did in the month of November and on Wednesday, the Commerce department hands out its report on incomes and personal spending. Well, a lot of last-minute shoppers are finding more than deep discounts on this last weekend before Christmas, like deep snowdrifts and icy parking lots. Not what a lot of us like to see as we're out there trying to find those last-minute gifts. But it's especially happening in places where winter weather really packed a punch. Taking longer to navigate the streets and that has kept some folks from making it to the malls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE REUB, SHOPPER: We left early, went a lot slower than normal. Probably about 15 to 20 less than the speed limit to be safe. So it took a little bit longer, but it's worth it.
KEVIN GUANZINI, ZUBAZ: The snow today is affecting business. Last night was great. A lot of prediction of snow brought in a ton of people in. Record sales last night. Last Saturday, 50 percent higher than what we are right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: So wherever your holiday shopping takes you, do expect those deep discounts. Most big chains are offering sales of 60 to even 80 percent off. So it may pay to get out there. You'll have plenty of company, though. The National Retail Federation said last week that 41 million Americans had not started buying gifts just yet. Maybe that's why the malls were so packed yesterday. I couldn't even get into the parking lot.
HOLMES: Well if you usually have a reserved spot at the parking lot -
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: - at most malls. But you've been telling me that for a while - actually we're moving on to the weather here. Still on the shopping. You've been telling me for a while deep discounts. You get out there, you're telling me you need to shop and you're right -
NGUYEN: Huge! 80 percent off. These are some of the best deals that I've seen in a long time. But part of the problem is making it to the mall. And that's where the weather plays in.
HOLMES: And people might say what kind of an expert is she on shopping? She's an expert. She knows. If she says it's a big deal -
NGUYEN: Kind of part-time job, right?
HOLMES: It's a big deal.
All right. Let's turn back to this weather now. We're showing this to you on the screen for a reason. A lot of weather situations out there affecting peoples' travel. But there's frustration in parts of New Hampshire right now, because thousands of people have been without power for days. Happening in other spots around the country as well, some ice storms that hit. Well, they'll do whatever it takes to get out of the dark there in New Hampshire. Reporter Kria Sakakeeny from our affiliate WMUR has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRIA SAKAKEENY, REPORTER, WMUR: It's a sight that's supposed to bring joy to folks without power but some are so desperate for help that they are taking desperate measures.
BOB SCHOENBERGER, UNITIL SPOKESMAN: We've actually had a citizen drive one of our crews off the road to stop them. We have actually had someone climb onto the back of one of our bucket trucks and refuse to get off.
SAKAKEENY: Bob Schoenberger of UNITEL met with Cicos (ph) police chief about the growing threat to line crews. They even placed a police officer outside this Kensington operation center where angry customers have come demanding power.
CHIEF WAYNE SHEEHAN, KENSINGTON POLICE: They were pounding on the door and really, really angry and upset. The officer that I had on duty at that particular time called for a backup unit.
SAKAKEENY: The anger loud and clear from these signs in Exeter were residents have gone eight days in the dark.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The people are frustrated and angry and impatient. They want some answers.
SAKAKEENY: UNITIL has 35 trucks out there up from the normal seven and crews are working around the clock shift.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you're up for 17 hours and you need seven hours rest.
SAKAKEENY: UNITIL says their goal now and in the future is to make sure that towns are better informed about where and when crews will be working. As Kensington's police chief found, information and lending an ear are the best solution.
SHEEHAN: Near the end of the conversation, the general was near tears, and you can't blame him because he wants to get his life back to normal.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: All right. I'm right over here with Reynolds Wolf, and you're not just talking about - hey where should we even start? So many places to start.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Take your pick. Seriously.
HOLMES: This sucks. And I just said when you hear about a ground stoppage at an airport, that just sucks.
WOLF: I know, you're racing trying to get to the airport as fast as you possibly can, and then you get there, and it's like we're not going anywhere. The plane is stuck there. There's a situation in Philadelphia right now. Ground stoppage until about 8:30. But telling you, it's going to get worse in a lot of places around the country. We got some, let's go right - actually, let's get things through by just taking a look first at the weather computer, and it's going to lay out step by step what you can expect, T.J. and I wee talking about this also during the break.
Look at that. New York, I'm sure you're going to have some issues there. Back in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, absolutely, a combination of snow and winds are going to keep you locked in place. In Seattle and Portland, way at the Pacific northwest things are just starting to slowly ramp up, but over the next couple of hours, we're going to be dealing with not just some strong, strong wind but also dealing with some heavy snow in some places, possibly well over a foot of snow in the highest elevations. We're going to show you some great video that we have out and about.
We got a tower cam where we have some video too. Let's show you this. This is over towards Flagstaff, Arizona. A lot of people when you think of Arizona, you think of the Valley of the Sun, you don't think of the great skiing there. You don't think of the snow. But they certainly have. They certainly have a share of it. And just yesterday, they're enjoying snow pack. The wind not a huge issue for today. It should be fantastic there as we take the next and as we take the next minute or so. Let's go back to the weather computer and show you one of the big reasons why we're having this rough stop.
