Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Nor'easter Disrupts Holiday Travel, Shopping Plans; PolitiFact Names "Lie of the Year"; Vegas Hopes CityCenter Gamble Pays Off
Aired December 20, 2009 - 06:00 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, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is December 20, and it feels very much like winter for a lot of folks -- folks, although December -- or, I want to say winter doesn't start until tomorrow.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, yes, that's what we like to say. But obviously, the winter weather begins December 1.
NGUYEN: Yes.
MARCIANO: And we've experienced that the last...
NGUYEN: We've already, yes.
MARCIANO: ...couple of weeks. Big snowstorm. Still blizzard conditions in eastern New England.
NGUYEN: Man.
MARCIANO: And we're on top of it. Good morning. I'm Rob Marciano, in today for T.J. Holmes. Thanks for starting your day with us.
NGUYEN: Well, let's get right to the news.
Senate Democrats have convinced Senator Ben Nelson to sign on to their plan. So now they have the 60 votes needed to pass the health- care reform bill. The historic vote is expected at midnight, and we're going to hear from both sides of the aisle a little bit later this morning.
MARCIANO: Plus, some shots from Asheville, North Carolina. Yes, they're not entirely used to this much snow. Headaches across roadways and the airways. And it ain't over yet. Still more snow in the forecast. Eastern New England experiencing the brunt of -- well, a blizzard for them right now. We'll have full weather coverage, plus the latest travel information scrolled at the bottom of your screen.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's get to the health-care reform legislation in the Senate, because the first of a series of votes on the bill is set for 19 hours from now, 1 a.m. in Washington. The logjam on the bill was broken when conservative Senator Ben Nelson said he would support it.
Now, the Senate could vote on the entire bill before Christmas. Republicans and Democrats -- well, they differ greatly on just what it will do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNEL (R- KY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: We know from all the survey data that Americans are overwhelming opposed to this bill. This bill is a legislative train wreck of historic proportions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: We also have a lot of controls to make sure that the insurance industry doesn't go wild like they have with cost to people who have insurance policies.
All these things will help lower the cost for Americans and will finally level the playing field between American families and the insurance industry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: We are going to get more from both sides a little bit later.
And we want to give you this programming note: CNN will bring you live coverage of tonight's Senate action beginning at midnight Eastern. Our Tom Foreman is handling that coverage.
MARCIANO: Well, weather headaches not only here, but on the other side of the pond. Severe conditions led Eurostar to cancel its train service between France and England under the English Channel. As many as 2,000 passengers now stranded.
Later in the hour, we've got a live report from England.
NGUYEN: And here at home, the situation wasn't much different. Travel plans ruined because of the nasty weather. All flights are canceled for now at Reagan and Washington Dulles National airports. Rail service and bus routes, they're also suspended.
Officials say snow-clearing crews are out working on the runways and some flights -- well, they could resume a little bit later today.
MARCIANO: And that monster storm now in New England. In Boston, an emergency declaration went into effect late last night, at 10:00. Fifteen or more inches of snow expected.
In Virginia, three people did die as a result of the storm. State police are reporting 3,000 accidents or stranded cars. About 1,000 National Guardsmen are out helping with the response.
And in the nation's capital, hundreds of travelers left stranded there as well. Nine people were taken to the hospital after an accident. No one was seriously hurt. And D.C.'s mayor says many of those cars have no business being on the road in the first place. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADRIAN FENTY (D), MAYOR OF WASHINGTON, D.C.: The biggest problem that you see out there is cars that don't have the capability to make it through even plowed streets. These cars really just shouldn't be on the road. They really have the potential to block major arteries, minor arteries and to make it harder for us to plow them or to make it hard for someone who really needed to get somewhere in an emergency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, want to get you the latest now with meteorologist Reynolds Wolf. He is live in Fredericksburg, Virginia, along Interstate 95.
And boy, the snow has fallen all yesterday, and we can see it piling up on the ground right there where you're at.
Hey there, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys.
You know, you're absolutely right. We had plenty of snow last night. Actually, most of it really fell yesterday afternoon in -- to about a tune of about 15.3 inches in some places right in and around the Fredericksburg area.
Now as you mentioned Betty, I am at a rest area right along parts of I-95. Road conditions here are pretty good, but that has not been the situation for many parts of the state. In fact, back over to parts towards I-64 near Charlottesville, they had many, many cars stranded there. I will tell you though, roads are improving. And there's at least one lane on all major thoroughfares, the cars are able to get through.
Now, speaking of roads, what we're going to do now is, I'm going to call out to Scott Garber (ph). He's our truck operator. And he's going to punch up another camera we have on top of our live truck so you can get a shot right now of parts of I-95.
And Scott, if you can show America what's happening over there, you'll see a lot of cars that are coming through. Now, you're seeing the southbound lanes. Now, if you want to go towards, say, Tennessee or the Carolinas, that's the route you're going to take.
There are some trees in the center divider, and on the other side of that, anyone who just happens to go to New England, head back towards the snow, you're going to be going in that direction.
But I will tell you, they have had over 3,000 calls, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation, of people having issues. They've had over 3,000 accidents also. And although roads are improving, you still got to be careful out there.
Now at this rest area, what's interesting, if you look around me for a moment, you're going to see quite a few cars out here. And we're going to be trying to quiet down a little bit because we got a lot of people around here sleeping. They've been driving for a long time.
We did manage to meet one friend out there.
Hey, good morning. How you doing?
What -- what's your name?
GERRY SCHIELDING, TRAVELER: Gerry Schielding.
WOLF: Gerry Schielding, Reynolds Wolf, CNN.
Let's see, you drove in from where this morning?
SCHIELDING: Troy, New York.
WOLF: Troy, New York. How long have you been on the road?
SCHIELDING: About 12, 13 hours.
WOLF: Any problems on the road?
SCHEILDING: Yes, we were slipping and sliding and, you know, got stuck a couple times. But it's slow going.
WOLF: Now, did you get stuck on the main road or did you...
SCHIELDING: No, we got stuck. We -- the GPS told us to go somewhere, and we went, and we got stuck in a big complex and I had to dig myself out.
WOLF: You -- and what -- with -- and you did...
SCHIELDING: With a snow shovel. (INAUDIBLE)
WOLF: With a snow shovel.
SCHIELDING: Snow brush, I'm sorry.
WOLF: You dug yourself out, a big truck, with a snow brush.
SCHIELDING: Yes.
WOLF: You can't trust those Garmin, those -- those little machines. You got to get them out there and they got to dig with you.
SCHIELDING: Yes.
WOLF: Now what -- you have some experience, though, I imagine, being in New York, driving in these kinds of conditions, don't you?
SCHIELDING: Yes. Yes, I'm a school-bus driver for 30 years. And, you know, it's -- that's what I do in New York, is we hope for schools closing. But, you know, it doesn't always happen that way.
WOLF: What -- what kind of advice would you give someone if you got experience, you know, back there in New York, and you had the heavy snowfall. For a lot of people here who aren't as experienced, what would you tell them?
SCHIELDING: Stay home.
No, take it slow. Drive accordingly. Don't try to speed and get places where, you know -- too fast.
WOLF: And where you headed?
SCHIELDING: Orange City, Florida.
WOLF: And you have a place down there?
SCHIELDING: Yes, I do.
WOLF: Ever think about making it year-round? I mean, I'm loving the Empire State, don't get me wrong. But Empire State, Sunshine State, I'm thinking of heading south like a bird.
