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CNN Sunday Morning
Mega Storm Barrels Northeast; Bus Wrecks in Egypt, Americans Killed
Aired December 26, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour here. Good morning to you all. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is your CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Eight a.m., where I am. It is 5:00 a.m. out on the West Coast. Wherever you may be, glad you're right there.
Do you know that AAA predicted that some 92 million-plus Americans would travel at least 50 miles from home for Christmas? The trick now is going to be getting back home. We got a doozy of a storm on our hands right now.
Winter storm, it has blasted the Southeast already. Now, it is making its way to the North. We have blizzard warnings in place and really an impending blizzard on its way to parts of New England, some places bracing for -- listen to this -- 20 inches of snow.
So, if you're trying to get somewhere, whether you're flying, whether you're driving, maybe you're hopping on a train, you need to hear from our Reynolds Wolf -- he is coming up in just a moment with your forecast.
Also this morning, sad story out of Egypt, where eight Americans have been killed, when a tour bus they were on crashed. They were part of a group that were on these three tour buses. We'll have more details for you. We'll be trying to get more exactly who they were, how this happened, and also, what's being done for the 19 others who were also injured, that's just ahead.
But we have got to start with the storm.
Yesterday, we predicted a white Christmas in many places that have really never seen a white Christmas before, Columbia, South Carolina, Birmingham, Alabama -- yes, they did get their first white Christmas ever. Even here in Atlanta, go back to 1882 for the last significant snowfall on Christmas Day. So, people were enjoying that. Raleigh, North Carolina, kind of the same thing, their first white Christmas since 1927.
But back to Atlanta here, the metro area saw up to an inch of snow in some places. Heavier amounts fell in the northern part of Georgia. Snow had some ice was enough to lead the state Department of Transportation to post several travel advisories.
Also Saturday's southern snowstorm made Knoxville, Tennessee, look like this -- yes, it's beautiful. It's a very nice picture on a Christmas Day, but it can cause some problems that you're trying to get around.
A lot of people saw a lot of this yesterday in many parts of the Southeast. Kids were out there playing -- yes, they were enjoying it, but the drivers ended up in positions like that, you saw the car on the side of the road. A lot of places ended up seeing scenes like that, it just made things treacherous.
In Alabama as well, they got one to three inches of snow, covered much of that state, they were under a winter storm warning until around dinnertime last night. Best advice for a lot of people, slow down, even better advice maybe don't even get out in it. And as I mentioned, blizzard warnings stretching from D.C. to Maine at this point.
Now, what you're seeing in this picture is not all snow you're seeing. No, that's what they're going to be using to fight the snow. That's tons and tons of salt in New York City, being prepared, being loaded on to trucks for the snow that's coming their way, I believe up to an inch they're expecting in the metro area there.
And again, Boston is the spot we're talking about that could get some 20 inches of snow -- 20 inches of snow.
Our Reynolds Wolf is standing by, been a very busy man this morning.
We talk about this snow. We talk about flights. We also got to talk about a lot of people driving. The roads are treacherous. You take it away.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, my brother. It's going to be an interesting day.
I'll tell you, for a lot of people across the country, they're just bracing for what is to come. And if we can go back in time just a little bit, believe it or not, what we're dealing with on the East Coast is something that was at one time a storm system that was affecting parts of the West Coast, bringing some heavy rainfall, bringing some scattered snow showers that made its way across the Southern tier of states and now, it's moving off the Eastern Seaboard, and let's show you the result of that.
As we zoom in on the Carolinas, it is so easy to see where we have the rain. It is coming down right now and just to beat the band especially on the outer banks. But when you cross over into parts of the coastal plains and back into mountains, everything begins to change. You'll notice one side, we got temperatures that are right at or below the freezing point. But then, when you get close to the coast, we're still into the 40s. A lot of this is going to change.
Virginia Beach, you're right near the freezing point with that, the snow is coming down. One advantage that we have in some of these places that the ground has been relatively warm in some of the places in the Carolinas. So, icing on many of the roadways, probably won't be an issue. However, on overpasses, where you have plenty of air going underneath the driving surface and above it, that's where you could have some icy spots.
Definitely the possibility in Philadelphia, 29 degrees, what we have right now, and the moisture is on the way, the snow will soon follow.
Farther north we go into New York, back into Bristol, again, relatively dry. But we are expecting heavy snow, so is the National Weather Service. And because of that reason, we've got watches and warnings scattered across much of New England, down into the mid- Atlantic.
You're going to notice the pink, some of the purples, that indicates your warnings, your advisories. But then you're also going to notice a few of the states and some of the areas happen to be shaded in a darker red. Those are your blizzard warnings that will be in effect until 6:00 p.m. for much of the Northeast. And very quickly, as we wrap things up, one other thing to share with you, you can imagine we're going to see widespread delays in many locations, all of your major airports in the Northeast, all of them in New York, we can expect a lot of cancellations, a lot of frustrated people.
