Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Shootout in Ohio Trailer Park; New Congress
Aired January 02, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It's January 2nd. Good morning. I'm Joe Johns. Thanks for starting your day with us.
There's a crisis in Australia where floodwaters have submerged an area the size of France and Germany. Electricity has been shut down; 22 towns in dire need of emergency and relief.
An Ohio sheriff's department is mourning the loss of a deputy shot and killed in the line of duty. She never even had a chance to defend herself. The firefight that followed and the colleagues' valiant attempt to rescue her all caught on tape.
(MUSIC)
JOHNS: More now on that widespread flooding in Australia. Monsoon rains have drenched an area the size of France and Germany, worst hit Rockhampton and Queensland, where 1,000 people are forced to evacuate ahead of rising water. The flooding has directly impacted nearly a quarter million people. The water is slowly starting to recede in places.
Back in the U.S., an Alfred Hitchcock drama playing out in real life in a small town in Arkansas -- more than a thousand dead blackbirds fell from the sky Friday night in the town of Beebe. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission collected about 65 of the birds for testing. Officials say the flock may have been hit by lightning or high altitude hail.
Police in Bethesda, Maryland, are on the hunt for the killer. The beaten body of a hospital staffer was found at suburban medical facility yesterday. Police searched the complex but did not find the killer. The hospital was on lockdown for several hours, turning patients away and not allowing anyone to leave.
Next, a story of courage and sadness in Ohio, where the Clark County Sheriff's Department is making plans to honor one of its own. A female deputy, Suzanne Hopper, a mother of two, answered a call about gunfire at a trailer park outside Springfield, Ohio, yesterday.
Investigators say she was taking photos of footprints when a man came out of his trailer, pointed a shotgun at her and fired. She never had a chance.
The gunman then fired on other deputies and officers as they arrived, setting of a gun battle in which an officer was wounded. You'll see that as it happens and we want to tell you, the images you'll see are graphic and disturbing. The other deputy who was shot is in serious condition, but expected to survive.
Here's how the tragedy played out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, WDTN)
(GUNFIRE)
GENE A. KELLY, CLARK COUNTY SHERIFF: The suspect inside opened fire and struck a German Township police officer. He's currently in Miami Valley and it appears to me right now that he's in serious condition, but they tell me that he's believed to be -- he will be OK.
It appears that the door of the trailer opened and the person inside fired one shotgun blast, striking the deputy and fatally wounding a deputy.
They did enter the trailer. The suspect was deceased apparently from the exchange of gunfire with deputies.
Our deputy never had the opportunity to return fire or take cover.
The deputy was an outstanding deputy and is married and a parent of two children.
This is the worst day in my 24 years as the sheriff of Clark County.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Police have identified the wounded officer as Jeremy Blum of the German Township police. They have not identified the gunman.
Utter devastation, that's how Missouri Governor Jay Nixon's reaction as he toured two tornado-damaged neighborhoods around the greater St. Louis area yesterday, as Nixon witnessed the destruction firsthand. A seventh storm-related storm fatality was reported in Rolla, an 80-year-old woman succumbing to the injury she received in Friday's twister. We're told at least 25 homes were damaged in Phelps County, Missouri alone.
In northwest Arkansas, a similar site, where at least a dozen buildings were either destroyed or seriously damaged in Friday's pre- dawn tornado. All three of the storm deaths reported statewide were here in rural Washington County.
It looks to be much calmer in the heartland today, but the East and West Coast could see more stormy weather.
Reynolds Wolf, you're telling me it's not just California that's getting slammed?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It looks like California is going to get the brunt of it. You know, it's kind of one of those hit or miss kind of things.
California is finally -- you know, they had a couple of days a bit of a respite. But, today, it's going to back to the rain, the sleet and the snow. But the rest of the country does appear it's going to get a little bit of a break especially parts of Southeast. So, we do have some good news.
But for our friends out the west, get the rain gear ready, it's coming. You've got some scattered showers mainly in the San Francisco Bay area, over to Sacramento also, and you'll notice the areas that we have shaded in look at the orange and yellows, that's where you have the heaviest precipitation this time. So, in San Francisco proper, right along parts of the I-5 corridor, if you're tuning in from Freemont and maybe over towards Stockton, the rain is going to be coming down, everything coming directly from the south all the way to the north, all due to that area of low pressure that is right of the coast.
But I'll tell you, with the low off of the coast and the rain in the valley, you're going to have something different in the mountains, you could have anywhere from one to three feet of snow, some gusts could be stronger, anywhere from 25 to 35 miles an hour, maybe something topping 40 later in the day. You could have some tough travel especially in parts of I-5, hitting the grapevine going into the L.A. basin.