SCHIELDING: Well, I'm trying to get my husband to go down there and move down there in February, but, you know, he doesn't want to retire yet, so...
WOLF: We got plenty of time to talk to him.
Hey, have a good morning.
SCHIELDING: OK.
WOLF: Right now though, we've got plenty of people that are resting up. A few others are starting to wake up, getting ready for that long drive. You know, this is a huge holiday weekend for people to get out there.
Roads, as I mentioned, just like this little walkway, are fine. But you have some places here and there where it kinds of icy. But it's typical, after having a big winter storm of this magnitude.
Let's send it back to you guys in the studio.
MARCIANO: All right, Reynolds. Thanks very much. The snow ending there, but obviously the repercussions will be felt throughout the morning as we go through time.
The -- the blizzard itself, the storm itself, with blizzard conditions, now shifting off to the east. Where Reynolds is, across D.C., Philly, beginning to wind down for sure.
Let's took a look at a -- just a handful of cities. There's a whole slew of other reports. In some cases, the larger number than this outside of the bigger cities.
But Philadelphia clocking in 22.9 inches of snow. My goodness. Annapolis, Maryland, 20.8 inches. D.C., 16.0 inches. And Central Park, 9.9, also a good 10 inches to a -- a foot of snow, especially as you go -- get into Queens.. In Upton, New York, already 20 inches of snow. You go out into eastern Long Island, that's where the brunt of the storm is right now. And that's where we have blizzard warnings up. So anywhere you see blue, which is eastern Long Island, extreme southeastern Connecticut, Rhode Island and the Cape and eastern New England, winds have already gusted in some cases to over 60 miles an hour. So snow blowing sideways for sure, and that certainly constitutes a blizzard. And in some cases here, we could see 20 to 30 inches of snowfall with this as it continues to swirl around.
And here you see it, the main swath of heavy precipitation now is east of New York City, into Hartford, Bridgeport and New Haven, and getting into Boston. Our friends up there in Beantown certainly feeling the brunt of the storm right now. And for them, it may very well be historic as well.
Continue to cover it throughout the morning. Betty, I'll toss it back to you.
NGUYEN: What a weekend, especially for people traveling out there. OK, thank you, Rob.
Well, snowball fights -- they're supposed to be fun, right? Well, one turned ugly when a gun came into the picture.
And I'm going to take you to the newest hotel-casino in Las Vegas. No, that's not it. But we're going to show it to you in just a second, because that Vegas casino almost didn't happen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM MURREN, CHAIRMAN, CEO, MGM MIRAGE, CITYCENTER: Give us the money you promised us. We're going to employ these 12,000 people. You're going to get money, banks. We're going to make money as -- as an enterprise, and we're going to help a community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Still to come, the man who fought so hard to bring 12,000 jobs to Las Vegas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC, DEAN MARTIN, "LET IT SNOW")
MARCIANO: Never get tired of Dean Martin doing that song.
NGUYEN: Mmm, I know. Lots of snow in the D.C. area. Is it showing any signs of stopping?
MARCIANO: It's stopping in D.C., yes.
NGUYEN: Good, because...
MARCIANO: So Dean, you're... NGUYEN: ...a lot of people stuck at the airport, or at least trying to get out of the airport. And that will be good news today. We're going to see what time exactly those airports will open up and give you the details on that.
But in the meantime, a big group took advantage of the snow and decided to have a snowball fight of all things, right? It makes sense.
MARCIANO: And as we all like to say, it's all fun and games, until someone pulls a gun.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERS AND LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: All right. Nobody got hurt.
Here's how it went down: Word of the snowball battle spread online. So 200 people gathered. Some carried antiwar signs and were dressed in black with masks, spreading a bit of a message there.
But things took a turn when snowballs starting hitting cars. One hit an SUV with a plainclothes detective inside who reportedly got out of the car and the gun was in his jacket and some of the people saw that. So the crowd -- well, they -- they -- they got a little bit worried.
NGUYEN: Yes, but see, they didn't realize who he was because the police report says there was an armed man at the scene, and that's what that officer was responding to.
Well, a uniformed officer showed up with his gun drawn. But the whole thing was resolved without any shots fired. And despite the panic, police say they did respond in the right way. They didn't arrest anyone.
You know, the voting is done and the winner is in, but this is a vote that nobody wants to win.
MARCIANO: Yes, Josh Levs has the biggest lie of the year, Josh?
NGUYEN: You're not telling us the biggest lie of the year, are you?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, technically, I'm telling you what it is. But no, it didn't -- it didn't come from me.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: Don't lie to me now.
LEVS: It did not come from me.
NGUYEN: OK. LEVS: Well, people had a chance to vote on this all of the country, at PolitiFact.com. They could choose from statements involving health care, immigration or the location of President Obama's birth.
Which statement was named "Lie of the Year"? We're about to show you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC, FLEETWOOD MAC, "TELL ME LIES")
NGUYEN: I just love Deanna (ph), our producer. She comes up with the best music that's so fitting for the stories.
And "Tell Me Lies." Well, let's talk about that for a second, because it is a competition in U.S. politics that nobody wants to win. And we are talking about who had the biggest lie of the year.
MARCIANO: Not necessarily who is the best liar, but just the biggest lie.
NGUYEN: The biggest lie.
MARCIANO: The results are in, and Josh Levs is here with that.
Josh, good morning.
LEVS: Yes, unfortunately, it is something of a skill sometimes when it comes to politics, isn't it?
NGUYEN: Mm-hmm.
LEVS: This list comes from a Web site we all know very well, PolitiFact.com. It's a reality-checking Web site from the same "Petersburg Times" that carries the Truth-O-Meter. They give rulings on what politicians say. You can see how they operate.
Over here, the rulings go from "true" to "half true," all the way down to "pants on fire." They're constantly looking at the latest statements coming from -- from politicians.
So what they did was, they pulled out some of what they call the biggest lies of this year. Now, what I'm going to do is I'm going to show you a couple of the candidates, and then we will lead up to the winner.
One of the candidates was this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The reforms -- the reforms I am proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.
REP. JOE WILSON (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: You lie! OBAMA: It's not true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Representative Joe Wilson famously yelled, "You lie!" at that moment.
Now, PolitiFact said that while there was a debate over how illegal immigrants would be impacted, there was not enough to make the case that Obama had lied. So it made Wilson's accusation a candidate for "Lie of the Year."
Another candidate was this quote from the president himself, saying why insurance companies should be required to cover preventive care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. That makes sense, it saves money and it saves lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: That's an argument we hear a lot. Preventive care does help save lives and it's important, but PolitiFact says it actually does not save the country money.
The Congressional Budget Office says the same thing. It actually adds to overall costs.
All right. So those were a couple examples for things you could vote on for -- online for -- for "Lie of the Year."
But by far, this quote here was the winner.
(DRUM ROLL)
LEVS: And there's the drum roll.
Going to PolitiFact, "Lie of the Year" came from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin saying seniors and the disabled will have to stand in front of Obama's death panel so his bureaucrats can decide whether they are worthy of health care.
PolitiFact rates this one "Pants on Fire" after she said it in October. They said nothing in the health-care bill she was talking about would actually create such a panel, and the editors of PolitiFact named it "Lie of the Year." And they held a poll on their Web site. About 5,000 people voted; 61 percent named it top "Lie of the Year."
I will tell you though, to be fair, PolitiFact also says that Palin stands by this statement. In fact, we have a quote from her last month. She told the "National Review" that the term should not be taken literally. She called it "a lot like when President Reagan used to refer to the Soviet Union as the Evil Empire. He got his point across, he got people thinking and researching what he was talking about."