Again snow is one thing, but without those chilly temperatures snow is not going to be an issue, it's going to be primarily rain. We've got some bitter cold. Up in Minneapolis, 12 degrees below zero, Kansas City below, Detroit for the time being, fairly warm with 25, still below the freezing point. (inaudible) close in current conditions, Minneapolis 12 below. Nine or rather eight degrees below zero in Duluth. Heavy snow fall right now in parts of upstate New York, in places like say Boston, you might see anywhere from say I'd say downtown, the potential of getting around three inches of snowfall in a couple of locations. Maybe six in the higher elevations. And when you get back to Michigan four to eight. Arrowhead, Minnesota, anywhere form six to 10 inches of snowfall. Blizzard conditions through parts of southern Minnesota into Wisconsin.
When you look out to the west this is where it really gets interesting. Seattle, not so bad for you. But in the highest elevations, anywhere from 8 to 18 inches of snowfall. And as we wrap things up, check out parts of the Sierra Nevada. My friends in Truckee, California, you know who you are, you're going to be dealing with a lot of snow to clean up today. With the potential of getting 18 to 28 inches of snowfall for Donner Pass. It is going to be a rough time to the very least. T.J., brutal times. If we could, we get out there with some snow shovels and help them out. It looks like it's going to be all hands on deck today.
HOLMES: It will be. And we're lucky down here in this part of the country. In Atlanta, it's gotten a little cold and a it's been a little rainy, but nothing like that for a lot of folks.
WOLF: Absolutely.
HOLMES: Reynolds, we appreciate you. We'll be checking in plenty with you this morning. Thanks, buddy.,
NGUYEN: You know we talk about how treacherous it is outside, but look how beautiful it can be. This is an i-report sent to us Friday after an ice storm in Illinois. If you look closely, it's just a gorgeous sight. Although when those tree limbs start coming down and knocking down power lines, not so pretty. But this was shot by Kyle Runyon from Chatsworth, Illinois. Tree limbs turn into icicles. But then again, you see these, tree limbs coming down on top of a car, that can leave scratches, dents, broken windows and all that good stuff. But from a distance, it's an awfully beautiful sight.
HOLMES: Gorgeous but ice storms are some of the worst I have ever seen. Because you just get shut down. You just get paralyzed.
NGUYEN: And when you're on the roadways when you are trying to maneuver it, when you probably shouldn't, that black ice is what's going to get you, because you can't see and before you know it, you're spinning out.
HOLMES: Hold on there, folks. It will melt eventually.
NGUYEN: Although today is the first day of winter. It will take a little time.
HOLMES: All right. Well, a lot of people are turning to god these days. Why? Because of the troubled economic times. Well, as the recession lasts longer, will see those pews continue to fill up. We'll have a special "Faces of Faith" coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Praying for financial solutions. Are people now turning to faith to get them through the tough financial times? Well David Beckworth, assistant professor at Texas State University. He joins us in our "Faces of Faith" segment this morning to explain this and let us explain this that he can explain because he has studied this topic extensively and put out a report specifically about this. First, just tell me quickly the results of your study. What did you find about people, their faith, and tough economic times? PROF. DAVID BECKWORTH, TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY: What I found is that evangelical denominations tend to thrive during recessions and they do so much greater rate that do main line the Protestant denominations.
HOLMES: Now why is that? Why evangelical churches?
BECKWORTH: Well there's a couple of things you can point to one is evangelical Protestant churches tend to have absolute in their beliefs that a very powerful, radical god. A good example of this would be the pastor in Houston, Joel Olstein, if you have seen his services, he tells you god can get you a job. It's a very compelling message when you think of someone who has lost their, out of work, needs to feed their family. They want certainty. They want to hang onto something, and evangelical Protestants have that message to offer.
HOLMES: Give us numbers of how great the numbers? How great the increases are that these evangelical churches are seeing in their pews during these tough economic times?
BECKWORTH: Well what I found was between the years 1968 and 2004, was that during non-recession years or years when the economy was doing really well, that evangelical churches grew about one percent a year. During recession years, like the one we're in, they grew about 1.5 percent, that's a 50 percent increase. So there is a dramatic increase in those recession years. I also looked closely in 2001, and some other dates and what I found was that for the U.S. as a whole, about 42 percent of the population went to church on a weekly basis. If they were unemployed, that number jumped to 54 percent and for unemployed evangelicals that was 70 percent.
HOLMES: Wow. Wow. All right. Tell me. Do you find that the pastors and the churches, I mean this might sound horrible, but they embrace the opportunity and they see this as opportunity to reach out to some of those folks who are in hard times. You often hear bad times, sometimes for people or for the economy, means good times for the church and evangelicals and you find that many pastors are embracing this as an opportunity.
BECKWORTH: I was contacted by one pastor who read my study and wanted to confirm that it still had no meaning going forward, and I said sure as long as these results hold up, you should see an increase. What i found was typically after a negative economic shock, that the church benefits about a year and a half. And we've had a series of you know, economic shocks, so this affect may last longer even than that. But I have had pastors contact me about my work and how strategically they place their operations.