Meanwhile, the rest of your forecast looks pretty good for some parts of the nation, especially here in central Texas. Austin is going to be fine. Along I-35, southward into San Antonio, basically the same deal, highs into the 50s.
And St. Louis, 36 degrees, the mix of sunshine and clouds; 41 in Denver.
Out west, I mentioned the rain, you're going to have it in L.A. with 55 degrees; 30 in Boise, with the mix of sunshine and clouds; 16 in Minneapolis; 46 in New York; and 51 in Atlanta.
You might have some delays in New York later this afternoon. But it looks like your best chance of delays it's going to be out to the west. San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, all due to the rain -- anywhere from 30 minutes to a full hour. And in Reno, the snow could keep you grounded from about 30 to 60 minutes.
So, enjoy that time on the tarmac but hopefully, the terminal. A little bit easier than sitting in the airplane, nothing more frustrating than just sitting there and just waiting, waiting, waiting, and waiting as they deice.
JOHNS: You got that right. Seven hours, 12 hours -- that's a crazy stuff we've been hearing about.
WOLF: I think it's nuts. Absolutely.
JOHNS: Yes. Of course, we're supposed to have the Passengers Bill of Rights. WOLF: There you go.
JOHNS: That's what they say. All right. Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
JOHNS: Security is tighter today at Egyptian places of worship following an apparent suicide bombing at a church in Alexandria that killed 21 people. Seventy-nine others were wounded in that attack, including four police officers posted outside the church to protect the Christians worshipping inside.
Forensic testing confirmed that the explosive device was homemade and contained nails and ball bearings. Officials believed the bomber was killed in the blast.
Brazil's first female president begins her first full day on the job. Dilma Rousseff was sworn in yesterday amid cheers and tears from supporters. Many have followed her rise from a freedom fighter who was brutally persecuted by the country's military junta in the 1960s. Rousseff says she's committed to honoring women, protecting the most vulnerable and governing for all.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shook hands with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the inauguration ceremony during a time of diplomatic tension.
President Obama and Congress are back at it this week, after the holiday break. And it's a new Congress, the challenges facing the president as he tries to push through his agenda, plus Josh Levs with hot new videos you just got to see.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, this is our weekly dessert. We get to pull some of these together and show them to you now.
How about this? What happens when you put a camera on the end of a sword? I'm going to show you that. I'm going to show you a pizza acrobat, too, a little girl's brilliant speech and this -- a video all about snow that has gone viral.
We'll be telling you the story behind it, coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: The U.S. Capitol was briefly evacuated yesterday when a small plane entered restricted air space. Two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled from Andrews Air Force Base, but the plane landed before the pilots had a chance to intercept it.
It turns out the plane had communications problems but after the problem was fixed, it landed at Reagan National Airport. That's when an "all clear" message was issued to re-enter the Capitol.
(MUSIC)
JOHNS: Three new governors have already been sworn in during this New Year.
Yesterday, Democrat Andrew Cuomo became New York's 56th governor. The inauguration was a small ceremony because of the financial difficulties the state faces.
Republican Susana Martinez was sworn in as New Mexico's 27th governor and the nation's first female Hispanic governor, during a private ceremony at midnight. She replaces Democrat Bill Richard.
And Republican Rick Snyder became Michigan's 48th governor Saturday. Synder's inaugural address focused on motivation, which is essential for a state with a 12.4 percent unemployment rate. He replaces Democrat Jennifer Granholm.
A New Year and a new Congress poses greater political challenges for President Obama, who's calling for more bipartisanship now that he no longer has the political luxury of Democrats dominating the House and Senate. One of the top items in the congressional agenda: rein in spending and ramp up debt reduction.
Here's CNN's White House correspondent Ed Henry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To hear the president tell it, bickering with Republicans is so 2010.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A lot of folks in this town predicted that after the midterm elections, Washington would be headed for more partisanship and more gridlock. And instead, this has been a season of progress -- that's a message that I will take to heart in the New Year. And I hope my Democratic and Republican friends will do the same.
HENRY: But with Republican John Boehner taking the speaker's gavel, that rosy scenario will be tested immediately in 2011, because both parties will now have to agree on a long-term budget, after kicking the can down the road on all those spending cuts the Tea Party was demanding and the president's own debt panel was proposing to no avail.
OBAMA: I expect we'll have a robust debate about this when we return from the holidays -- a debate that will have to answer an increasingly urgent question, and that is: how do we cut spending that we don't need while still making investment that we do need?
HENRY: With the federal cash register tapped out, it will be especially difficult to tackle the president's biggest challenge of all.
OBAMA: My singular focus over the next two years is not rescuing the economy from potential disaster, but rather jumpstarting the economy so that we actually start making a dent in the unemployment rate.
HENRY: Mr. Obama also may face resistance to his economic plans from both liberals still smarting from the tax deal he just cut and conservatives determined to repeal his health reform law.