She says, "It was quite effective. Same thing with death panels. I would characterize them like that again in heartbeat."
All right. You might agree; you might disagree. You might like it, not like it. You can send us your opinion. It's up at the blog, CNN.com/josh. Just let us know what you think, or Facebook or Twitter, joslevscnn.
So there you go. Rob, Betty, that is the choice of PolitiFact viewers and of PolitiFact itself.
NGUYEN: Hmm. Biggest lie of the year, huh?
LEVS: "Death panel" being "Lie of the Year."
NGUYEN: We heard a lot about those death panels though, you know, throughout the campaign (sic). And -- and it did get a lot of play. Hmm.
LEVS: It caught on and -- yes.
MARCIANO: She -- she did come back and spin it though, as a -- as a good politician though.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: That's what they do.
LEVS: That's what they do.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Josh.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
NGUYEN: In about 10 minutes, get ready to travel back in time as our very own Reynolds Wolf goes on a holiday assignment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: Coming up on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, we're going to take you inside the Biltmore Estate to show you the beautiful sights and sounds of the holiday season.
See you in a few.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Checking on our top stories. The Senate back in session today. Amendments to the massive health-care reform bill are being read out loud at the request of Republicans. The first of a series of votes on the bill set for overnight tonight at 1 a.m. Eastern.
A final vote on the bill is expected later in this week, likely on Thursday. You can watch it happen live tonight. CNN's Tom Foreman handles our coverage beginning at midnight.
NGUYEN: Well, people with places to go but no way to get there. Yes, flight delays are crippling travel plans across the East Coast. All flights are canceled for now at Dulles and Reagan National airports. Cleanup crews, they are working on the runways. And flights -- well, they could resume a little bit later this morning. It's kind of touch-and-go. We'll continue to watch it for you.
A single runway is open at Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland.
MARCIANO: In the air and on the ground, the roads are bad, bad, bad just about everywhere East Coast, especially here in North Carolina. Plows are carving paths through the snow in Asheville, but some very slippery conditions, as you can see there. Folks lending a hand where they can.
Some of the mountain areas saw more than a foot of snow, in some cases two feet. Tens of thousand of people lost power.
And a picture of Providence, Rhode Island, where it's happening right now. It looks like this guy's on the phone trying to get some help. Snow coming down, in some cases sideways. Blizzard warnings up for eastern Long Island and eastern New England. And we're covering the story throughout the morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC, KATY PERRY, "WAKING UP IN VEGAS")
MARCIANO: (INAUDIBLE) city within a city, but he knows it all too well. A massive 67-acre, 18 million square-foot web of hotels, spas, a casino and a lot more.
NGUYEN: Oh yes. It's called CityCenter, and this week it officially opened for business on the Vegas Strip, creating much- needed jobs. We are talking thousands of them.
I recently caught up with a few job seekers who took a gamble on CityCenter, and why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, you're from Australia, welcome. I mean it, welcome.
NGUYEN (voice over): After five years in the making, CityCenter is now a welcoming site to thousands, not just to tourists, but employees like security guard Delores Witherspoon. She was laid in February and ended up losing her home.
DELORES WITHERSPOON, CITYCENTER SECURITY GUARD: I needed a job so bad. I needed job like somebody looking for water and they was in the desert. That's how bad I need it.
NGUYEN: And she wasn't alone; Patrick Fuchs also lost his job and couldn't afford to pay his mortgage.
PATRICK FUCHS, CITYCENTER EMPLOYEE: I lost two homes, actually. I lost -- I lost my house and my parents' house. Both my parents passed away last year and I was stuck with my house.
And then they passed away, and then I had their house, and -- so the family home and my home, both gone.
NGUYEN: That was when he hit rock bottom.
FUCHS: I went into a state of depression. I just shut down, I didn't talk to anybody. I didn't sleep. I was up for like weeks, months. I was at a point I didn't leave my house. I was like Howard Hughes. You know, I didn't cut my hair, I didn't bathe. I didn't eat (ph) anything. I was so depressed.
NGUYEN: It's these stories that make the opening of the newest addition to the Las Vegas Strip that much more important to the man behind CityCenter.
But MGM Mirage Chairman and CEO Jim Murren faced his own challenges getting the $8.5 billion project funded nearly going bankrupt waiting for loans.
MURREN: When we went to the banks, we said, 'Give us the damn money.' You know, we'll finish this. We've got our money in. We'll get our partners' money in. We'll make sure that you get your money back.
We're not asking for a handout. There was no government bailout here. There was -- just give us the money you promised us. We're going to employ these 12,000 people. You're going to make money, banks; we're going to make money as -as an enterprise, and we're going to help a community.
NGUYEN: This spring, the banks came through. And for a community that has a 13 percent unemployment rate and leads the nation in foreclosures, the 12,000 job CityCenter has created ...
WITHERSPOON: How you all doing over there?
NGUYEN: ...couldn't have come at a better time.
WITHERSPOON: It was like a dream come true. I -- I just felt blessed.
MURREN: Seeing smiles on these employees' faces. Seeing, you know, the energy, the excitement that they have is the best possible reward. NGUYEN: And for Murren, watching his vision finally come to fruition has eased some of the pressure from what's been called a billion-dollar bet.
MURREN: So the pressure level is vastly less than it was earlier this year.
When we last met, we're wondering if the -- will the project be finished? Can we keep the jobs going? Can we open this project? And of course, we've -we've answered all of those questions.
NGUYEN: Now the question is: Can this gamble on CityCenter create the economic boost that Las Vegas desperately needs?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: To give you an idea of how many people are indeed in need of jobs, 170,000 applies for those 12,000 jobs. And when you hear someone is offering 12,000 jobs, that is a whole lot.
But then to hear how many people applied for those...
MARCIANO: Right.
NGUYEN: ...just gives you an indication of, you know, the fact that we are still in this recession, and -- and people are in desperate need at this point.
But to give you another indication of how difficult times could still be, even after the opening of CityCenter and all of this, tourism down 6 percent this year. The convention and business -- convention business dropping almost a third. So it may be a little while before...
MARCIANO: Yes, after they build this massive structure that they...
NGUYEN: Vegas -- yes, sees the return that it's hoping.
MARCIANO: Well, hopefully -- they build it, they will come, eventually.
NGUYEN: Yes, that kind of mentality. Eventually -- you know, it's -- we're all going to get out of this one way or the other, right?
MARCIANO: Very impressive. I mean, they -- they...
NGUYEN: We hope so.
MARCIANO: They certainly go all the way when they build things in Vegas.
NGUYEN: Yes, all in, right?
MARCIANO: Yes, exactly. Well, people stay up late in Vegas to do their thing, and...
NGUYEN: And some don't even sleep.
MARCIANO: Exactly.
Well, lately our lawmakers burning the midnight oil as well.
NGUYEN: That's true.
MARCIANO: Working late into the night and early tomorrow morning, also on health-care reform legislation.
NGUYEN: Yes, the bill finally got the support it needs.
So what was taken out of it? We're going to take a look at that in the next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Hey, there, everybody. Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen.
MARCIANO: I'm Rob Marciano in for T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Want to take a look at our top stories right now.
Carefully made travel plans ruined because of dangerous weather. All flights canceled at Reagan and Dulles International Airports. Crews are working to clear the runways and flights could resume a little bit later today. Rail and bus services, though, they are also suspended. So it is tough getting around. Greyhound is reporting as many as 300 cancellations.