HOLMES: Oh wow. And you said you have had pastors contact you. Give us an idea of just how much contact you have been getting? How many people have been reaching out? And also what was your motivation for this particular type of study in the first place?
BECKWORTH: Well since "The New York Times" article came out that discussed this earlier, I've had a lot of people contacting me, pastors included. The motivation actually goes back to 2001, during our last recession we had in the United States. I was actually visiting my sister's church, and at her church they had a segment where people share their testimonies. They pass the microphone around. And the interesting thing was that every last person who took the opportunity to talk asked god for a job. I had been there previously and that wasn't the case. There's something strange was going on and I begin to wonder, hmmm, if I came here during every recession, would every last person be asking god for a job? And it got me thinking and later on I took it up as a study.
HOLMES: Well a study, an interesting study that, again, I think you said it came out almost a year ago now at least, but it is certainly getting more and more attention since we've had this economic down turn. But again, David Beckworth, Texas State University, assistant professor there. Thank you so much for your time.
BECKWORTH: Thank you.
HOLMES: And the study, I'm sure you will get more phone calls after people are seeing and hearing about it. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.
BECKWORTH: Thank you, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Betty.
NGUYEN: Protecting Afghanistan from insurgents and militants. What is it going to take? And the figure the military has in mind, well, you might be surprised at it. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Democracy in Iraq. These are discussions that turned into heated arguments, and as a result some of these discussion and arguing, Iraqi lawmakers rejected the first draft of a bill that would extend the stay of foreign troops in Iraq after December 31st. This bill does not however apply to U.S. troops, but it could cause issues for Britain, who has the second number of largest troops there in Iraqi.
And Iraqi cabinet members will now rework the bill before re- submitting it to the lawmakers.
NGUYEN: Well, the U.S. could be sending more troops to Afghanistan. The military says up to 30,000 more in fact and that could start next year. CNN's Atia Abawi is live in Kabul to tell us what's behind this increase. Atia.
ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty. Well that's right. We did hear yesterday that it will be 30,000 troops that he hopes to be in Afghanistan in the year 2009. The number that we have been hearing in the last few months is 40,000. That's the four extra brigades that General McKiernan, has asked for, the commander in Afghanistan. We spoke to the spokesperson of the U.S. forces, Col. Greg Julian here in Kabul and he tells us that there is an additional 10,000 troops are actually support personnel for this helicopter engineers, and military police, Medivac doctors. These are personnel that we're going to need to support those 20,000 troops that they want on the ground in 2009 to help the fight against the Taliban. We also spoke to Colonel Greg Julian who said that he is aware that the Taliban stay no matter how many troops to bring. We're still going to fight the fight, and we're still going to beat the coalition forces.
Col. Greg Julian's response is "they know it will lead to their decease." Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. So how quickly can we expect the first deployment?
ABAWI: Well, we're expecting the first deployment - we're expecting 3500 to 4,000 troops to come in January. And that's going to be from the 10th Mountain Army division from Fort Drum, New York. They should be here in January following with an aviation brigade, bringing in the much needed air support because this time isn't a terrain that vehicles can travel easily on. They need those helicopters, they need those Medivac. And another thing that they're looking for although we don't know where the troops are going to be based, they are looking - what is needed are the troops in the border region with Pakistan. This is the Pastunasan (ph) area. The Taliban mostly consists of this tribe called the Pastunasan (ph) tribe and this tribe is in the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Right now, the fight is against them in Afghanistan. They can't cross the border into Pakistan right now to fight the Taliban. That's where the Taliban find their sanctuary. That's where they re-fuel. That's where they get their new weapons. That's where they get their training. And that's when they come back in and fight those U.S. troops and coalition troops. Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. With the latest there in Kabul Atia Abawi, thanks so much for your time.
HOLMES: All right. It's the end of the year and time to show you the year in pictures. Maybe not the kind of pictures you want to see though.
NGUYEN: No, we are talking about the top mug shots of 2008, and it's here for your enjoyment. Wait until you see all of this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. We got another year-end list for you. You can just go ahead and scratch off the good part of this list. Because we are going to the bad and the ugly.
HOLMES: Yes some ugly. CNN's Jeanne Moos takes you through the top mugshots of 2008.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Should all acquaintance be forgot. The least we can do is acquaint you with the top mugshots here of 2008 from the guy photographed without his teeth and with them to the fellow whose metallic grill caught the light like a twinkling star to the man with a handle bar mustache.
It's very Salvador Dali.
MOOS: And who better to make the picks than the smoking gun website.
Got to hand it to the guy at the smoking gun. They have to sift through over 100,000 mugshots a year.
At number 19, we have the Joker. He went to the movie "the Dark Knight" dressed as the Heath Ledger character.
HEATH LEDGER AS JOKER: Kill the Batman.
MOOS: And got arrested for stealing Batman posters. This guy was out on Halloween.
Dressed up as a prisoner, and arrested for smoking some marijuana with his friends in a parking lot.
MOOS: Sad to say -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was not a banner year for celebrity mugshots. There were no Nick Noltes this year.