But, you know, T.J., this is the nature of your job, this is exactly what we have to deal with and, hey, it's the holidays.
HOLMES: It is. And that's the unfortunate part there. Everybody enjoyed their holiday trying to get back home now. Reynolds, we appreciate it.
Reynolds, we're going to be checking in with him every few minutes here, never going to be too far away from him and your update about this storm.
Now, meanwhile, the storm grounded, as you know, as he was just mentioning there, hundreds and hundreds of flights.
American Airlines says it will cancel up to half of its flights in and out of key airports in the path of the storm. Continental and its partner United already canceled about 250 flights. This all started you remember Christmas Day, really the day before Christmas, Delta preemptively canceled some 500 flights ahead of the storm, 300 of those were at the airport here in Atlanta, Hartsfield-Jackson.
What you're seeing on the left side of your screen, the right side, you see some of that snow accumulation in Atlanta as well at our Centennial Olympic Park, which is just across the way from where I'm standing here at our world headquarters of t CNN.
More cancellations are predicted for today.
Also, a nice tool some of you are already familiar with I'm sure. But, Orbitz, their Web site, they track airport activity. Now, you see that screen right now, see a lot of green flags -- meaning things are pretty much up and running and doing OK at most of those major airports.
But the one red flag you're seeing, that is in Atlanta -- meaning there are delays. Now, we could expect to see more red flags up and down the East Coast throughout the day as things start to change.
Now, one of those red flags could end up being at Boston's Logan International Airport.
Susan Tran of affiliate WHDH is there live for us.
I guess, right now, all you can do is get ready for what's to come. How are they getting ready?
SUSAN TRAN, WHDH REPORTER: T.J., right now, they're really just deicing planes and getting ready for a lot of flights. What is happening down where you are in the Southeast is really having a ripple effect here in the Northeast. For the most part, we're not seeing a lot of delays or cancellations just for Logan Airport, but it is what is happening in the Midwest, and down in the Southeast that is affecting us.
Right now, the snow is coming down steadily. I can't imagine two more awful words during a travel holiday weekend than blizzard warnings. A lot of folks were either coming to the airport early to try to get out ahead of the storm or trying to arrive back here at home in Boston, again ahead of this blizzard warning.
Right now, you can see that the airport is quite quiet. There's still some accumulation that is just starting. It's going to be interesting because we're not quite sure when the heavy stuff is going to come. We know it's going to come later this afternoon. But within the last hour or so, we did see a few flakes turn into really puffy snow. So, it is coming quickly and the change is coming quickly.
Now, we did se a few cancellations on our boards here at Logan Airport, and some delays. But it is considerably low. And we did talk to folks who say that they can't get out again because of the connections that are either in Newark or in Atlanta or in the Southeast or Midwest. And all of that again in other parts of the country are affecting us here at Boston's Logan Airport.
But, for now, things are quite quiet here in Boston.
HOLMES: All right. Susan Tran, we appreciate the update from there. And again, they are standing by. Some are predicting Boston is going to have up to 20 inches of snow today. That's coming a little later in the day.
I want to turn to some developing news we got towards this morning out of Egypt about Americans -- 8 Americans dead there, another 19 hurt after their tour bus crashed. This happened in the city of Aswan on the Nile River.
I talked a little earlier with one of our CNN producers, Christine Theodorou, who is there. She had more details about what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE THEODOROU, CNN PRODUCER (via telephone): All together, there were 116 Americans part of a three-bus tour. Now, it was the middle bus carrying 37 people that crashed into a parked truck loaded with sand. The injured are being moved by military transport to Cairo.
They've mobilized staff to identify and to assist those Americans involved. They don't have specific information to release at this time regarding any individual that may have been involved in the accident, but they have provided a phone number on their Web site and on their Facebook page for people that may have questions or concerns to put them in touch with embassy staff to help them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: She just mentioned that number -- a lot of people might be concerned, might have people traveling internationally right now or want to know what's going on, maybe family or friends there. The embassy number they have put out. It's an international number here, but it's 011 202-2797-3300. Again, an international number here, but it's 011 202-2797-3300. If you might be worried about somebody who could have been part of that group. Again, a developing story we're keeping a close eye on it for you.
At 10 past the hour, the other thing we are keeping a very close eye on: the weather, a look at that. You don't necessarily consider this a major or a rare event necessarily during the wintertime.
Yes, we have a nor'easter. We've had them before. Sometimes, we have a couple of them during the winter.
The problem here is that everybody is trying to get home right now from the holidays and this is exactly the wrong time you want a storm like this. Reynolds Wolf is keeping a close eye on that for us throughout the morning. He's never too far away to keep you updated about your travel and your weather.
Stay with us on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, again, 12 minutes past the hour.
Keeping a close of your weather situation today with that nor'easter that's moving up, going to make travel fits for people today and tomorrow at they're trying to get home after Christmas.