An independent-minded Republican is urging both sides to give the new balance of power a chance.
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R), ALASKA: Let's figure out how we deal with some of these very, very difficult issues -- whether it's tax policy or whether it's going to be what we're going to be doing on spending. We've got enough that we need to do that we don't need to get weighted down in the partisan politics.
HENRY: Music to the ears of White House aides trying to hammer the message that Republicans now have a responsibility to govern.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They can't afford any longer to just simply sit and say no. They have to be part of a constructive conversation.
HENRY (on camera): White House officials say the president has started at least some work on his State of the Union address, which should be at the end of January. And we should expect a big theme to be exactly what you just heard from Robert Gibbs, now that Republicans run at least half of Congress, they have an obligation to meet the president halfway on some of these big issues, especially the economy.
Ed Henry, CNN, Honolulu.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: They're the videos you can't turn away from no matter how hard you try. We're back with a look at some of the Web's best viral videos.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
JOHNS: Sixteen minutes after the hour.
What happens when you put a camera at the end of a sword? You end one a viral video. That's just one of the videos our Josh Levs has his eye on for us.
Josh, what's the story behind this?
LEVS: You know, we're always keeping our eyes out on the lookout there for the coolest viral videos to show you at this time, and I did not see this one coming. I'm going to show you a little bit of it, not too much because I don't want to make anyone sick.
But take a look at this. This guy put a camera at the end of a sword, and now, it's gone viral. All of these people are watching it. It's from Swordfish 2010, which is a sword forum. They duct-taped this camera to the end and they set it to the sound of "You Spin Me Round" by Flo Rida. It makes you a little bit dizzy but it's also so cool that you just got to keep watching it.
All right. Let's not make anybody sick, let's pull out for a second. All recording was done real time, by the way. Very cool.
All right. Let's go ahead to the second video, I want to show you this morning. I've never seen anything like this -- a different kind of spinning, the pizza acrobat. This guy is getting all the traffic. This gone up I guess months ago and then it was picked up by one of the major sites that share these things we keep our eye on, wimp.com and fark.com (ph), these great sites that look great viral videos.
This guy had a channel called ScottsPizzaTours on YouTube. Well, he does this really impressive stuff -- look at that.
JOHNS: Wow.
LEVS: Now, we're going to get to one of my favorites, because last week, I was looking at some of my favorites of the year, but we didn't get to this one -- listen to this girl's daily affirmation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: I like my school. I like anything. I like my dad. I like my cousins. I like my aunts. I like my elephants. I like my mom. I like my sisters. I like my dad. I like --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Deepak Chopra.
LEVS: This is when she was 4-year-old.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: I like my stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: She likes everything. We all need to do this everything morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: I like my house!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: This is what we should all do everything at the end. And then she has the whole big jump she does at the end.
This is when she was 4-year-old. Her parents took this in 2001 and they just posted it up last year. So, now, she'll be about 12, 13 years old. Amazing little girl.
(LAUGHTER)
LEVS: I love that.
JOHNS: I love that.
LEVS: Now, there's something I teased a little earlier in the show that I want you to show because this is an iReport that then went viral. Take a look this. It was the snowstorm. This is out of New Jersey, iReporter Michael Black in Belmar, New Jersey, took time lapsed pictures of the snow falling the other day when this blizzard hit. And --
JOHNS: Wow.
LEVS: - you know, what happened is -- you know, well, look, we know what it's like when massive snow falls. But when you watch it in time-lapsed and you watched from nothing over about 24 hours to this massive pile-up --
JOHNS: Wow.
LEVS: It's very impressive.
And before we go, just because we loved it so much last hour, in case anyone missed it, I'm going to tell this scene again, the cat that looked like he's dressing up as a bunny. And a couple of our viewers as I showed this yesterday sent me a little reality check on it. So, the kitty cat is hanging out, and you think he says, you know, I like the look of the bunny right now. So, he puts that thing on, and there he is -- a bunny.
Well, it turns out -- apparently, the owners reversed the video. Apparently, he was just pulling it off in the first place. But everyone, it was brilliant of them to reverse it because it really looks like it was his choice.
Oh, man, every week, awesome viral videos. All our viewers are so gracious about this.
JOHNS: I love that.
LEVS: I'll always post everything at my pages so all of the videos I showed you are at my Facebook page, JoshLevsCNN. I'm also at Twitter, JoshLevsCNN. And, folks, you can always, always reach me there.
Joe, there you go.
JOHNS: I think the girl just takes the cake though. I -- maybe I'm going to start to doing that. I like my job. I like my producer. I like my iPad. I like my BlackBerry. Yes.
LEVS: Trust me, we all have mornings, I know what it's like you got to say that to yourself and get yourself psyched up. That's the best motivational speech, even the movement she's got there.