MOOS: So we'll have to settle for Andy Dick, arrested for pulling a teenager's top down. He plead guilty to battery. And number ten - oh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is nice, because you know he is all made up for the arrest.
MOOS: This guy was arrested after placing an ad offering a cross-dresser in short tight mini skirt. Number eight is a father and son tattooed duo, and then there was this guy with a before and after tattoos. His dad was arrested after an accident.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was drunk and had about 15 beers and asked his little kid to drive the van.
MOOS: This compilation of 15 people arrested over the year, wearing Obama gear was awarded the top spot. But we prefer the guy with an Obama-Biden carved into his hair and all he did was play music too loud.
Our favorite mug shot came in at number two, he did number on a neighbor's porch, dressed as a cow, scaring kids, yes, running around the neighborhood blocking traffic, drunk at the time. Meanwhile in North Baltimore, Ohio, the police department has decorated it's Christmas tree with sex offender photos. Hoping they get more attention that if they were stuck on the bulletin board.
Nothing says Christmas like sex offenders hanging from a tree.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Yes, not my suggestion for ornament shall we say. But it is important to note those shown may or may not be guilty of the charged that was brought against them.
HOLMES: Yes and until proven guilty.
NGUYEN: All though the cow outfit -
HOLMES: Guilty of something there.
NGUYEN: But bad judgment is not a crime. But the next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues right now.
From the CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING, December 21. Your last weekend day to be out there Christmas shopping.
NGUYEN: Yes, that's true.
HOLMES: Only four days away from the big day for a lot of fowls. And it's 8:00 here at CNN headquarters in Atlanta. 7a.m. in the heartland. Hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. We do want to thank you for being with us today. New this morning, we are hearing from passengers aboard the jet that caught on fire in Denver. Federal investigators are now on the scene where nearly 40 people are hurt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. RICK WARREN, SADDLEBACK CHURCH: And for the media's purpose, I happen to love gays and straights.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The popular pastor, Rick Warren, who uses his speech before a Muslim convention to fire back at those criticizing his invitation to President-elect Obama's inauguration.
NGUYEN: First, let's get to that frightening plane crash in Denver. Continental flight 1404 was taking off and headed to Houston when officials say it skidded off the runway and caught fire. Of the 112 people onboard, at least 38 were injured, and one of them seriously. The cause, that was still under investigation this morning. The passengers, they escaped using those emergency slides. Both officials and people on board describe that scene as simply chaotic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF PATRICK HYNES, DENVER FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, obviously, you know, we trained for this sort of thing everyday but in the 10 years or more that the DIA has been opened it doesn't happen. So, they described as much like a movie scene, people coming out of the smoke and out of the airplane and climbing up the hill towards the taxi way.
GABRIEL TREJOS, PASSENGER: I was concerned about my son, and just making sure that he is OK. We just -- we saw, I looked to the side and I saw my husband, and there's this big fireball out the window, and I was just -- you know -- it was surreal. I didn't know what to do, you know. And then somebody said, "Get out of the plane." So, I took my seat belt off, and I grabbed my son from my son because I was the first one out, and I can remember we were in the aisle, and I didn't want to leave without my husband, you know, but I know I need to get the baby out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: My goodness. Well, Continental Airlines has issued this statement about the accident, saying, quote, "Continental and Denver International Airport are providing assistance to the passengers. The company is in the process of collecting additional information and will communicate additional information once it is known."
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN: Your severe weather headquarters.
HOLMES: Did you know that winter officially started about an hour ago? Yes, we have been seeing all this wintry weather the past couple weeks, but officially - meteorologically, well, how does Reynolds say it?
NGUYEN: Meteorologically, I just can't say it.
HOLMES: Meteorologically, say it again, Reynolds.
WOLF: Meteorologically.
HOLMES: Meteorologically, yes.
NGUYEN: That's why you do what you do.
HOLMES: Well, based with a certain way of the weather guys and so, they'd officially begin about an hour ago on this date.
NGUYEN: Yes, but don't tell that to the folks in the Northeast, because that happened a long time ago.
HOLMES: Yes, snowstorm is expected now to dump 11 inches in some Northeastern spot, that's on top of the snowy and icy mix left over from Friday's deep freeze. There's been, at least, one weather- related death to report. And this is from a Massachusetts man that was killed when a tree limb fell on him. Nasty weather also making driving a bit tricky as you can imagine. Officials are asking people who must travel to slow it down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. JOHN NAGEL, MINNESOTA STATE PATROL: We're seeing way too many people driving way too fast, not paying attention. And they need to get off their cell phones, they need to have both hands on the wheel, and they need to pay attention to the weather around them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A Minnesota State Patrol officer there is talking about those conditions. Last night, the weather was so bad there officials actually had to pull the snowplows off the road. You know that's bad.
NGUYEN: Yes. HOLMES: We're also watching affiliates across the country helping us tell the story. A live picture here, that of a gloomy, a dark picture there from Boston.
CNN is monitoring the weather. We'll bring you the latest from around the country. Meanwhile, the heavy snow in Minnesota is making it tough for drivers there as well.
Those discounts at the mall, well, they're going to have to wait in some cases. Also, some shoppers went in last minute, they don't have a choice. They got to get out there and try to navigate through it. I see the guy there carrying some bags.