Reynolds Wolf is standing by. He'll be up every few minutes here for you with an update on that ever changing weather situation.
Meanwhile, Christmas, of course, is just yesterday, just over. But some people, like 12 days of Christmas, they could just be getting started for some of you. Could get expensive, though, if you want to get everything on that list, including the partridge in a pear tree.
Josh Levs, do tell.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we get to have a little fun with this.
Take a look at this -- it's called a "Christmas price index." This group out there, PNC Wealth Management, that's been putting this together for 27 years.
And this interactive thing with a pop-up book that shows you how much it would cost to get every single thing on the entire list, for example, starting off with the partridge in a pear tree they're finding this year. It would be $162, a little bit more than last year.
It actually is one interesting way to look at the economy, and what's going on. There's a video goes along with this. Take a look at the clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, PNC WEALTH MANAGEMENT)
NARRATOR: This year, your true love will be paying a bit more for two turtle doves. The cost has gone up 78.6 percent to an even $100.
Bon jour, it sounds like the French hens are carrying on in the hen house. See if you can get the birds to come out of their home. No wonder they're making so much noise, the cost of three French hens is up to $150.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: There you go. And what I'll do here is I'll show you the total what they came up with when they put together all the gifts in the entire list of "The 12 Days of Christmas." It's on the screen right behind me here. Take a look at the total. They've been following the same rules every year, so it actually ends up being a look at inflation in America.
Here it is, up 9.2 percent this year from 2009, and the total they put right there, $23,439 -- let's zoom way in. That's how much it would cost you if you wanted to get everything on the entire list and they even give you an individual breakdown.
Let's show you another little clip of this video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, PNC WEALTH MANAGEMENT)
NARRATOR: What's your favorite part of the holiday season? For me, it's the parties, and it looks like we found a big one. It cost $5,473 for nine ladies to dance at last year's Christmas celebration.
Let's see what it will cost to see them twirl for us this year. Wow! With an increase of 15 percent, it will cost over $800 more this year for the finest dancing ladies money can buy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: All right, "The 12 Days of Christmas," having a little fun with that there. By the way, there's also this pretty cool thing you should check out online, where you can guess, sort of like a "Price is Right" of "The 12 Days of Christmas." They show you each of the 12 gifts and you can guess how much each one costs.
I have linked all this for you up on my Facebook page. You can take a look there. It's @JoshLevsCNN. I also have a Twitter, JoshLevsCNN.
And take a look, see what you think, have a little fun with the pop-up book as well. And in the end, you know what? There is some real news in there. It really is one way of looking at the economy and how much more expensive pretty much everything has gotten over the last couple of decades as long as they've been doing this.
But you'll also be happy to know, you'll see it there, a few things actually haven't gone up, a few items in the "12 Days of Christmas," T.J., costing just the same as they did last year. So, not everything is being hit by inflation.
HOLMES: All right. I can't remember what some of those items are even on that list. I'll check it out.
Josh, thank you this morning.
LEVS: You got it.
HOLMES: You know, driving on ice is tricky. You might even call it a bit of an art form. Some people have not mastered that art form. Some shouldn't attempt to try to master it.
We have an update on icy road conditions. We have an update on what's happening at airports around the country, and update on in particular that huge nor'easter that is going to give people fits as they try to get back home after the holidays.
Fifteen minutes past the hour. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, it's 17 minutes past the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Give you a look at some stories keeping a close eye on.
Up first here, story out of Egypt having to do with Americans. Eight Americans killed in a tour bus crash there today. They were part of a three-bus tour convoy that was traveling in the city of Aswan. The crash happened when the middle bus they were in smashed into a parked dump truck loaded with sand. U.S. embassy in Cairo working to identify the Americans involved.
We turn to Rotterdam now. Dutch police have arrested 12 Somali men suspected of terrorism there. Authorities say they believe the men were about to carry out an attack. No word yet on the possible target. Also, New York -- ooh, the tri-state area there bracing for blizzard conditions. Take a look at that. That's not snow. That is all the salt they have piled up and loading on to trucks to get ready to combat what is expected to be up to a foot of snow in the area.
Blizzard warnings in effect -- excuse me -- for parts of New Jersey and Connecticut through Monday. Excuse me, folks for the cough.
Now, a lot of people out there talked about the weather and how it's going to affect air travel. But a lot of people are going to be driving.
Don Lindsey, the public affairs director of AAA in east Tennessee joining me on the line now.
Don, thank you for giving us some time. And we talk about so many million people traveling so far from home, well, most of them are going to be in the car.
DON LINDSEY, AAA, EAST TENNESSEE (via telephone): Hi, T.J. Yes, it looks like about more than 90 percent are going to be in the car. And it's going to be an interesting weekend for a lot of these folks out there. That's for sure.
HOLMES: Now, interesting weekend. I want to go through some of the simplest things in the world, it may sound like -- but people forget to do. First things first, you just need to slow down.