MARCIANO: As Tom Hanks would say, there's no crying in baseball. And there's no stopping football, either. Even with this huge snowstorm. The Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens game is still on in Baltimore today despite the storm. Kickoff has been pushed back to a 4:00 game, or 4:15 specifically, so workers can clear the snowstorm from the stadium.
That snow has moved off into eastern New England. The shot from WHDH where the snow is blowing around in Boston. We'll have a live update in just a few.
NGUYEN: Well, it is going to be a late night for the U.S. Senate working on health care reform. Senators are getting back to work at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and then they go until 11:00 tonight. They will adjourn and then gather again at 12:01 in the morning, when a new legislative day begins. Now, they are expected to vote at 1:00 a.m., in the morning, on ending debate. President Obama is pleased with action on the legislation. While the Senate's Republican leader is not thrilled with the timing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: If they were proud of this bill, they wouldn't be doing it this way. They wouldn't be jamming it through in the middle of the night on the last weekend before Christmas.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These are big changes. They are fundamental reforms. They will save money, they will save lives, and I look forward to working with the Senate and the House to finish the work that remains so that we can make this reform a reality for the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right. So the debate in the Senate over health care reform has been long and it has been hard.
MARCIANO: And complicated. Our Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash is telling us how exactly we got to this point.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The lone Democratic holdout was in. Senate Democrats finally secured enough votes for health care.
SEN. BEN NELSON, (D) NEBRASKA: Change is never easy. But change is what's necessary in America today, and that's why I intend to vote for closure and vote for health care reform.
BASH: Getting moderate Democrat Ben Nelson's support wasn't easy, especially on the issue of abortion. To reassure him no taxpayer dollars would go for abortion, Democratic leaders struck a deal allowing states to opt out of abortion coverage; and requiring people getting government subsidies to pay for abortion insurance with separate funds.
NELSON: Walls off that money in a very effective manner and makes certain that the plans do not -- we use federal dollars -- we do not use federal dollars to fund abortion.
BASH: Abortion was the final sticking point, but Democratic leaders made several other delicate compromises to get both moderate and liberal Democrats on board. Instead of a government-run health care option, conservative Democrats opposed, the measure sets up not- for-profit private plans, overseen by a government agency, the office of personnel management.
To appease liberals angry about no public option to compete with private insurers, Democratic leaders strengthened regulation on insurance companies, requiring them to spend 80 percent to 85 percent of people's premiums on their medical expenses.
Not all senators who braved blizzard conditions came to celebrate a breakthrough. Republicans accused Democrats of jamming the bill through while Americans are preoccupied with Christmas.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: In playing these kinds of games with the nation's health care, this is an outrage, and needs to be called that.
BASH: To slow things down --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amendments to Subtitle A.
BASH: Republicans forced the Democrats' compromise to be read.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two of subsection G of 45-R.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Subsection provided in paragraph 2.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Section 1301A of this act ....
BASH: Out loud, all day long.
The congressional budget office estimates the Senate Democrats' new measure would cost $871 billion over 10 years, slightly more than the original bill; and extend health coverage to 30 million people in part by dramatically expanding Medicaid. That was another obstacle in getting Ben Nelson's support, who worried about the long-term burden that would put on state budgets. So to secure Nelson's vote, Democrats added a sweetener for his home state, the federal government would pay 100 percent of Nebraska's tab for expanding Medicaid, indefinitely. We asked the Senate majority leader and he described it this way.
SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MAJORITY LEADER: It is compromise. It is -- we worked on different things to get a number of people's votes.
(On camera): And how do Democrats pay for this nearly $900 billion price tag? About half in spending cuts, mostly to Medicare, and the rest in tax hikes. One of the most notorious taxes on cosmetic procedures including Botox has been dropped in favor of a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning beds. Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, CNN's Tom Foreman will anchor tonight's coverage of the Senate's vote, and that begins at midnight Eastern.
MARCIANO: Well, this just in. Word from Dulles Airport they have opened up one runway right now, one runway opened at Dulles Airport. They hope to open up the rest of the airport as the day rolls along and it has stopped snowing there, but it has piled up immensely across that corridor.
Our Reynolds Wolf is live in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where last we checked in with you and folks were camping out on I-95.
Any more progress so far, Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Looks pretty good, Rob. I'll tell you I heard what you just said a little bit ago about Dulles having one runway open. Here all lanes are operating on this stretch of 95. In fact, we are going to switch over and go to a camera shot we have on top of our live truck that will show some of those southbound lanes. Things are going pretty smoothly for the time being, which is great news.
However, that is not the situation for the entire Commonwealth. In parts of I-64 back to Charlottesville, they have one lane that is now clear at this time. They have had plenty of accidents. In fact, over 3,000 accidents in the state of Virginia as this event began all the way up to the present time. I'm telling you, the areas have black ice and a little bit of snow and glazing on the roadways. We'll see that number accelerate again.
What we have in this spot where I happen to be, at the rest area, you have a lot of people. I'm probably talking a little bit too loud. A lot of people are catching up on their sleep. A lot of people were making the trip southward to visit family and friends. And a few that we have spoken to were trying to go to Florida, some trying to get to the Carolinas. Places that were considerably warmer, they never expected the drive to be as treacherous as it has been. But it has been an adventure for many of these people and they still have a long way to go before they get home.
In terms of your forecast here, the way things ended up, they had about 15.3 inches in and around the Fredericksburg area. Some places a little bit more, other places a little bit less. That was really the big factor, that combined with those winds that really caused very limited visibility in the roadways that hampered things. Not just for small vehicles, but of course the big high-profile trucks like the one over there, on that hill that is going right behind the Western Express. Certainly, some rough stuff.
That's the latest we have here on parts of I-95. We'll send it to my home slice, Rob Marciano.
Marciano, my friend, Rob, I know you have had plenty of experience driving in parts of the Northeast. People really do have to be careful, don't they?
MARCIANO: Yes, just take it slow, obviously. If you don't have to go anywhere, don't go. Christmas is still several days away. Maybe you want to bring a cup of hot cocoa to the folks to wake them up this morning.
WOLF: Absolutely. Will do.
MARCIANO: All right, Reynolds. We'll check there with you.
So, Reynolds is back over here west of Washington, D.C. flurries just wrapping things up there. He mentioned that around the area, and in other spots, totals were even more intense. In the mountains of West Virginia, Marlinton, seeing 26 inches. Robbinsville, North Carolina, 2 feet of snow, Greenville, Virginia, 22 inches. Waynesburg, West Virginia, 20, even Boone, North Carolina, seeing 16 inches.
Let's talk some of the bigger cities, across the Northeast, Philadelphia, they are clocking in at 22.9 inches. With that, D.C. seeing 16 inches. Here we go. We'll slide the map along. Philadelphia, the snow is winding down. New York City, you are seeing the snow wind down, officially 9.9 inches of snow in Central Park and snowing heavily across parts of eastern New England and Boston included. Some of the winds have been intense across Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard and off to the cape. Barnesville (ph) now, 40-mile-an-hour-plus winds. Blizzard warnings are posted for the counties in blue, including eastern Long Island, southern Rhode Island and eastern parts of Massachusetts. The winds gusting over 60 miles an hour. That will knock out some power, no debt, Betty. This is a storm far from over, as it begins to steam out to the Northeast.