NGUYEN: We have a choice shopping, it's called going online. You are doing a lot of that yourself, aren't you, T.J.?
HOLMES: No, Betty, everybody in my family and friends are taken care of already.
NGUYEN: OK. Yes.
HOLMES: There's been a number of traffic accidents out there. Jeffrey Demars from CNN affiliate KARE with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFFREY DEMARS, KARE REPORTER (voice-over): Call it the perfect storm, shops, sales, and snow, which helped to cause plenty of pileups in parking lots and on the roads.
LT. JOHN NAGEL, MINNESOTA STATE PATROL: We've literally fielded hundreds of calls. We brought troops in. We're holding troops over.
DEMARS: The traffic tie up started early this morning, and odds are, if you are out on the road, you ran into one of these, a crash here and a spin out here, and then there's this -- a car stuck on the median of highway 100. Nobody was seriously hurt, and officers were able to get everybody out safely, but it's as if the last-minute holiday shopping isn't exciting enough, somehow, drivers are making things a bit more challenging for themselves.
LT. JOHN NAGEL, MINNESOTA STATE PATROL: We're seeing way too many people driving way too fast, not paying attention. And they need to get off their cell phones, they need to have both hands on the wheel, and they need to pay attention to the weather around them.
DEMARS: So far, up to six inches of snow has fallen and Minnesota roads are more slippery than sound. The state patrol and local police are stretched to the max, and most of the accidents they say, could have been prevented.
NAGEL: They need to slow down. I've been driving around at about 40 miles an hour, out in the freeways today, and that's giving me enough time to slowdown and stop. In some places, I got to slowdown even more than that, but, you know, they need to slowdown.
DEMARS: Then there are those looking to get away from all of these. At last word, flights out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport are seeing more than two-hour delays.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: It would have been six. All right, there. Reynolds and I over here sharing horror stories about traveling and being stuck on tarmacs and whatnot. Six hours he said?
WOLF: Six hours in Cleveland.
HOLMES: But, what is that? What do you wait -- what do you got? What is that? That's nothing?
WOLF: We are getting one of our producers (INAUDIBLE) saying no, it's not a big deal. I mean, to me, it was awful.
HOLMES: Six hours is no big deal? Come on.
WOLF: Absolutely. I mean, can you imagine being with the kids. You know, that scene is going to go play itself out at some point around the nation today. We got some ground stoppages out there.
Let's go right to the weather computer and show you pretty much the scorecard. And I guess, if there was a score to this, it would be just a big flat zero for travelers. Take a look at it. Right now, in New York, we are expecting some delays at both the airports, at D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Detroit, the same thing. (INAUDIBLE) you have some back ups in Philadelphia, just to keep that in mind. And Cleveland and Pittsburgh, snow and wind are going to keep you on the ground for a little bit. Same story in Seattle and Portland, although it's going to be later on today when that storm out west really begins to ramp up and intensify.
Right now, the biggest storm systems or watches, the potent one for the time being will be in the Northeast where you see a lot of snow right along parts of the 81. Good luck to you if you have to make that drive. It is going to be a rough time for you to say the least. Right along the coast, though, not so bad. Still have a little bit of warm air that's letting the precipitation fall mainly in the form of rain. But every place we happen to see, a red or green is a watch or an advisory or warning.
And we are looking at Boston getting anywhere from three to six, possibly into upstate, Vermont and into New Hampshire, anywhere from eight to 20, six to 12 back towards Buffalo. Let's make our way to Michigan and then back into parts of the western Great Lakes. Michigan four to eight south of Boyne and Traverse City. When you get into the Arrowhead in Minnesota, six to 10, some locations may get up to a foot of snowfall. But when you get farther to the south, it's primarily a wind event. We are talking about blizzard warnings. Ladies and gentlemen, we are looking at the potential of having windchill factors at about 30 to 40 below zero. No joke, good luck to you with that.
As you look across the parts of the Pacific Northwest and into the Rockies and into the Great Basin, you got that cold air in place, but with that moisture coming in from the Pacific, it's going to spill out like six to 12 inches of snowfall. North of the Salt Lake City, right near the Idaho border, near Boise, seven to 14. Then near Seattle in the valleys and think of lower elevation, not too much, in the high Cascades, anywhere from eight to about 18. But along parts of 80, going right up through Tahoe near Truckee, get this folks, anywhere from 18 to 28 inches of snowfall between now and into Monday afternoon.
So, we are talking about a major storm that's going to affect a lot of people and, of course, we're going to talk to you all about it all day here at CNN. Let's wrap it up and send it back to you, guys.
NGUYEN: All right, Reynolds. I know you're a pet lover, right?
WOLF: Oh, yes, very much so. They are delicious.
NGUYEN: OK. Stop it. That is terrible. Look at this -- cannot get any cuter. Look at that little puppy there with those snow boots on.
HOLMES: What?
NGUYEN: T.J., I know you are loving it. Well, oh...
HOLMES: Yes, that's adorable. Yes, that's very cute, Betty. Thank you, Betty.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: And there's times (ph) to try to cover it up. I guess the boots are good for something.