LINDSEY: Absolutely. The only thing that happens fast in a snowstorm are wrecks. I mean, you know, everything else you need to take care of slowly. Drive -- accelerate slowly, brake gently but steadily, don't pump the brakes and steer as little as you can, and as gently as you can.
But even more than that, start looking ahead, look well down the road. Check out things that are going on 20 to 30 seconds down the road if you can see that far in the snowfall and look for stuff happening that you're going to have to deal with down the road because if you can start taking care of it early, you can do a lot better job of it and reduce the risk of a skid.
HOLMES: You know, something, Don, here -- people don't even think about: the normal dry pavement following distance versus the following distance in icy or snowy conditions. Go through that for us. This is something people don't keep in mind.
LINDSEY: Well, we don't do that enough in dry pavement, really. Don't stay far enough behind other vehicles. We need about three seconds between us and the vehicle ahead of us in good times, three to four seconds.
In this kind of weather, we need eight to 10. It takes that long to start slowing down and to keep from skidding into the vehicle ahead of us and we need that time for reaction. We need that time to handle the wet, the slippery pavement. HOLMES: And you kind of mentioned brakes a second ago. But it's important to know what kind of brakes you got.
LINDSEY: If you have anti-lock brakes, firm and steady on the brakes no matter what happens and let the anti-lock system takes care of it, allows to you stop and steer at the same time. If you don't have anti-lock brakes, still firm and steady. If they start to lock up, ease back on the brakes just enough to let the tires roll. You have more rolling friction -- you have more friction with the road rolling than you do if they're skidding.
HOLMES: OK. And one more that's on here that might need a little explanation. It says, "Don't stop if you can avoid it."
LINDSEY: If possible, keep going -- because the hardest thing to do is to get the car going when you're, you know, on this kind of pavement, when it's wet and slippery like this. So, if you can, keep going. Obviously, there are times when you have to stop. But try to avoid it if at all possible.
HOLMES: All right. Don, good stuff. The last one on the list, nothing but common sense here -- just keep your butt at home.
LINDSEY: Yes, you know, really think hard about the value of this trip. Does it really need to happen? If it does, make sure plenty of people know where you're going, what your route is, and be sure to take along an extra cell phone battery. And if possible maybe an extra cell phone.
HOLMES: Don, these are great tips that we should all know and some of them may seem common sense. But you need to be reminded of things to avoid all kinds of hassles out there and, yes, accidents.
Don Lindsey, public affairs director at AAA in east Tennessee -- sir, we appreciate your time this morning. Thanks for joining us.
LINDSEY: My pleasure. Thank you, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. And if the weather doesn't keep you off the roads, gas prices -- they may. Have you noticed they've been creeping up a bit lately? AAA is saying the national average for a gallon of the cheap stuff now above $3. Hawaii has the most expensive gas, $3.65 a gallon there; Colorado with the cheapest, about $2.77 a gallon.
Well, it's 22 minutes past the hour now. Oysters, chocolate, celery -- celery, known as an aphrodisiac? Really? You can other -- you can find others like that in your spice rack as well. An education in aphrodisiacs is coming your way.
Twenty-two minutes past the hour.
Also today, marks the start of Kwanzaa. Yes, it's the seven-day African-American celebration of family, community, and culture. So, we're asking you this morning: Do you know the seven principles of Kwanzaa? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twenty-five minutes past the hour now. Welcome back.
Just asked you before the break, Kwanzaa starts today. What are the seven principles of Kwanzaa? They are: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, collective economics, purpose, creativity and faith. The seven principles of Kwanzaa, which starts up today.
A lot of people had a good Christmas, hopefully, many of you out there maybe had some pumpkin pie, maybe some eggnog last night. But you might not have known as you were having it, you were having a little Christmas aphrodisiac. Nutmeg can spice up a whole lot more than just the holiday treat.
Nadia Bilchik had to break this down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: This is one that has a lot of people's attention. Some of these spices in the cabinet are not just for cooking.
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Yes, not just for cooking.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: So, in Zanzibar, which is an island off the east coast of Africa, what women do is they take this, what they call the erotic spice, the magic spice, Viagra for women or the cheap high, which is, have a smell first -- tell me if it has any effect. That is nutmeg.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: Now, what they do is they grind nutmeg and it needs to be in fairly large quantities to have the effect.
HOLMES: How large quantities we're talking about here?
BILCHIK: Like it would be probably four teaspoons that goes into porridge and have to have it over a period of time.
HOLMES: OK. And what kind of effect is it supposed to have?
BILCHIK: It has apparently the same effect as drinking wine.
Now, you have to understand that Zanzibar is a fundamentally Muslim country. So, no alcohol is allowed but nutmeg is. And, apparently, it causes arousal in women. And they have it before their wedding.