Burlington, Massachusetts, live pictures for you, there it is. Proof is in the pudding. WHDH giving us that live shot as the snow continues to pile up in eastern Massachusetts. More on this throughout the morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: Tough getting around, but you know children love to be out playing in that and we, in fact, found a group just captivated by holiday magic. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "What's today," cried Scrooge, calling down to a boy in Sunday clothes. "Eh," returned the boy, with all his might of wonder. "What's today, my fine fellow?" "Today? On Christmas day?"
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: It is a must-see Christmas story, but this was not written by Charles Dickens. Our very own Reynolds Wolf travels to Biltmore Estate to show you a 114-year tradition.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Let's check on the top stories. We start with the update on travel delays. Dulles and Reagan National airports, in Washington, slowly are returning to somewhat normal conditions. Dulles reportedly now opening one runway. Reagan National hopes to open one at 10:00 a.m. this morning. Flights still canceled at the major airports in New York City. Maryland's Thurgood Marshall has one runway open. For those on the roads, of course, excessive delays on bus and rail service. Greyhound is reporting as many as 300 cancellations. >
And for the proof of the snow, here's a live picture from, let's see, is that Providence, Rhode Island? A blizzard warning in effect for the southern part of that state. And the snow continues to pile up in the capital.
NGUYEN: It is pretty to look at and some of our i-Reporters are out with their cameras. Here are shots from Washington, D.C. Sarajevo Garcia says they have a foot of the white stuff. If you have pictures to send, send them to ireport.com. MARCIANO: It will be a long night for the U.S. Senate. Senators get back together at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. They are going to go until 11:00 tonight. Adjourn for an hour, then crank it up one minute after midnight. A vote to end debate on several amendments is expected at 1:00 a.m. Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: So, will a white Christmas arrive early in the Northeast? It kind of looks like it already, but it is not quite the forecast people were hoping for. Picturesque, Asheville, North Carolina.
MARCIANO: That is where America's largest privately owned home is located. About a quarter million people visit it every year. It's the Biltmore Estate. And it has a spectacular holiday display. This morning you don't have to go anywhere, because we are going to show it to you. Our tour guide is Reynolds Wolf, who is obviously live on location in the snowstorm, but you got to visit this, I guess, in the last couple of weeks. Pretty cool.
NGUYEN: It is spectacular.
WOLF: Yes, amazing stuff. I'll tell you, with a lot of people there, they have had issues with traveling from one place to another, dealing with the snow, the huge winter storm. You know, they are a little bit, I don't know, people are feeling like the Grinch. It is rough, frustrating, but I tell you if they were taking that road right into North Carolina, down to Asheville to the Biltmore Estate, I think that would definitely get them more into the Christmas spirit. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Fifty-eight trees, miles of garland, and thousands of twinkling lights. Christmas celebrations in at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, date back to 1895. Christmas Eve 114 years ago, George Vanderbilt opened his American castle to friends for the very first time.
A 30-foot tall real Frazier fir decorated the home's grand banquet hall, which is a tradition which continues today. Cathy Barnhardt has worked on the display for 32 years, but she doesn't do it alone.
CATHY BARNHARDT, BILTMORE FLORAL DISPLAYS MANAGER: We got it down to real art and science. It does take about 35 men to hoist that tree into place. It is all done by manpower, and it is steered on the floor with other ropes, to go around chandeliers and moose heads and flags, and things like that.
WOLF (on camera): I think just about anybody who is tuning in can handle something on the bottom, but way up there, shoot, you need oxygen tanks up there to survive.
BARNHARDT: And scaffolding. WOLF: And scaffolding.
How much water is that thing drinking in?
BARNHARDT: It's hard to water a tree that size. A tree over about 15 or 16 feet doesn't really draw water very well. This tree is 34 feet. So, we don't try to put it in water.
WOLF (voice over): Instead, half way through the Christmas season, her team brings in a new tree and they decorate it all over again. George Vanderbilt wouldn't have had it any other way. And the 18,000 people on staff of the estate agree, including Bill Alexander, Biltmore's landscape and forest historian.
(On camera): So, essentially stepping onto this property, stepping through those doors, is like stepping back in time?
BILL ALEXANDER, BILTMORE LANDSCAPE HISTORIAN: Is like stepping back a century in time.
WOLF: I'll be darned.
ALEXANER: Absolutely.
WOLF: What better way to celebrate Christmas?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: You guys, one of the amazing things about the story that we really didn't get a chance to share with you is the idea of how quickly they clean everything up. We have all had the neighbor that lives down the block that keeps the Christmas tree lights on their yard until April.
NGUYEN: All year long.
MARCIANO: Yeah, that kind of thing. These guys, right after, I think they have the lights up until early January and then, in just a matter of days, every single one of the lights, again, we are talking thousands of them, all the decorations are stacked up and put up. Not only that, they are already planning for the next season. It is just truly a science how they have everything put up and put down. It is fascinating to behold.
NGUYEN: They have a staff to do it. Maybe that staff can come to our homes and take stuff down after Christmas.
MARCIANO: They don't just throw the -
WOLF: Your home, or Rob's home, and they would be terrified to whether enter the Wolf casa, trust me.
(LAUGHTER)
Casa de Wolf is a scary place during Christmas time.
NGUYEN: Are you the guy with the Christmas lights up half the year?
WOLF: I basically have a ball of them that comes out of the box, I don't untangle them, I just toss them on the tree however they land. Presto! Christmas lights. The spirit unfolds. The miracle of Christmas. Push the button, lights go on and the ball of Christmas joy is on the tree for everyone to enjoy.
NGUYEN: Reynolds, you are unreal.
WOLF: You have to come over some time.
NGUYEN: Yeah. We'll think about that.
MARCIANO: Finally, an invite. All right!
NGUYEN: Bring some lights, OK? See you.
MARCIANO: Mary and the kids (ph), we'll be over.
MARCIANO: You got it man.
MARCIANO: All right. See you.
NGUYEN: See you.
So we are not the only ones dealing with winter storms. Britain and France are also seeing a lot of snow.
MARCIANO: Yes, unusual weather for them and it caused six trains to break down because of the extreme weather. We'll go live to London with the latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: A Boston shot for you. They are rolling slowly along as the snow continues to come down. As you know, we have been talking about it all weekend, Betty, the snow in the U.S. has caused huge travel delays. Thousands of travelers across the Atlantic are also stranded.
NGUYEN: Yes, Eurostar train service between Britain and France remain cancelled today. After six trains broke down, five of them inside the chunnel tunnel. Hundreds of people were aboard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have run out of food and water. The toilets looked like something out of the Third World.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no water, no food, no blankets, she was freezing. But it was baby's milk as well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had my four-year-old with me. She was walking down the tracks with me next to live lines.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The heat was unbearable. A little girl actually got taken on to the hospital because she was going in and out of unconsciousness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Goodness. Well, Eurostar blames the breakdowns on freezing weather. And it couldn't come at a worst time. The busy travel weekend, right before Christmas. And we have the latest now from CNN's Paula Newton, who is live in London for us.
And, Paula, I understand there more snow in the forecast today. Is that going to add to the mess?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Betty, what's been a problem is not just the snow and there could be a little bit more snow to fall here, along those rail lines, the problem has been the extreme cold. Sometimes we get snow here, but it will usually go away even in a matter of hours. This is a deep freeze. It is happening not just in Britain, but in northern France. That's why the trains have malfunctioned, Betty.
Behind me, still desperate people, here, waiting to get onto the first train. They hope it will happen later today, but Eurostar telling us, look, there is no chance.
Betty, this is a main artery for people to travel through, not just for the entire year, but at Christmas time especially, people trying to here to Britain, or people trying to get onto the Continent. Every hour that these trains are not running, a huge backlog for Christmas, Betty.