(LAUGHTER)
JOHNS: That's great. Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: Thank you.
JOHNS: All right. Grabbing the sports spotlight this weekend is the Rose Bowl and Texas Christian University is getting its props this morning.
Plus, has Brett Favre laced up for the last time? Details on why he might be calling it a career at 41 years old.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Ray D'Alessio here with a look at some of the wow moments in sports. And I got to tell you what? That Rose Bowl was certainly a wow moment.
RAY D'ALESSIO, CNN SPORTS: Do you want to announce it or you want me that I picked it?
JOHNS: Yes, you picked it, that's right. Yes. I mean, you even got the spread right.
D'ALESSIO: Which is a -- which is a victory for me because usually I'm wrong with this stuff.
JOHNS: Yes.
D'ALESSIO: But I was actually right. But, I mean, what an incredible game, Joe. And, you know, the thing I really liked about this game, quarterback Andy Dalton. I mean, this guy was tormented -- and I mean tormented the entire season after he threw three interceptions in the Fiesta Bowl last year, used that as motivation.
Here he was yesterday -- he was nearly flawless. He threw for a touchdown, ran for one. I mean, look at this pass.
JOHNS: Yes.
D'ALESSIO: Over the middle between two defenders, he scored.
JOHNS: And he was on fire.
D'ALESSIO: And, you know, he was just incredible and what a victory for him, a personal victory for him. Of course, that was a catch, a personal touchdown, I reviewed it. I even saw on article.
JOHNS: But they're not going to be number one. That's the problem.
D'ALESSIO: No. And how about this finish here? A two-point conversion.
JOHNS: Oh, yes, sweet.
D'ALESSIO: Wisconsin had a chance to tie but, no, Tank Carter, the linebacker -- he knocks it down.
JOHNS: Knocks it down. D'ALESSIO: And he's a great story as a youngster who was in a car accident, nearly died. Here he is the hero of the Rose Bowl.
JOHNS: Right.
D'ALESSIO: TCU proving that yes, us little guys, we can compete with the big dogs.
JOHNS: Yes. You know, it's funny I read he said he was rushing the passer -- he got blocked and then decided, well, I'll just back up and he knocked down the pass.
D'ALESSIO: He saw the pass and he jumped up.
JOHNS: Wow.
All right. So, Brett Favre, not going to play, huh? Or his head coach --
D'ALESSIO: Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier says, look, it's hardly unlikely that this guy is going to play. Now, he did pass a preliminary post-concussion test but he still has more tests that they're going to do on the field today before the game, during pre-game warm-ups. But they are all saying that, you know, the way things are progressing, it does not look like he's going to play -- which, again, you hate to see that happen with this guy, such a wonderful career. You hate to see him end it, you know, in street clothes on the side lines.
JOHNS: I mean, how many times have we said do you actually think he would play --
D'ALESSIO: I don't know. Like I said yesterday I believe it. I mean, he's just so banged up. He's playing on a broken ankle. You know, he took how many stitches to the chin this year.
JOHNS: Right.
D'ALESSIO: He got the concussion. So, I definitely believe when he says this is his final year, that's it.
JOHNS: Couple of words about Seattle. This is a funny story.
D'ALESSIO: Great -- great story in "The Seattle Times." They did a poll and the majority of Seahawks fans want the Seahawks to lose today, OK?
They're playing the Rams for the division championship. If they win, they're in the playoffs. But if they win, they would become the first nine-loss team in NFL history to make the playoffs. So, I guess the fans now say --
JOHNS: That's embarrassing.
D'ALESSIO: -- if they lose, they get a better draft pick than if they make the playoffs. JOHNS: Right.
D'ALESSIO: So, I guess fans are saying to themselves, OK, is it better that we get a better draft pick? Or, you know, do you really want to say, well, you know, we had nine losses and still made the playoffs.
JOHNS: Who's going to say they don't want their team in the playoffs, you know?
D'ALESSIO: Obviously, Seattle does.
JOHNS: That's amazing.
D'ALESSIO: All right.
JOHNS: And there are some people picking up for the -- you know, pulling for Sam Bradford, who's a pretty darned good quarterback.
D'ALESSIO: You know, and you're seeing that with these rookie quarterbacks. They're coming in. They're starting right away instead of learning on the bench for a couple of years and he has really made the difference for that Rams team who has been the cellar dwellers for the past couple of years.
JOHNS: Yes.
D'ALESSIO: And here they are playing for a chance to go to the playoffs. Got it.
JOHNS: All right. Thanks so much.
D'ALESSIO: Good seeing you again.
JOHNS: You bet.
D'ALESSIO: Thanks for having me.
JOHNS: All right. You bet.