HOLMES: Are those boots on the dog?
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Oh, please. Who does that?
NGUYEN: You don't want his feet to freeze while he was there out there doing his thing, right?
HOLMES: Come on.
NGUYEN: I wasn't expecting him to use the restroom on the street, but hey, that's what they do. We know what they do.
HOLMES: Who give us this? That was Miriam, somebody out of New York? Miriam Cintron?
NGUYEN: Yes, at iReport coming to us from New York.
HOLMES: Get the boots off your dog.
NGUYEN: No, they are necessary. And of course we had to show that part again.
(LAUGHTER)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN: We are all immigrants, and America is as much a Muslim right for Muslim Americans, as it is a Jewish right for Jewish Americans or Christian Americans or atheist Americans or anybody else. I love America and I love the idea...
(APPLAUSE)
WARREN: I love the idea stated by that great theologian, Rodney King, can't we all just get along?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, that was controversial pastor, Rick Warren, speaking at the Muslim council conference in California. Warren is at the center of criticism over the inauguration guest list. President- elect Barack Obama asked him to do the invocation while liberals and gay rights leaders, they have objected mostly because of Warren's stance against gay marriage. But Obama has defended the invitation saying that he welcomes diversity and ideas.
President-elect Barack Obama and his family, they are taking a little time off today. They're actually on vacation in Hawaii for the holidays. It's been a busy few days for the incoming administration. Obama held a news conference naming a new member or two of his team every day last week.
HOLMES: All right. Those young men out there, they go through a whole lots, they're playing peewee football. They go to high school, they were hardened the (INAUDIBLE).
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: You get a scholarship for your favorite college. You get to play college ball. You work hard all year...
NGUYEN: That's a dream life so far, yes.
HOLMES: And what is the reward?
NGUYEN: What is it?
HOLMES: You get to go to the Magic Jack Bowl.
NGUYEN: What is that? (LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: I don't know if I ever heard or the emerald bowl? Or maybe, I don't know, what are these rowdies (ph) humanitarian -- what are these bowls?
HOLMES: Those are the highlights -- no, they are the lowlights of the bowl season. No offense to these companies of these bowls.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: But there's going to be a discussion about just is it necessary...
NGUYEN: Gotcha.
HOLMES: Are these the bowls you want to choose to...
NGUYEN: And how much are those tickets worth? That's another question, too, right/
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: In this economy, how much you're going to pay to go to one of those bowls?
HOLMES: Not everybody is getting charged. We're getting excited about it this year, which means there are, like you said, bargains to be had on going to a lot of those.
NGUYEN: There you go. Maybe that's the ticket this time of year.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Josh Levs has been looking at that.
Hey, Josh.
LEVS: Hey, everybody. You know what? Maybe they want to let us know what they think about. Here's the deal, though, what we've been asking you about this morning, the economy, we want you to know, you know, last few days before Christmas here, how is it affecting your holiday plans? You have more time with family, less time with family, maybe you are staying home instead of traveling. How were your holidays different? Write us weekends@cnn.com. We'll grab them off the board, putting them up here. And you'll see them just a couple of minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: OK. So, this morning we asked you to tell us how the economy is affecting your holiday plans, and we're already getting a flood of responses.
HOLMES: Josh Levs is going through them. How are people being affected?
LEVS: You know what? Some people are saying really nice things, actually. The one I'll start off with a lot of people saying that they are giving more to charity this year, which is pretty cool. And I'll just tell you, as we're doing this, Weekends@CNN.com, you want to join in, go for it.
Let's zoom right in on the board. We're going to start off with Kathleen in Idaho. There's the question. This is what she says, "My business income is off by 60 percent from last December. I have whittled down the holiday spending, and focused more on charitable giving and volunteering. This is the time when we all need to pull together and remember our humanity."
Let's go down, though, to this one. "I'll still be traveling eight hours to see my family. However, what I will do when I get there has changed. I usually go out to eat and then to hang somewhere, at least four nights. Now, I don't have near as much money. I also usually give great gifts to everyone of my family, but now, I've decided to only give them to the children," from Katie in Charleston.
Let's go to this one from Vicki. "In my husband's and my 32 years of marriage, never before have we felt this financially strapped ever. Christmas this year will not be of giving gifts but remember this holiday as Jesus' birthday, and celebrate the blessings and love of one another."
We got time for one more here. Chris from Washington, "While I have not been directly impacted by the struggling economy, I do find myself being more conservative in my spending this holiday season. The welcomed side affect is that I am saving more." that's from Chris from Washington.
Now, one thing I really like about this, you know, here, we give you the macro views a lot, here's what's happening with the economy all across the country, you give us the micro view. We want to see what it's like for the individuals out there. Your family, your experience, what you're going through right now. Is the economy affecting your holiday plans? And if so, how? Weekends@CNN.com. You can also send us some iReport to iReport.com. And, Betty and T.J., I'll be back next hour with more responses.
NGUYEN: All right. Looking forward to it. Thank you.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
Well, you know, the bowl season is under way, and there were four games yesterday. It seems like there are about 250 left to go at this point.