NGUYEN: Any idea when things will start rolling again. I know it is kind of touch and go, but are you getting any kind of an estimate on when things might be kind of back to normal?
NEWTON: Well, these people are here waiting because they believe that perhaps the test trains that are going through the chunnel right now, might actually work. And they might decide to try and get through the backlog in a couple of hours. The problem, though, is that Eurostar is saying that's just not going to happen.
We listened to a lot of those passengers that went through very grim times on the chunnel -in the chunnel, being stuck on those trains. They are saying they are taking no chances. That means if those test trains run, fingers crossed, it means that service will start again tomorrow morning, but that means there's a huge backlog still to get through. Betty, we expect more news hopefully in the next three to four hours.
NGUYEN: All right. Paula Newton joining us live. Thank you, Paula.
MARCIANO: You know, this is not a dispute against global warming, but it seems there is a conference, or some big meeting.
NGUYEN: Something like this happens?
MARCIANO: There's some big cold snap that happens. It is just pretty ironic. Obviously, both sides of the pond are being affected by cold weather, severe weather here in the U.S., a frozen East Coast as well. Reagan National Airport, we have a look at that shot, the runway being closed until 10:00. Dulles had one open.
NGUYEN: One.
MARCIANO: We are on the road to improvement.
NGUYEN: Hey, at least someone is getting up in the air and to their destination. One runway, we'll continue to watch it and hopefully more will open up throughout the day. You are watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Hello, everyone. From the CNN Center this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is December 20th. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
MARCIANO: I'm Rob Marciano in for T.J. Holmes. Thank you for starting your day with us. Let's get right to it.
The top stories, the Senate is in session again today after Democrats gained the support of Senator Ben Nelson for the health care reform legislation.
He's backing gives the Democrats enough votes to avoid a filibuster. The first of a series of votes on the bill is set for overnight at 1:00 a.m. Eastern. A final vote is expected later this week, likely Thursday. CNN's Tom Foreman anchors our live coverage tonight of the Senate action beginning at midnight Eastern.
NGUYEN: Well, it proven to be a lousy weekend for travel in the mid-Atlantic states and the Northeast. Reagan National Airport hopes to have one runway open by 10 Eastern this morning. Dulles International Airport has one runway open right now. Both airports got hit really hard with record snowfall amounts.
I'll give you a live shot of LaGuardia Airport in New York. This is inside the terminal. We are seeing a little bit of -- not really foot traffic, just a couple people standing there. There you go. Well, there were a few.
MARCIANO: Chaos.
NGUYEN: Live -- yes. Not really sure about what's going on with that live picture, but the airport was shut down yesterday shortly after 6:00 in the evening due to all the bad weather.
MARCIANO: Yes. It's still snowing in New England right now -- a lot of winds are blowing. The state of emergency for parts of Boston as the eastern part of the storm now, they're feeling the brunt of it.
NGUYEN: And D.C. had a bit of a state of emergency yesterday. They call it a snow emergency.
MARCIANO: Snow emergency which means basically get your cars out of the roads and so we can plow.
NGUYEN: And then it turned into a blizzard warning.
MARCIANO: Blizzard warning and yes, it escalated from there. Three thousand accidents reported in Virginia alone. Three people did die. And the snow continues to come down in some spots.
Well, let's see how our nation's capital is doing in digging out of that snow emergency. Our Elaine Quijano is at Reagan National Airport.
Elaine, what's the status of the airport? And I think I see some breaks in the clouds behind you. There's a dawn on the horizon.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And not only that, we're actually seeing people starting to arrive because they are hoping that they can get on their flights that they couldn't get on yesterday, but the very latest of the situation here at Reagan National, Rob, is that they are hoping to have at least one runway open by 10:00 a.m. -- 10:00 a.m. is what we are being told, at least one runway open.
Over at Dulles International Airport not too far away in Northern Virginia, they are right now operating with one runway. That is going. So that is good news for them. They are still trying to dig out here at Reagan National and get all these passengers to where they were hoping to go yesterday.
But one thing is for sure, all up and down the east coast, as you have been reporting, it's been a long night. A long day yesterday after that storm blew through. A lot of to folks were arriving here hoping to catch sort of the last flight before the bulk of the storm hit, but only to be told, no, you're going to have to wait things out. So, we are seeing this morning, a lot of folks still trying to catch a few Z's, frankly, walking up and down the terminal there before they are told to get on their flights.
It's interesting, though, Rob, I checked the boards not too long ago, some airlines are actually showing, though, that they have flights scheduled to come in here to Reagan National before that 10:00 a.m. time that we are being given. So, that's probably wishful thinking at this time. And airport officials, again, are urging people, if you are flying in and out of one of these D.C. area airports, you obviously want to check ahead, check the airline's Web site because it's going to be some time before they get back to normal.
I should also tell you, as well, a record-setting snowfall here at Reagan National Airport. As of yesterday afternoon, more than 13 inches had fallen within a 24-hour period and more snow continued to fall. So, it's going to be a lot higher than that, the actual total. But they haven't seen that kind of snow in decades. It was back in 1932 that they set the last record here at Reagan National, and that was only 11 1/2 inches.
So, Rob, that gives you a sense of exactly what officials here are trying to contend with. I know there's probably some folks in Minnesota and other places in the Midwest who wonder why this is such a big deal -- well, it just doesn't happen here in the Washington, D.C., area. So, when you get this much snow, it's a lot for people to contend with -- Rob.
MARCIANO: And the sheer number of people appealing to the weather, and it can mean throw out those historic numbers.
Elaine Quijano, nice job out there. We'll check back with you in just a little bit.
All right. Let's check in some live pictures this side of Burlington. Oh, my goodness, Betty.
NGUYEN: It is coming down there.
MARCIANO: You bet. That is a -- that is heavy snow, one to two inches per hour, maybe heavy. It's not yet -- get the plows out and get busy.
NGUYEN: I was going to say, they need more than just one and then we see a whole line of them coming through. Nice.
All right. And we want to give you a look at Boston this morning -- a beautiful shot of this roadway there. You can see the trees lining up. One car is venturing out.
This is Newbury Street in Boston, I'm being told. It's still very early. I know a lot of people, though, want to make up for the time that was lost yesterday when they were staying inside because of all the weather out there -- because there is shopping to be done. There's just a little bit left until the Christmas holiday and maybe that person is trying to get an early start on it, but it looks like the roadway is not too bad at this point.
MARCIANO: Not too bad.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Then again, no one is on it.
MARCIANO: Framed and flanked by some Christmas lights.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: A beautiful shot.
All right. Let's get the latest on the weather outside. Reynolds Wolf is in Fredericksburg, Virginia, braving the elements out there along Interstate 95.
And when we talk about traffic there in Boston, not bad -- at least not from that specific shot. How is traffic where you are?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Traffic where we are, Betty, is actually pretty good. We are coming to you from a rest area along parts of I-95. It's very close to the southbound lanes.
I'm here with CNN photojournalist Ken Tillis.
Ken, let's show the people the headlines that we have here in this local paper. It says, "Snowfall Slams Holiday Plans." Well, that was certainly the case I'd say earlier, but from this vantage point, that shot that we have from the top of the live truck, you'll get a shot of those outbound lanes of I-95, but they actually do look pretty good for the time being. That's the good news.
The bad news is, I have to tell you, personally, trying to get to this location this morning was pretty tough on those back roads. There are many, many back roads here throughout Virginia, same story I'm sure in Maryland, back into the Carolinas and, of course, the farther north you go, the more issues you're going to run into. A lot of the side roads still remain unplowed. There's still a big mess.