And I have to read you this, because this was found on a bottle of nutmeg in Stone Town, which is a natural heritage site in Zanzibar --
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: -- on a bottle of spice, a bottle of nutmeg, renowned with aphrodisiac qualities. It says, "This is better for drinks, cooking and for women that have given up strong desire for mating or to fulfill their men."
HOLMES: OK. But it's just for women, correct?
BILCHIK: They say women. Now, here in America, the Chicago Institute, it's the smell and taste -- Research Institute for Smell and Taste has come one the fact that pumpkin pie, here is pumpkin pie and lavender have the same effect on men.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: Now, why. Let's think about it because of the nutmeg cloves and spices in pumpkin pie.
HOLMES: OK, I'm going to back up here just for a second to the nutmeg and the women. You said the same effect as alcohol. Now, is it intoxicating in some ways?
BILCHIK: Yes, the ethanol apparently has an effect on the central nervous system and gives you the same high as having certain amounts of alcohol. But this is even better because sometimes alcohol can be a depressant. This is supposed to be an arouser. And a well- known fact --
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Reynolds is yelling for some nutmeg. Is this kind of the main one --
BILCHIK: Yes.
HOLMES: -- that people point at?
BILCHIK: Nutmeg is the main one. Now, cloves, ginger and other spices apparently do have a similar effect, which is why pumpkin pie, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin bread apparently also, if you sniff. Now, often people say if they're smelling their home, you should have the smell of baking bread, I say have the smell of hot pumpkin pie.
HOLMES: OK. I'm fascinated too by this nutmeg. Again, you said four tablespoons or teaspoons?
BILCHIK: Well, it would be -- don't give exact quantities but they say large quantities.
HOLMES: OK. But over time, it's not like --
BILCHIK: And it's quite a strong pungent taste which women can deal with the pungent taste more easily than men, which is why they have it in their porridge. It's not something you can just stew. And women have been reported to be much more loose, friendly --
HOLMES: Loose. That's not how we like our women necessarily.
(LAUGHTER)
BILCHIK: -- with a focus on eroticism post-nutmeg.
HOLMES: All right. Will you take this with you --
BILCHIK: Viagra for women, the magic spice or a cheap high is what nutmeg is known as.
HOLMES: Nadia, I swear, I love it. This is why we have her, we love her here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Yes. Nadia is something.
But if you can, stay with us here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, for the next half hour at least, before you run out to the grocery store and stock up on the nutmeg.
Now, Christmas, of course, yesterday -- a lot of people were expected to travel. We're talking about 92 million people by the AAA estimates, going to travel at least 50 miles from home for Christmas. That's fine. The trick is now going to be getting back home. We've got a huge nor'easter now that's moving in just in time to make your travel back home miserable.
Reynolds Wolf is coming up in just a moment. He'll have the very latest on that forecast. The forecast much different in Hawaii, that's where the first family's spending their Christmas. We will be taking you there coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, 32 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
You're going to be hearing from Reynolds Wolf, our meteorologist, in just a couple of seconds. We'll give you an update on this busy travel couple of days and it is going to be a mess for a lot of you.
What you're seeing here, that's not snow piled up but that is the salt meant to combat the snow that is coming and it's coming to New York, other places in New England -- in particular Boston they are predicting up to 20 inches of snow. Also along with the snow, strong winds, that is going to reduce the visibility at times to near zero.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE COLEMAN, SPOKESMAN, NY PORT AUTHORITY: We're going to do the best we can, we've 1,000 people on standby to get out, to try to keep the airports opened to the best of our ability but the biggest word we're trying to pass out there right now is to have people call ahead. The majority of flights I would bet later today and tomorrow will be canceled. We want to make sure that people don't get stranded at the airport, they call in advance and that they make sure their flight is taking off before they head to the airport.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, we turn to Reynolds now. And Reynolds we do talk about and rightly so, so often, the flights, the planes, things being canceled like that.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh yes.
HOLMES: But you know, the overwhelming majority of folks are driving somewhere. The roads are going to be tricky.
WOLF: A lot of drivers out there. And you know the bottom line is if you don't have to get out and drive today, by all means don't do so. By the way, T.J. how do you like the color red?
HOLMES: Not good in this regard no.
WOLF: Oh, we've got plenty of it, don't we? New York metros we're going to have some delays there, these are delays we expect later on today at New York and Philadelphia, due to the snow and visibility, Washington, D.C. And of course everything is going to stack up having your ripple effect in Atlanta, ground stoppages there, over an hour wait.
One place we don't have here mentioned but we are still going to have some major issues in this particular spot will be in Boston. And we have a live image of Logan National for you right now and that live image shows that we've got the snow, and it's not there yet.
We've got a little bit on this on the ground but we've got more coming up, possibly up to 16 even 20 inches of total accumulation before all is said and done. Other colors for you, if you look up and down the Eastern Seaboard you've got blue, you've got purple; those are places where we happen to have watches, warnings, advisories in effect.