HOLMES: You know, no offense, folks, but some of these bowls and some of these match-ups, they're just...
NGUYEN: Where do they come up with them? You know?
HOLMES: And you don't want to go, a lot of these teams barely have winning records. Larry Smith is here with us, Larry.
NGUYEN: We don't mean to be Debbie Downer on it. But, Larry...
HOLMES: Well, we don't. Come on.
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right.
HOLMES: Six and five teams getting in and -- like six and six.
SMITH: Six and six, there are 34 bowl games right. There are nine of them have teams that are only six and six. So, you know, it used to be that you're going to say, "Well, I'm going to go and see this great team in the post season, we don't have that any more. You know?
So, you have so many ballgames and so few great teams. Not every match-up, as T.J. was saying, is a can't-miss proposition. So, you couple that with the economic woes, and you have some ballgames that are really struggling to fill the seats. And that's bad for them but it could be good for you because it is a buyers' market. Now, at StubHub.com, about half the remaining bowls have tickets under $1 each.
HOLMES: $1?
SMITH: The Music City Bowl in Nashville, that's not a typo. Between Vanderbilt and Boston College, you can get tickets for $1 and change a piece.
HOLMES: $1.
NGUYEN: No way.
SMITH: I'm not kidding you.
NGUYEN: Do they make any money off of this? I mean, really, can you?
SMITH: Well, that's the thing, too. We'll get to that, too, in terms of, you know, you lose money.
NGUYEN: Yes.
SMITH: The economy is really hurting them, there's no question. But in that game, Boston College has already returned half of its allotment of 10,000 seats. So, they only get seat about 5,000 people. They still think they can get a 55,000 there a sellout. And it's Vanderbilt; they have not been in a bowl in decades.
NGUYEN: OK.
SMITH: It's in their home city, whatever. But look at that graphic one more time, there at the bottom...
HOLMES: Yes.
SMITH: Because here is the real shocker for me. The Orange Bowl, it's in Miami. It's one of the oldest, most traditional...
NGUYEN: Right.
SMITH: ... the great bowls, and tickets were going for $1 as late as Thursday morning.
NGUYEN: Alamo Bowl, $8?
SMITH: You can still get them for just $10. Yes, but very often, schools themselves also lose money on the ball games. I mean, when you fly the team, the coaches and their families, school administrators, cheerleaders, sometimes the band, and you house and feed them for a week, that could run well into the six figures.
HOLMES: Wow.
SMITH: And the purse money paid to each schools, it doesn't cover that. So, the bottom line is, expect to see empty seats when you are watching it on TV. Maryland anticipates maybe 1,000 fans to fly to Boise for its ballgame. Wisconsin expects to use only about 1/4 of its ticket, about 3,000 for its game in Florida. Times are tough, and we are seeing the trickle down effect in this bowl season.
HOLMES: I haven't been to Boise, but that's a long trip for people to make to go to Boise from there.
SMITH: And there are no direct flights probably from the D.C. area to Boise.
NGUYEN: But if you've ever wanted to go to a bowl game, hey, now is the time.
HOLMES: A good time.
SMITH: It's a good time. It's a good time to go if you want to.
HOLMES: The schools ever, I mean, we see people reject every now and again invitations to go to bowls. Even now, there are schools that'll reject. Does that -- a financial decision often playing to that?
SMITH: It does happen sometimes. Notre Dame did that several years ago. They were given a chance to go to a bowl and they did not go to one.
Now, let's take a look also at some of the major bowls, we're talking (ph) about major bowls.
NGUYEN: Right.
SMITH: Orange Bowl is one of those. There are some doing very, very well. The BCS championship game in a few weeks. Also, in Miami, between Florida and Oklahoma as you can see, tickets there, sales very good, going for over $300 right now. The Rose Bowl, one of the traditional games between Penn State and USC doing well. So, not everybody is doing poorly, but certainly, there are some bargains to be found.
HOLMES: The Magic Jack Bowl.
SMITH: The Magic Jack Bowl (INAUDIBLE), that's my favorite.
HOLMES: No, we love that.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: All right. Good to see you.
SMITH: all right.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: OK. Thank you, Larry.
SMITH: All right.
HOLMES: Well, an eight-year-old and a rifle. The boy accused of killing his father and a friend. We got an update on that story for you.
NGUYEN: Yes, actually, some new information -- the autopsy revealing some critical details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Take a look at some of our iReport video coming in. This is out of Connecticut. Heavy snow you see there on the roadways. The cars are still making it through. For the most part, if you look down that one street, not many folks out and about for good reason.
And as you heard right there, auto driving. Well, if you have a picture or video that you'd like to share, send them to CNN@iReports.com.
HOLMES: Let's turn back now to Arizona. A horrible story we heard about a little while back. The new details in this twin shooting out there involving an eight-year-old boy who's accused of firing the fatal shots.