You got a lot of obstacles before getting to the freeway, but then, once you get to the major freeways, you still have a lot of ice on the roads. You got to be careful -- careful because we already had around 3,000 accidents statewide here with many more around the region.
Now, in our area, we've got, of course, the skies are looking pretty good, but here at the ground and at least here in this rest area, we got people that are pulling in and taking a little bit of a siesta, if you will, for what's been just a very difficult drive for a lot of people. A lot of people were planning on pretty nice conditions coming down, but, of course, you have these major storms. Still a full day before winter officially begins and it has been tough. A lot of these people who have been coming in out here are just trying to catch a breather before they resume that trip.
But I will tell you, Mother Nature is going to help out because temperatures today are warming up into the upper 30s here. And then we expect, and they actually get close to 40 degrees closer to Christmas Day itself. So, a lot of the snow that we have in the background is going to be going, going gone. Snow that in this area that got up to 15 inches, amazing stuff.
Let's send it back to you guys.
MARCIANO: Thanks very much. Fifteen inches of snow there; 16 inches at Reagan National where Elaine Quijano was reporting in. So, that was record-setting.
Central Park, 9.9 -- probably a little bit more there when it's all said and done.
But Philadelphia, the winter here on the east, northeast, the bigger cities, 22.9 inches of snow in Annapolis, Maryland, seeing 20 or so inches of snow.
All right. Here's the flight explorer. These are planes that are in the air right now. Not necessarily landing or taking off out of Dulles or Reagan just yet, but they do have runway open at Dulles. So, those -- the number of planes that are taking off will be increasing. We'll be happy to show you that to you and show more planes in the air. I'm sure if you're at the airport, you're certainly thinking that.
All right. Let's talk about where this low is. It's right here; it's intensifying. We're getting some throw-backs, some wrap-around moisture with -- on the backside of this. But we're also seeing a fair amount of wind and blowing snow.
So, a blizzard warning has been posted for a lot of these spots. We've seen winds gust over 50 miles an hour across the Cape, in New Bedford, there you go. You are seeing wind over 30 miles an hour at this time.
So, that's going to -- that's going to keep coming. As far as what we're looking at for warnings and advisories out of the northeast, still winter storm warnings posted for all of Connecticut and eastern Massachusetts. But blizzard warnings up for eastern Long Island with -- and that includes parts of southern Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts.
We take you to central Rhode Island, here's a live shot from Providence where it has been snowing quite heavily there. There you go.
Good morning, Providence. It is a winter wonderland, my friends. And you're going to be in it probably for the next six to 10 hours before it begins to wind down and you can start to dig out. But take it -- take it easy. If you've got a four-wheel drive like that person does, you may be OK.
Some spots, Betty, on eastern Long Island have already seen 20 inches. So, they could get up to 30 inches before this is done -- quite a historic storm for pretty much all of the eastern big cities on the east coast as we wrap it up today.
NGUYEN: (INAUDIBLE)
MARCIANO: But, of course, it's going to have a ripple effect throughout today and right on through tomorrow likely as well.
NGUYEN: Yes, you know there are problems when we say blizzard warning out there.
MARCIANO: It doesn't happen too often on the east coast for sure. So, this is -- this isn't easy.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Rob.
Well, lawmakers -- they are braving the conditions. And, in fact, they are working into the night and early in the morning as well on health care reform. They finally got the support it needs, but here's the question: what was changed in the bill? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
MARCIANO: I'm not sure if everybody met halfway. But they are certainly some compromising.
NGUYEN: Yes, not so sure there'd be that kind of a compromise on this.
MARCIANO: No, definitely negotiating and deal-making for sure.
NGUYEN: Yes.
MARCIANO: Well, the Senate Democrats have sewn up their votes on health care reform, it seems, but they have a lot of work if they want to pass it before Christmas.
NGUYEN: Oh, so much still to do. And senators have a long day ahead. Also, a long night as well with a key vote set to happen after midnight.
Our congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar is live on Capitol Hill.
Even before the key vote in the Senate, though, some House Democrats are now threatening to vote against the health care reform bill. What's this all about, Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, and, you know, at first, Betty, I have to ask you: do you really think the Black Eyed Peas thought that was a health care anthem?
NGUYEN: No, not at all. I don't think it's an anthem for health care.
KEILAR: But I sure did like it.
NGUYEN: Yes.
KEILAR: I sure did like that when I heard that.
NGUYEN: It may not apply to this, though.
KEILAR: No. And there is this thorny issue, again, over what you just said and it comes down again to abortion. The issue of the abortion and this is the issue that has jeopardized passage of this bill both in the House and in the Senate. Really, just the last issue that had to be dealt with and that almost really got in the way.
So, the reason the Senate Democratic leaders were able to get that last vote, that 60th vote that they needed, was because they put some restrictions on insurance coverage of abortion. They did this to attract Ben Nelson, who was a Democrat, but he's an anti-abortion rights Democrat. So that's how they got him onboard.
But now, this agreement that they worked out is really getting the ire of a key House Democrat, Bart Stupak, who is also anti- abortion rights. He's someone who successfully led the charge for the really strict language in the House bill. And here's what he said in a statement.
He said, "While I appreciate the efforts of all the parties involved, especially Senator Ben Nelson, the Senate abortion language is not acceptable. A review of the Senate language indicates a dramatic shift in federal policy that would allow the federal government to subsidize insurance policies with abortion coverage."
So, let's look now at the other side when you hear from two congresswomen who chaired what is called, it's self-labeled, the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus. They said in a statement, "We have serious reservations about the abortion provision included in the U.S. Senate's health care bill. This provision is not only offensive to people who believe in choice, but it is also possibly unconstitutional."
So what this tells you, Betty, is that even after what is expected to be the passing of this key vote, very late tonight, really, early Monday morning, this whole effort for health care reform is going to have to run a whole other gauntlet because of the issue of abortion. Also because of that sticky issue of the public option, the government-run insurance plan when the Senate and the House hash out their differences and settle on a final bill.
This is far from over and it's going to be pretty difficult ahead as well, Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, far from over. It's going to be a late night, a very early morning. And that has some people scratching their heads. In fact, we listened to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell yesterday say, "Look, why are they trying to jam this vote through a vote in the middle of the night on the last weekend before Christmas."
And so, that's what I want to ask you: any idea why this is coming so late tonight?
KEILAR: It's coming late tonight because the rules of the Senate say that you have to have -- once you start the countdown toward a key vote like this -- you have to have a certain number of hours of debate. And so, the way it just shakes out is for 1:00 a.m.
You heard Republican Mitch McConnell say that. On the flip side, Democrats are saying, "Well, the Republicans are really making this difficult for us. We can't move quickly because they are making us do things like read the entire updated bill." They read all of the changes to the bill yesterday, almost 400 pages.
So, there is a lot of animosity between Democrats and Republicans over the issue of this health care reform and Republicans are not expected to give them a single vote in this key test vote later tonight, Betty.
NGUYEN: So, unlike the song, they are not going to meet them halfway.
KEILAR: No. It's about Democrats meeting each other halfway, I think, is really the key to the song. NGUYEN: Yes. All right. Thank you, Brianna.
So, after all this back-and-forth, what's actually in the bill? Well, it's supposed to cost $871 billion through 2019. Almost $400 billion of that is supposed to come from new taxes or new limits on existing tax benefits. Among the final changes announced yesterday, a Medicare payroll tax add on of 0.9 percent and that would only be paid by people earning more than $200,000 or couples earning more than $250,000.