A catastrophic flood gets even worse -- 22 towns in Australia are in dire straits. We'll have the latest from there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Welcome back. I'm Joe Johns.
Checking our top stories:
The Clark County Sheriff's Department in Ohio is mourning the death of Deputy Suzanne Hopper, shot down as she investigated gunfire in a trailer park in that state. The gunman killed her with a shotgun blast without warning. She had no chance to return fire. The gunman was later killed in a gunfight with police, another officer wounded.
Some raunchy videos could threaten the career of a Navy captain and commander of the aircraft carrier "USS Enterprise." In 2006 and 2007 he was second in command on a carrier as it supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's when Captain Owen Honors appears in these videos that contain sexual innuendo, anti-gay remarks and what appears to be two female sailors showering together. The Navy has started an investigation into who produced them and why they were shown to the crew.
And a thousand dead blackbirds falling from the sky over Beebe, Arkansas -- take a look here -- they littered the streets and rooftops across a one-mile area.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILTON MCCULLAR, STREET DEPARTMENT SUPERVISOR: Started at 7:00, and picking up birds on the street, in the yards, it's been run over and just a mess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission collected about 65 of the birds for testing. Officials say the flock may have been hit by lightning or high altitude hail.
A woman is dead in the Australian state of Queensland after massive flooding there. High waters swept through an area about the size of France and Germany combined. Emergency officials say the floods have affected some 200,000 people and that about a thousand have to be evacuated.
Sean Barry filed this report from the city of Rockhampton.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN BARRY, SEVEN NETWORK (voice-over): Welcome to Rockhampton, a city under water. The mighty Fitzroy used to snake through central Queensland's largest city; now it covers it. The riverside suburb of Depot Hill has been swallowed by the river.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 9.4 just comes probably up to here.
BARRY: Chris Allwood lived there during the '91 flood.
CHRIS ALLWOOD, RESIDENT: I feel sorry for the poor people now, there. They could not handle it.
BARRY: It's not easy, though. Many now call this evacuation center home.
REG WILSON, EVACUEE: The police came along about 3:00 and said you're out of here by 5:00. That's it, period.
BARRY: Others are doing what they can to keep the river at bay.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boarding up, silicone up and make sure there's no water gets inside. BARRY: Emergency services are angry people are still entering floodwaters. They wasted four hours this morning searching for a man who was swimming.
(on camera): Rocky it's already an incredible site as suburbs slowly succumb to the rising water but this is just the beginning. The river won't peak for another three days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe that 400 homes will have water above their floorboards if we have a 9.4 or slightly above that peak.
BARRY (voice-over): The water has risen steadily for more than a week, in just a day the airport turned from this to this. It could be closed for up to two weeks. So, too the state's major highway which has become a handy cricket pitch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will not be able to drive from south of Rockhampton to anywhere north of Rockhampton on the (INAUDIBLE) highway for about ten days.
BARRY: Authorities have cut power to hundreds of homes and businesses for safety reasons, as the water rises.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Utter devastation, that was Missouri Governor Jay Nixon's initial reaction as he toured two tornado-damaged neighborhoods around the greater St. Louis area yesterday, as Nixon witnessed the destruction firsthand.
A seventh storm-related fatality was reported in Rolla, an 80- year-old woman succumbing to injuries she received in Friday's twisters, we're told. At least 25 homes were damaged in Phelps County, Missouri alone.
In northwest Arkansas a similar site, where at least a dozen buildings where either destroyed or seriously damaged in Friday's pre- dawn tornado, all three of the storm deaths reported statewide were here in rural Washington County.
A much calmer forecast for the heartland today, meteorologist Reynolds Wolf has the Sunday forecast as well as a look at the first week of 2011. I don't think I'm ready to say that.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I mean, I know, I mean, how long have you been writing on check books or whatever doing 2010.
JOHNS: Yes.
WOLF: It takes a while. I usually figure that out by the time we get to August.
All right, let's show you what we have going on. The Eastern Seaboard is primarily a rain event. We've got some scattered showers down near Florida and near the panhandle. We've got some just off of -- of Pensacola and up towards New York we're seeing some snowfall there -- some rainfall, rather, some snow back in Michigan, and that's all lake-effect activity.
But the worst weather in the nation today is going to take place out in the Golden State of California. We've got plenty of that moisture coming in from the Pacific, it is again, heavy rainfall that we're going to see from down near, let's say that's Oxnard, back over towards just, not -- not too far from Santa Barbara, it could be very heavy also into San Louis Obispo, scattered showers, and Montana De Oro.
But when you get into the San Francisco area you're going to be seeing just a few thunderstorms that are going to be backing up. Making the drive on 80 going towards Reno in the higher elevations it's going to all switch over to snow and even heavier snowfall can be expected in the -- I'd say the southern half of the Sierra Nevada mountains and back over towards parts of the Coastal Range, even into the San Gabriel mountains.