In fact if you zoom in a bit more, you're even going to see some places where you happen to have a little bit of red. Those are your blizzard warnings that will be in effect from parts of Maine, including Bangor back to Portland, even in Boston, Providence and New York, Long Island; you could have wind gusts topping 50, 55 miles an hour as we make away to late tonight into tomorrow.
So we show you those delays, the reason why? How is it hard to miss, right here, plain as day you've got that area of low pressure pulling up the Eastern Seaboard. If you follow the snow out toward parts of Kentucky, all that's dropping the south from this side everything is moving to the north as that counter clockwise flow that you find textbook with an area of low pressure.
And if you even look -- even look a little bit closer, closer inspection shows that we've got temperatures on one side where you have the rain with temperatures well above freezing. On the other side mainly in the 30s, north of Greensville and near Raleigh into the 20s. And as we make our way a bit farther to the north you're going to notice in Washington, D.C., we don't have a whole lot of activity, same in Boston and Philadelphia but the moisture is coming. The cold air is already locked in place and much of that snowfall is really going to kick in, into the afternoon, evening and into tomorrow.
One very quick note as we wrap things up, Philadelphia, T.J., we've got an NFL game there, it's going to be the Eagles and the poor Vikings who have had so much winter weather to deal with the last couple of weeks. Tonight kickoff at 8:30, they expect wind to be around 25 miles an hour out of the north, possibly four to eight inches of snowfall, during the game. Temperatures in the 20s, it's going to feel with the winds like it's near zero. Enjoy that.
HOLMES: Oh, all right. We appreciate you giving us that update, one of our viewers wrote in on Twitter to me asking specifically about football games, so there you go. Just one it sounds like it's going to be affected, again, we're going to check in with Reynolds again in just a few minutes keeping you updated about this weather situation.
Let's turn now to the commander-in-chief wishing happy holiday to some of the troops. There you see the President also First Lady Michelle Obama; they made an unscheduled but not totally unexpected stop at the Marine Corps base in Honolulu yesterday. The First Couple extending wishes to the military families who are there. It's kind of a tradition for the Obamas, they have stopped by to visit the same base during some previous Christmas vacations.
Also here is the Vice President and his wife, this is how they spent part of their Christmas, the photo you're seeing here is of the Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden his wife with troops and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.
Also General David Petraeus, look at this, the commander of the International Forces in Afghanistan. He spent part of Christmas visiting troops at (INAUDIBLE) province he stopped at a base met with battalion soldiers as well thanking them for their service and sacrifice. They're deployed in a volatile district that has seen a lot of violence over time.
Well, did you remember it was Christmas day last year, my how things have changed. Now we have those controversial body scanners, you have those new controversial invasive pat-downs. All of that stuff have been put in place maybe because of one man, that guy who got on a plane with something in his underwear that shouldn't have been there.
We're going to look back at how airport security has changed since his arrest. Yes, we're talking about that underwear bomber.
It's 37 minutes past the hour.
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CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": I'm Candy Crowley with the top ten political moments of 2010. At number 10 a big no-no in the Florida governor's debate, Democratic nominee Alex Sink broke the rules when her makeup artist showed her a cell phone message during a commercial break in the debate. Her opponent, Republican Rick Scott, saw it and called her out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, Alex you say you always follow the rules. The rule was no one is supposed to give us messages during the break and your campaign did with an iPad, all right, iPod.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Sink said she couldn't even read the message since the text was so small but she ended up firing the campaign staffer involved.
At number nine a tickle fight lands a U.S. Congressman in hot water.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Long time ago you said quote, "Not only did I grope him, I tickled him until he couldn't breathe."
ERIC MASSA, FORMER CONGRESSMAN: So Larry, when you grab someone and you're wrestling, I don't know how to describe that word.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Congressman Eric Massa resigned his seat. His reasons recurring cancer and an ethics committee investigation into sexual harassment claims.
At number eight, a false idol named 'Aqua Buddha'.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did Rand Paul once tie a woman up, tell her to bow down before a false idol and say his God was 'Aqua Buddha'.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Yes, that ad from Democratic candidate Jack Conway made the phrase 'Aqua Buddha' into a major issue in a Kentucky Senate race. Conway used the ad to question the Christian faith of his Republican opponent, Rand Paul; to no avail, Paul won the November race.
Number seven, another campaign ad this one featuring a flock of 'Demon Sheep', the ad came out during the primary campaign for California's Republican Senate nominee. The campaign of former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina launched the ad showing her opponent as a dangerous predator with glowing red eyes. Strategist questions the strategy of portraying voters as dim- witted sheep. Fiorina won the nomination but lost the election to incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer.
And number six.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: Would the gentleman from New York Mr. Rangel kindly appear in the well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: In December the House of Representatives formally censured Congressman Charles Rangel. Rangel was philosophical when it came time for him to speak.