Senate leaders dropped a proposed tax on cosmetic surgeries, but they added a new 10 percent tax on indoor tanning.
And CNN's Tom Foreman will anchor tonight's coverage of the Senate vote. It begins, as we've been talking about, midnight Eastern.
MARCIANO: Well, a lot of people tan in the wintertime, I guess.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: I guess. Nice transition there.
(CROSSTALK)
MARCIANO: It's a winter creation like you've never seen. Josh Levs is here to tell us about the tiny snowman ever, who, I'm sure, has never hit a sun-tanning bed.
NGUYEN: At all.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm still on that tanning thing. It's amazing the way Congress works, isn't it?
NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness.
LEVS: You got to find money. How about 10 percent on indoor tanning?
NGUYEN: Indoor tanning, why not?
LEVS: Sure. The tanning lobbying wasn't big enough to stop that one. Amazing.
OK. Well, this is going to be really cool. You guys have to check this out. This -- let's check out this little guy right here. It is an actual three-dimensional snowman. It's not a drawing. It's smaller than the human hair.
How it was made and what this says about the future of medicine -- I'm going to show you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
MARCIANO: It's snowman making weather to say the least.
NGUYEN: We didn't get much snow growing up in Texas, so when you got a little bit of ice, you were out there trying to make some kind snowman as best as possible.
MARCIANO: Probably a small snowman.
NGUYEN: Not this small, though. I mean, I'm talking about the smallest snowman ever. How small? Well, Josh Levs joins now with the latest on that.
This thing is tiny.
LEVS: Yes, it is. It's right here behind me. There you guys are. How are you doing?
Here's what I'm going to do. Let's go straight to the video (INAUDIBLE). I want you to check this out. How incredibly small this thing is and you'll be able to see -- it's zooming in steadily.
Watch what happens as the camera zooms. It's going to go farther and farther and farther in and you're not going to see a drawing. What you are going to see is an actual little three-dimensional snowman type object. If we were microscopic, it would look like a normal snowman to us. We're going farther and farther in.
This thing is 1/5 the width of a human hair. It's made from these two tiny tin beads. And this is going viral online. The nose area is 0.001 millimeters wide.
And there's actually a real point to this. This is from the National Physical Laboratory. Its Web site says it's one of the U.K.'s leading science and research facilities. And when you read about it, you see terms like electron microscope astigmatism and nano manipulation, which was used to make it. Basically, this incredible tiny little object in microscopes with these super sharp tips.
And what they are doing, this laboratory, is they're drawing attention to nanotechnology, which is, in a lot ways, the new technology. It's what's powering advances in medicine, advances in computers, the way your cable works, the way your cell phone works, and the way your computer works. A lot of advancing surgeries these days use what's called nanotechnology. It is incredibly tiny technology.
So, this clever laboratory stuck that video online -- and as a result, getting people to take a look at it all over the world.
And you can ultimately see -- can we zoom in for a second? Because you can magnify a little more. You can see this little world's smallest ever snowman. That is so incredibly tiny, but they show you that we actually have the video power now to zoom way in on it.
I've got the link up for you. We'll show you where we post it so you can check out yourself. It's up at our blog. It's also at Facebook and Twitter, JoshLevsCNN. You can play around with that.
And, guys, last time I checked, it was a bunch of different videos, hundreds of thousands of people all over the country happy to check out this holiday season's the tiniest snowman.
NGUYEN: That is cool, though, just how small and precise those tools can be.
LEVS: It's amazing.
MARCIANO: I find it odd that the world's tiniest snowman is smaller than a snowflake. But I know it's not actually snow but...
LEVS: I should have thought of that.
NGUYEN: It's a very good point, though.
LEVS: Yes, it is.
NGUYEN: So, is it truly the smallest or tiniest snowman ever?
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: You know, I'm going with snowman on this count.
MARCIANO: Oh, yes.
NGUYEN: All right. Fact or fiction. Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Yes, we need a reality check on that one. OK.
MARCIANO: All right. Josh, thanks, man.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
MARCIANO: All right. Let's check in our top stories.
The Senate is in session today working on the health care reform bill. The first of a series of votes on that bill set to begin overnight, 1:00 a.m. Eastern. The final vote is expected later this week, likely Thursday. You can watch it live. And CNN's Tom Foreman handles the coverage of the vote beginning at midnight.
NGUYEN: Well, this weekend's snow, ice and freezing rain is making for treacherous driving. Cars are spinning out on slick roads in Asheville. Some of them need some help getting off the roadways. Some drivers needed, you know, a little helping hand. Others just need to get moving and thanks to one of those snowplows, they were able to get a few -- that one is spinning out there -- a few ways down roadway.
Well, you know, winter storm warnings are still in effect along the North Carolina-Tennessee border. And here's the video from Red Bank, New Jersey. We are looking there at a bunch of folks just getting out. Is that a snow sled right there?
MARCIANO: Oh, yes.
NGUYEN: Oh, I'm kind of enjoying it. They are just trying to get the snow off the walkways and get out of the house. It's going to be tough going until all this starts to melt away. And then once it does, Rob, we're going to see a little flooding, do you think?
MARCIANO: Yes. Well, not flooding but it's probably going to melt. I think it's going to warm up and maybe we get a little bit of rain before Christmas. So, you know, New York, when it snows, even D.C. when it -- get out there early and enjoy it because it's peaceful, it's white. The entire city will look clean for a short time.
NGUYEN: For just a minute.
MARCIANO: And then it gets nastier.
NGUYEN: Yes.
MARCIANO: But, you know, a lot of our iReporters have been out snapping some very seasonal pictures. And we want to share some of them with you from West Virginia. Sherri Ellis took some of these shots outside of her house measuring some of the snow there, 18 inches of snow at a care. Her mother's Jeep buried.
If you have any pictures you want to share with us, well, please do. Send them to iReport.com.
NGUYEN: And believe it or not, some stores are still closed on Sundays so people can go shopping in some places. This is, you know, as we know, the last weekend for Christmas. A lot of people wanting to get out and get that shopping done.
Coming up, though, in the 8:00 hour on CNN morning, we're going to give you the latest on all that you need to know as you make the most of your Sunday.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA DAWN JOHNSON, MOTIVATIONAL MINUTE: Welcome to a brand new day. This moment is exclusively designed for you. We all have no more, no less, than 1,440 minutes in a day, so let's get moving.
Now is the opportunity that you have to maximize the moment. The past, forget about it. The future, who knows? It is all about living in the present. So I challenge you this morning to make the most of today. I want you to think about ideas and opportunity that are right in front of you. Ultimately, you are creating the memories that will make a mark throughout a lifetime.
So, thank you so much, and always remember: you have the power to make every day brand-tastic.
This is Melissa Dawn Johnson and this is your "Motivational Minute."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Yes.
MARCIANO: I can't wait to -- well, I don't want to get, if I'm not motivated, I get out of here, but I'm motivated to do something.
NGUYEN: Yes. To do something big, right?
MARCIANO: Something big.
NGUYEN: Change the world.
MARCIANO: There's a couple of big games on today.
NGUYEN: OK, I don't know if you're going to change the world with that one.
We're going to do this every Sunday so stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, though, blue laws are red hot issue in states that could benefit from more shopping on Sunday.
MARCIANO: That is ahead at 8:00 in our "Faces of Faith" segment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues in just 30 minutes.
MARCIANO: "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta starts right now.