One to three feet of snowfall expected mainly for the Sierra, everyone else is a nice glazing in a few spots including the grapevines. So you might have some issues driving there.
In terms of your flying today you might have some problems obviously at your airports, all due to the rough weather in California, San Francisco, Oakland, even in Los Angeles, the rain and the wind might give you delay. Reno is going to be snow; it will be a big issue.
But as we wrap things up, I'm going to show you a quick tour around the nation, 30 will be you're high in Boise with the mix of sunshine and clouds; 16 in Minneapolis; 46 with showers in New York; 51 in Atlanta -- things drying out there; 36 in St. Louis; 57 in Austin; 41 in Denver and L.A. back where we started with 55 degrees.
All right, Joe we're up to speed.
JOHNS: Yes, I'll take it.
WOLF: You bet, take it -- heading off.
JOHNS: All right, you bet.
They never lose patience and please hold the tip. You'd have to go to Asia to get this kind of service.
Plus the new path in the life of a celebrated R&B singer, we'll follow him along his spiritual journey.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excuse me sir, but that's R2 (INAUDIBLE) in prime condition, a real bargain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uncle Owen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What it about that one?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about that blue one? We'll take that one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: The force be with you. That was a scene from "Star Wars" but you don't have to go to a planet far, far away to get service from a robot or a droid.
Nadia Bilchik joins me here -- waiters without the attitude.
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Yes you only have to go to China.
JOHNS: Do I have to tip them?
BILCHIK: No, you don't have to tip them. In the Shandong Province in China they have robots. And it's very interesting, because they go in a circular motion and they have sensors underneath them so they'll stop if they see a person or if they feel and sense a person.
But this particular restaurant opens this month and they already have 12 robots, very sophisticated technology. The owner of the restaurant is also a robotics engineer and he wants to show the world how sophisticated China is when it comes to robotics.
JOHNS: Do they talk to you?
BILCHIK: Yes as you walk in there is a female robot who flutters her eyelids and says "Welcome". And I don't know what welcome is in Chinese I know what thanks is, it's "shishi".
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNS: Yes.
BILCHIK: But it says "welcome" yes.
JOHNS: And -- and what, walks you over to your table? And then you sit down?
BILCHIK: There is -- there's even a greeter who takes you to your table and then the robot circles. You do have to take your own plate from the robot, they haven't done that yet but the owner says he hopes to advance the technology to such a point that the robot will in fact climb stairs, talk to you and take orders.
JOHNS: But what about complaints, I mean, waiter, there's -- or robot there's a fly in my soup. It doesn't sound like that.
BILCHIK: Isn't that nice? That the waiter doesn't complain and I suppose they have a device where they have to then call somebody over. But think about the frustration you have with the waiter who's maybe in a bad mood --
JOHNS: Sure.
BILCHIK: -- this doesn't happen with a robot. Right?
JOHNS: Right and you don't have one who talks too much?
BILCHIK: Exactly. Exactly.
JOHNS: You don't have the attitude, you don't have to tip.
BILCHIK: Think about all those things.
JOHNS: Right.
BILCHIK: Now, in Bangkok in Thailand there's another restaurant that just opened with Japanese robotic technology, and this is slightly different in that you order on a touch screen.
JOHNS: A touch screen.
BILCHIK: A touch screen order in the restaurant.
JOHNS: So it's like iPad dining.
BILCHIK: Yes and this cost the restaurant owner around 3 million baht, which is about $93,000. The other robots at the Chinese restaurants are $6,000 apiece. And that owner hopes to have 30 by the end this year.
JOHNS: It's a little bit impersonal when you think about it, though. You know, I mean part of the idea of going to a restaurant is having someone come and take care of you and you just fall into the arms of luxury or whatever --
BILCHIK: It sounds like you want one of those maid cafe's --
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNS: Yes.
BILCHIK: -- in Tokyo.
JOHNS: I guess, yes it's just -- I don't know about robots.
BILCHIK: But you know what, you go for the experience. You know, think about it dining is entertainment, so you go for the novelty of it.
JOHNS: Yes.
BILCHIK: And certainly part of this --
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNS: That's right. BILCHIK: -- is you're going for the novelty to see this extraordinary technology and what these robots can do. So there are different kinds of dining experiences. And in the next couple of weeks I hope to bring some of the most unusual dining experiences in the world, and there are many.
JOHNS: Well, when they get to the point where the Japanese waiters come and chop up the food at your table and they're robots, now you're talking about something.
BILCHIK: And you know, these things, stranger things have happened.
JOHNS: That's true, all right, thank you so much.
BILCHIK: Thank you.
JOHNS: Nadia, you bet.