REP. CHARLES RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: But at the end of the day, as I started off saying, compared to where I've been, I have had a bad day since.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: 1983 was the last time the House censured a member.
The top five political moments of 2010 right after this.
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CROWLEY: I'm Candy Crowley.
Now back to the list of the top ten political moments of 2010. At number five, New York senate candidate Carl Paladino's Soprano-like confrontation with a supporter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARL PALADINO (R) NEW YORK: You send another goon to my daughter's house and I'll take you out buddy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will take me out? How are you going to do that?
PALADINO: Watch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What, are you threatening me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Crowley: That's Paladino with a columnist whose newspaper had written about a daughter Paladino had out of wedlock. Paladino lost his race to Democrat Andrew Cuomo but never let go of the thug image. In his hands during his concession speech, a baseball bat.
At number four, the symbolism and emotion of the health care debate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used a historic gavel. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY PELOSI (D), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I'm carrying this gavel just given to me -- correction, lent to me by Chairman Dingell. It was used in the enactment of the Medicare law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Before she got to bang that gavel, tension ran high, Republican congressmen --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kill the bill.
CROWLEY: Cheerleading and carrying handmade signs and then there was the actual floor debate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Answer the call of history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This bill is a fiscal Frankenstein.
CROWLEY: And real emotion from Republican leader John Boehner on the House floor.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Look at how this bill was written. Can you say it was done openly, with transparency and accountability? Hell no you can't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Coming in at number three.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), DELAWARE SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not a witch. I'm nothing you've heard. I'm you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Christine O'Donnell a surprise Republican senate candidate in Delaware, trying to explain away comments she made on the "Bill Maher Show" in 1999.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'DONNELL: I dabbled into witchcraft; I never joined a coven.
BILL MAHER, TALK SHOW HOST: Wait a minute, you were a witch?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: O'Donnell lost the November race.
And at number two:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R), ALASKA: We did. We did, we made history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: That's Lisa Murkowski declaring victory in Alaska's senate race two weeks after Election Day. She is the 2nd second person ever to win a write-in bid for the U.S. Senate.
And that brings us to the number one political moment of 2010.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama. (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Vice President Joe Biden dropping the f-bomb in the majestic White House East Room, right before President Obama signed the historic health care bill. The President didn't react, but spokesman Robert Gibbs later tweeted, "Yes, Mr. Vice President, you're right." A Democratic group even made a commemorative T-shirt.
I'm Candy Crowley and those are the top ten political moments for 2010.
HOLMES: And thanks to our Candy Crowley. And our senior political correspondent is going to be hosting her show CNN "STATE OF THE UNION". Her guests this morning include White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, also the Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano.
As always, "STATE OF THE UNION", top of the hour right here on CNN.
Think just how much airport security has changed just in the past year. Christmas Day, last year, 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to bring down a jetliner as it prepared to land in Detroit. Since his arrest we have talked a lot about his plot and also how he almost carried it off with explosives sewn into his underwear.
CNN's Kate Bolduan compares airport security now to then.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the newest target of increased scrutiny by transportation security officials. The TSA says terrorists may use insulated beverage containers to conceal explosives to get them on planes.
FRANCES FRAGOS TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: They haven't banned these insulated beverage containers. What they're saying is they're going to get additional scrutiny and we've trained our people to look at them and tell the difference between typical insulation and something that may be an explosive. BOLDUAN: Just the latest in a long list of changes to airport security sparked by the Christmas Day terror attempt one year ago when alleged bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab used an explosive device sewn into his underwear to try to bring down this Delta flight heading to Detroit.
The President's top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, says with heightened concern during the holiday season, the government is doing everything possible to make sure it's on guard this time around.
JOHN BRENNAN, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: What we want to do is to let the American people know that we're on the job. We're staying vigilant. We're working with our partners and not just our international partners but with our state and local partners as well and we will continue to do so throughout the holiday season and beyond.
BOLDUAN: Other security measures put in place this year include more intense examination of passenger information, the enhanced and sometimes controversial pat-downs and additional deployment of full body scanners.
JANET NAPOLITANO, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Our job is not only to react but to be thinking always ahead what could be happening.
BOLDUAN: So with this stepped up security, do travelers feel safer this holiday?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know that I feel any more or less safer. I think there are so many things you can't necessarily predict and I think people are doing the best they can with what we've got available.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I still don't think security measures are in place where they need to be but I don't feel less safe, I'd say about the same.
BOLDUAN (on camera): Homeland Security officials acknowledge the holiday season is an attractive target for terrorists because of the potential emotional and psychological impact. That's something Americans are concerned about as well.
In a recent CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll 54 percent said an act of terrorism in the U.S. this holiday season was likely.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.
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HOLMES: About ten minutes to the top of the hour.