NGUYEN: Well, the victims were his father and a friend, and they were shot 10 times. The boy is allegedly reloading after each one. And here's Christina Boomer of our affiliate KNXV with more on this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINA BOOMER, KNXV REPORTER (voice-over): The Pima County medical examiner's office released these autopsy reports for the child's father, Vincent Romero and co-worker Tim Romans, who was renting a room at their home. Romero's autopsy report reveals he was shot four times, one bullet grazed his left arm, another shot went through his back, hitting a lung, and he took two shots to the head. But it was that shot through the back that caught the eye of Arizona's senior forensic pathologist, Philip Keen. He explains how the shape of the wound helps inform what direction the shot may have came from. As you listen to him, consider that detectives found Romero facedown on the plight of stairs leading to the second floor of his home.
PHILIP KEEN, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: The assailant weapon would have been further to the right behind and somewhat lower than the point it struck him at.
BOOMER: That would put the gunman at the bottom of the staircase. As for Romans, St. John's police say they found him outside the home on the front porch. His autopsy shows he was shot six times. Two bullets went through his chest, hitting a lung and piercing his heart. Another hit his forearm. And out of three wounds to his head, one was in the back. Both reports state there is no evidence of close-range firing.
KEEN: For it to strike the target, and you can see the residue of the gun powder on the target, you are close range.
BOOMER: And since there's no indication of gunpowder on the victims' skin. That suggests the gunman was at least two feet away.
(on camera): Meantime, the toxicology reports show there was no alcohol in either man's system.
Christina Boomer, ABC 15 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: That is absolutely disturbing.
HOLMES: New details about that. And again, an eight-year-old, and a lot could come out there, and there was a taped confession, all kinds of things we saw, but who knows what the confession now.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: It's just that no matter where you put it, it's a horrible story and, man, some of those details.
NGUYEN: All right. Well, we're going to try to liven the mood a little bit here, shall we?
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: A new holiday survey shows, people are giving more than just wrapped presents this time of the year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So, Governor Sarah Palin, she ran for the number two spot and lost.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: But she has come out on top, folks, for the most quotable she and her comedic twin, that is. Remember this comment?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TINA FEY, ACTRESS (impersonating Gov. Sarah Palin): And I can see Russia from my house.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That as we all know. Tina Fey doing her impersonation of the Republican vice presidential nominee, giving her the number one quote of the year. Palin herself had the second most memorable quote for her inability to name newspapers that she reads. You may recall, she was asked about what she reads on the day-to-day basis. That's an interview by CBS anchor, Katie Couric, Palin said that she reads, quote...
NGUYEN: All of them.
HOLMES: "All of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years," end quote.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Who takes time to put a list like this together? Fred Shapiro, an associate librarian with Yale University, thank you for your work, kind sir.
NGUYEN: Yes, thank you, Fred.
So, as we move in to the watercooler, this is a sad story for me.
HOLMES: It's not.
NGUYEN: The Dallas Cowboys had their final -- it's not a dump.
HOLMES: It's a dump, Betty.
NGUYEN: There is history there. They made their final huddle inside Texas Stadium. The owners plug the hole in the roof after the Cowboys and Ravens game yesterday. Yes, you had to remind that they lost.
HOLMES: They lost their last game.
NGUYEN: Well, the Cowboys had the first opening punt in the stadium back in 1971.
HOLMES: Did they lose that game, too?
NGUYEN: I don't know. I wasn't around back then. And back then, it only cost them $35 million to build. The cost of the new stadium in Arlington -- I don't know -- just a little over $8 billion, but you can still own a piece of Cowboy history, absolutely, because many parts of the stadium are up for sale, including some of the urinals from the locker room.
And believe it or not, and people are paying over $1,000 for that.
HOLMES: But just like Yankee Stadium -- I mean, you know, history is there, but the places are kind of dumps.
NGUYEN: Well, but then, again...
HOLMES: I mean, no offense. But they were just...
NGUYEN: They're sentimental.
HOLMES: OK. I give you that.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: I give you that (INAUDIBLE)
NGUYEN: OK. You can file this one under the "no duh" file. A new study says this time of year is tops for making weepies, making babies.
HOLMES: Yes, you want to say that stuff.
NGUYEN: And all that kind of stuff. Well, one research report has called it a "festival of fertility."
HOLMES: And you can understand why. It's cold outside. So, people want to snuggle up, also, there's a lot of down time and leisure time.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: So, people are home a lot. Also, you got a lot of alcohol. You got a lot of parties.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: People are just in the mood, and also, women are getting a lot of gifts like diamonds that just make them want to...
NGUYEN: So, you equate women with gifts, women with sex...
HOLMES: I'm not saying, I'm just saying...
NGUYEN: ... in diamonds?
HOLMES: I'm just saying...
NGUYEN: We cannot be bought, T.J.
HOLMES: Fellows, you know what I'm saying. NGUYEN: Yes, careful what you say.
HOLMES: All right. Also, the condom makers out there say sales right about now are at their peak.
NGUYEN: OK. I guess, this research (ph) showed that this could be true.
HOLMES: OK, "HOUSE CALL"...
NGUYEN: Yes, let's move on, shall we?
HOLMES: Doctor Sanjay Gupta, a lot of diamonds you find around his house. All right, "HOUSE CALL" right now.