R&B singer Montell Jordan began his musical education in church and now his life has come full circle as he leaves his R&B career to return to the church. We'll hear his story ahead as he -- when our "Faces of Faith" segment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Coming up right after the show at 9:00 eastern "STATE OF THE UNION"; senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry, filling in for Candy Crowley today.
So Ed, I see you no longer have on the Hawaiian shirt.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, I thought about showing up in a Hawaiian shirt but I think our producers might have been a little upset with me and think I was taking it a little too lightly.
JOHNS: I love Jack.
HENRY: I got to get back -- I got to get back to reality, though, Joe.
JOHNS: Yes, well and -- and you beat the President back here by just a little bit, huh, they're getting ready to come back shortly from Hawaii.
HENRY: Yes -- yes, he'll be leaving Monday evening and getting back Tuesday. I mean, he tried to extend it because you'll remember, the lame duck session of Congress sort of kept him here in Washington.
This is his last chance to get some down time really. He's got the State of the Union address coming at the end of January. And he's got this whole new power dynamic with the House Republicans coming to power on Wednesday, John Boehner sworn in as Speaker.
So we're going to press a lot of our guests in both parties about what this whole new power dynamic means for people watching back home.
JOHNS: Tim Kaine coming up, the DNG -- DNC chair is going talking about dealing with these Republicans in the House of Representatives.
HENRY: Yes, absolutely. I mean, you know, I asked him about, you know, this new power dynamic and he said look the President is going to try to work with the Republicans on some issues like that tax cut deal we saw in December.
But then, he also said, look, he's not going to play "mother may I" with these Republicans on other issues and that he's going to get tough with them.
So I think, that's going to be part of the challenge for this president is finding that balance between working with these new Republicans taking over the House, and maybe pushing back on some other issues as he gets ready to run for election in 2012 and Tim Kaine made a little news by saying he's going to stay on as DNC chairman.
Some people thought maybe White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs would move over to the DNC. Chairman Kaine tells us he's staying for another two years.
JOHNS: And I'm very much looking forward to your interview with Congressman Darrell Issa, the incoming chairman --
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: Yes.
JOHNS: -- of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, you're going to talk about his ideas about whether to subpoena the Obama White House.
HENRY: Yes.
JOHNS: How much of this power do you think he's going to use?
HENRY: Well, you know, it's going to be interesting and that's the big question is how far is he going to go with this. And -- and you and I both cut our teeth covering Capitol Hill together and when you remember the days when Dan Burton was a Republican chairman in the same committee, really going after then President Clinton pretty hard. He had a Republican chairman, a Democratic White House, it got pretty ugly and pretty nasty and I'm going to press Darrell Issa on that very matter.
You know, he went on the Rush Limbaugh program right before the election saying this was one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times. That was pretty rough.
He later said he regretted it; he walked it back. But there's a lot of people wondering this morning how fair are these Republicans coming to power going to be to this president. There's going to be a fascinating dynamic play-out, Joe.
JOHNS: All right Ed Henry, looking forward to that coming up in just a few minutes.
HENRY: Happy New Year.
JOHNS: Yes. Happy New Year to you, man.
HENRY: Great seeing you Joe. Good day.
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNS: All right. You too
Keep it here for "STATE OF THE UNION" starts in about 15 minutes, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, 6:00 a.m. Pacific right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Montell Jordan had money and fame and a real future as a Rhythm and Blues singer but he did not have contentment. He found that in church and it changed his life forever. CNN's Fredricka Whitfield has his story of transformation in today's "Faces of Faith".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Many remember R&B singer Montell Jordan for his 1995 hit, "This is How We Do It".
But for the last two years at Victory World Church just outside Atlanta this is how he's doing it. He recently announced via Twitter that as of the New Year after 17 years and seven albums he has retired from the recording industry to become a worship pastor. Saying he felt like he was led to this decision, he says his life and future music will now reflect God.
MONTELL JORDAN, WORSHIP PASTOR: I go on to record labels and, you know, some record labels would -- loved the music, they didn't want to do a deal. And every door that I was trying to go through seems like God was shutting all of those doors. And so I had to look at scripture and says when God shuts a door, no man can open it anyway and if God opens a door no man can shut it. So all the doors seem to be opening, you know, when I wanted to do praise and worship at church I was welcome -- open arms.
WHITFIELD: In his role as worship pastor Jordan says he will oversee all aspects of music for Victory, a role he had with a previous church but says he had admittedly been living a dual life.
JORDAN: While I was there at the church I would go out, do my shows, I'd do my R&B life and then when I'm done with the life, and I come in on the weekends, I do my church life. It was like two Montells and at a certain point, you know, that's schizophrenia. That's two different people.