We turn to our "Faces of Faith". A lot of those faces on Facebook these days, on Twitter as well. Some churches are now making the Internet and social media a big part of their mission. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I ever lose the joy in my soul, if I ever forget how God healed me the last time --
HOLMES: Twitter, Facebook, live streaming, what do they have to do with Sunday worship? One Atlanta congregation is using these trendy tools to do church differently.
ANDRE BARNES, DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY, IMPACT CHURCH: It's all about the three Cs: convenience, conversation and connecting. It's all about asking questions, getting people to actually engage online and also offline. Talk about the experience with their family, with their cousin, with their co-workers.
HOLMES: From Impact Church's very beginning five years ago the founders knew being technologically savvy was going to help them with their mission and outreach.
OLU BROWN, LEAD PASTOR, IMPACT CHURCH: Realizing that many people aren't excited about bricks and mortar anymore but community exists outside of the four walls where we're willing to reach people in various platforms, and one of the most important in 2010 and beyond is technology.
God says I'm going to see you through it.
All of these amenities folks are used to Monday through Saturday and it's not fair to ask them to come into our churches and step back into the 14th century. So the church is catching up with technology and embracing it. And I believe we will be all the better because of it.
HOLMES: And Impact keeping up by having easy to use gadgets and software like an iPhone app. Also Twitter and Facebook accounts and most importantly, live streaming Sunday morning worship all to keep their members and others out in cyberspace in the know. Church members love it.
ERIC ADU, IMPACT CHURCH MEMBER: Having that option still allows you to see what's going on and still allows you to, you know, to be part of the worship experience wherever you are.
JEREMY TOLBERT, IMPACT CHURCH MEMBER: Oftentimes when I'm away on the weekends if I'm in an airport, Sunday morning, I want to know what's going on in the sermon and just going in dcd.org (ph), it's like I never left, I'm still there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Definitely different than a traditional church experience; Twitter is a part of my everyday life. I love the fact that I can tweet the things I'm hearing about during the sermon and share that with my followers.
HOLMES: Even though times are changing some members aren't.
BROWN: We try create opportunity for everyone so that the person who still feels led to bring in a paper-bound bible would feel perfectly comfortable while the person who's sitting next to them with the iPad or the person who's looking on their Smartphone.
HOLMES: Either way the message is the same.
BROWN: Get with the times. Technology is not going anywhere. So I think this is something that individuals, whether you decide to embrace it or not that it's going to be a part of your lives.
HOLMES: T.J. Holmes, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, stick around. Coming up we're going to update you certainly about the weather situation that's affecting so many people today, that nor'easter moving into the northeastern part of the country right now. So many people traveling after the holiday.
But also some developing news out of Egypt to tell you about, where Americans, several American tourists killed in a bus crash.
Stay here.
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HOLMES: A couple of stories making headlines to tell you about, eight Americans killed in Egypt today in a bus crash. They were part of a three-bus tour convoy traveling in the city of Aswan. The crash happened when the bus they were in smashed into a parked dump truck. The U.S. Embassy now working to identify the Americans involved.
Also, former president Bill Clinton throwing his weight behind Rahm Emanuel; Rahm Emanuel, of course, running for Chicago's mayor. An official with the Emanuel campaign says Clinton will endorse and stump for Emanuel ahead of February's primary.
But big story today and will be the next couple of days belongs to Reynolds, the weather. Tell us, before we get out of here, something that the people certainly need to know right now.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: If you don't have to travel by all means don't do so. But you know, I do feel sorry for a couple of groups of people. They always say that both seafood and gas get really stale after three days. Feed the people the house guests that are hoping to hit the road that want to leave.
HOLMES: They want to get on the road.
WOLF: And the people who want them to leave, too.
HOLMES: There you go.
WOLF: You might be sticking together for a few extra days. I'll tell you the reason why, plain and simple, this is it right here. We've got this massive storm. It's chugging its way up the Eastern Seaboard. Straight ahead, we have some cities that are going to get quite a bit of snowfall. It's coming down through parts of the Tar Heel State and as it pulls farther to the north it's going to mix in with that cool air.
You have temperatures in the 30s in Virginia Beach and Twins (ph), Raleigh. We don't have the moisture yet in Philadelphia but we could exceed maybe up to ten inches of snow there before all is said and done. Same deal with Washington, D.C.
And into Providence and Boston, southward to New York we may have blizzard conditions as we round out the weekend and into next week. In fact we have watches and warnings scattered up and down the Eastern Seaboard; the blizzard warnings in effect for New York, back into Boston.
Now, I'll tell you a few other places that may be dealing with it back into Portland, the strong winds are going to keep planes grounded. It could be a rough time for today and for tomorrow and possibly power outages. The rest of the week coming up ahead.
T.J., let's keep it back over to you.
HOLMES: Rene, appreciate all of the updates. You've been working hard for us this morning. We do appreciate you buddy. Thanks so much.
Appreciate you being with us on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. We now hand it over to Candy Crowley and "STATE OF THE UNION" which starts right now.