WHITFIELD: The church's senior pastor recently sat down with Jordan to discuss his past, his faith, and the journey that led him to Victory.
DENNIS ROUSE, SENIOR PASTOR: If you go on the Internet you'll see your videos and on there some of those are 10, 12 years ago and you got the girls dancing and everything like that and I know that's not who you are now. I have never met anybody who coming out of the background that you're coming out of that has such a clear head with God, in terms of where you're going, what God is speaking into your heart.
WHITFIELD: Jordan acknowledges his music legacy has already been written but he is now looking toward the future and creating an even greater impact.
JORDAN: I believe that if you're a leader, people will follow you. The question is where are you leading them and so I've led a lot of people probably the wrong way. My thing has to be bigger than Montell Jordan. Oh, that's the guy, "This is How We Do It". I need that ellipses -- I need that dot-dot-dot after "This is How We Do It". Montell did "This is How We Do It" and then he went on to lead millions of people to Christ.
WHITFIELD: Fredricka Whitfield, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Jordan grew up playing keyboard in church. He says now his life has come full circle.
It started as a courtesy to senate speakers two decades ago. But now critics say the filibuster should be a thing of the past. Others believe the delaying tactic is actually good for the government. Details of the debate are coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: It's 55 minutes after the hour right now.
As the 112th Congress gets ready to convene this week, the battle lines are already being drawn in the U.S. Senate over the bill-killing tactic that a lot of people know as the filibuster. Democrats say it's time to reform it; Republicans are saying not so fast. CNN's Congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jimmy Stewart made the filibuster famous in Mr. Smith goes to Washington, delaying the entire senate talking on the floor until he collapsed from exhaustion. Off the silver screen, the filibuster is less dramatic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On this vote, the yeas are 57, the nays are 42. KEILAR: That's a bill failing to overcome this weapon of the minority party used to delay or kill legislation, provoking the ire of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
HARRY REID (D), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: We've had filibuster after filibuster on major piece of legislation during this entire congress. Not once but 87 times.
KEILAR: With a diminished majority next Congress, Democrats want to weaken the filibuster. How would they do it?
There are a number of ideas floating around. From eliminating the 60 votes needed to even have a final vote on a bill to ending so- called secret holds where a single anonymous senate can prevent a bill from coming to the floor, to forcing senators who want to filibuster to speak at length, sort of like Jimmy Stewart's character did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you know that you fight for the lost cause is harder than for any other.
KEILAR: The goal, take a slow-moving senate that takes up only a fraction of the bills the House does and speed things up. After years of arguing the filibuster makes the Senate necessarily deliberative, congressional scholar Thomas Mann now supports a change.
THOMAS MANN, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Because it's made the Senate an utterly dysfunctional body. It gives power first of all to individual Senators to put what is called a hold on a piece of legislation or a nomination to the courts or to the executive branch.
KEILAR: Every Senate Democrat in the new Congress signed a letter urging changes to Senate rules. Not surprisingly, Republicans are opposed to giving up their power to hold up Democratic priorities. And even some outgoing Senate Democrats warn the long-term consequences should trump the short-term political gain of changing the filibuster.
SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: Therefore to my fellow senators, who have never served a day in the minority I urge you to pause in your enthusiasm to change senate rules.
KEILAR: Now, here's the thing, it takes two-thirds of the senate, that's 67 senators to change senate rules. Democrats could get around that by appealing to the president of the Senate, who is Vice President Joe Biden, to allow just a simple majority to change the rules.
It's a lot of newer Democratic senators here who support this and they are the ones that outgoing Senator Chris Dodd was warning there saying just wait until you are in the minority and you will regret you've taken away your best tool.
Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) JOHNS: Checking the top stories, the Clark County Sheriff's Department is mourning the death of Deputy Suzanne Hopper today, shot down as she investigated gunfire in an Ohio trailer park. The gunman killed her with a shotgun blast without warning. She had no chance to return fire, but other officers did. In the resulting gun battle, a police officer was wounded, the gunman killed. The sheriff called it the worst day he's spent in 24 years on the job.
What killed more than a thousand dead blackbirds that literally fell from the sky in the town of Beebe, Arkansas? The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission collected about 65 of the birds for testing. Among the theories, the flock may have been hit by lightning or high altitude hail Friday night.
For a lot of people in Australia, it's now a matter of coping with or simply surviving the floods. Monsoon rains have drenched an area the size of France and Germany. Worst hit, Rockhampton and Queensland where a thousand people are forced to evacuate ahead of rising water. The flooding has directly impacted nearly a quarter million people. The water is slowly starting to recede.
Thanks for watching us on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm Joe Johns, in for T.J. Holmes. "STATE OF THE UNION" is about to start right now a very special guest filling in, Ed Henry, senior White House correspondent.
Thanks for watching everybody.
