Transcripts For CNN American Morning 20091211

will it fly with democrats who insist a government-run program must be part of any reform program? dana bash following those development ares for us. a snapshot of what afghanistan could be someday. a small province north of kabul independent and thriving. its people somehow able to fend off soviet and taliban forces through the years while accepting and embracing american troops. barbara starr when an "am original." first we have learned a lot more about the five americans arrested in pakistan on terror charges. just in no cnn, their mug shots and at the dailies of their interrogation in pakistan. documents show the men wanted to head to afghanistan to martyr them sfrls and initially make contact with pakistani militants through youtube while posting comments on videos of americans being killed in a convoy attack. arwa damon went to ground zero of this investigation, has exclusive details for us this morning from islamabad. >> reporter: the city of sarghoda has become known as a strong hold of islamist groups. they've thwarted a major terror plot. this is the room where wednesday they ared five men who had vanished from their homes in the u.s. at the end of last month. sarghoda police chief says a few minutes later and they would have been gone. he tells us they found maps highlighting known terror hideouts and an e-mail account the menused to contact their militant handlers. >> they were given extra specific struck a instructions and the telephone usage was prohibited. >> reporter: now the five, as well as the father of one of them, are behind bars. two are of pakistani descent, one egyptian. pakistani officials say all are americans. behind these doors is where the six are being held, interrogated by both pakistani officials and according to the pakistanis by the fbi as well. none has yet been charged, but the police chief claims they could have posed a serious threat. >> were mercenaries. they were there for jihad. they could have done anything. they had u.s. you passports. they could have access to many, many paintoints which some peop have no access to. >> reporter: also we meet the mother of one of the men. she says she came to pakistan two months ago to look for a wife for their son. then he disappeared. >> one day he will come back. he didn't come back, didn't pick up the phone. next day again, another parent said all are missing. now i say it's a serious thing. >> reporter: she doesn't believe her son could be involved in a terror plot. she thought he had been kidnapped and alerted the authorities. a few days ago her son and his friends turned up in pakistan. he told her he wanted to surprise her. now she says her family is caught in the middle of this complex pakistani/u.s. web. >> they are making a story because they are continually fighting each other and involving the family. the people family are coming over for visit, marriage, enjoy their home country. this is not meaning that we are terrorists. >> reporter: now a provincial town in pakistan is suddenly the focus of an investigation spanning continents. according to the police interrogation report which we just received, the group made contact with at least two militant groups in pakistan, both of whom, interestingly, refused them. what is making this especially disturbing for pakistani and other authorities, though, is that the arrest took place in the province of punjab, home to the pakistani military and political leadership. destabilizing that city would destabilize pakistan. some of the other stories this morning, 16,000 u.s. soldiers now have their orders. they are headed to afghanistan. the deployment part of the president's plan to send 30,000 more troops into battle. the first is a battalion of marines scheduled to arrive next week. north korea says it understands the need to resume six-party nuclear disarmament talks and agrees to work with the united states. that cing from the north's foreign ministry after three days of meeting with america's special envoy. federal health officials are now saying some 50 million americans are gotten sick with the swine flu and that nearly 10,000 people have died from it. the new cdc numbers are a big jump from previous estimates. it means one in six americans have had the h1n1 virus. officials say the increase reflects the peak of the second wave of the pandemic. with health care reform on track, nancy poe leslie is no longer drawing a hard line in the sand on including a so-called public insurance option. as dana bash tells us, it's a reality check that could be a major step toward producing a reform bill. >> reporter: john and kiran, now that senate democrats are poised to jet i san a government health care option and the president is praising their progress, house democrats who had demanded a public option are beginning to bow to reality. the votes just aren't there to pass it through congress. >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi this summer. >> there's no way i can pass a bill in the house of representatives without a public option. >> reporter: yet now that senate democrats have a tentative deal to drop a public option she's softening her stance you have said there's "no way i can pass a bill in the house of representatives without a public option" s. that still the case? >> we in the house believe that the public option was the best way to hold insurance companies honest, to keep them honest, and also to increase competition. if you have a better way, put it on the table. as soon as we see something writing from the senate, we'll be able to make a judgment. >> reporter: pelosi opened the door to a health care bill with no public option as long as it meets certain standards, like affordable health coverage and competition for insurance companies. but perhaps more surprising than pelosi's positive statements, the reaction from some of the most liberal lawmakers in her caucus. >> we're certainly not closing the door. >> reporter: you're open to it? >> i am. >> none of care about what it's called as long as people have the type of coverage that they deserve. >> reporter: these members of the powerful progressive talk us had vowed to block health care without a public option. now? you know the reality and reality is that the votes are such you that you're going to have to live without a public option lately? >> that's what appears to be. while i don't like it, i won't make that make me kill the program and kill the improvements in it. >> reporter: they especially like the senate idea of allowing people 55 to 64 to buy into medicare. >> if we're going to greatly expand medicare, that is a public option. >> reporter: but to be sure, not all liberals will stomach compromise. >> look, we need a public option for the purpose of choice, competition, and access. that's why we need it. >> reporter: many house liberals say they're in a wait and see mode, weighting to see the details of the senate democrats' tentative agreement. that's not going to happen until the congressional budget office finish its analysis. still, in talking to democrats it's clear they're more willing to put aside their policy differences to send the president a health care bill soon. in fact, the house speaker said that could even happen by year's end. john and kiran? >> dana bash for us. thanks. other stories new this morning, holiday tourists were forced to duck for cover in new york's times square during a deadly shooting involving police. authorities say an officer shot and killed a 25-year-old after he pulled awe mac 10 submachine gone and fired several shots yesterday. the officer had been trying to question the victim about cds he was peddling to tourists when the man took off running. a new virus targeting facebook attackers are posting links on wall pages telling folks to click on a cute christmas video. only problem, the victim then sees a windows warning message telling them to solve a puzzle within three minutes. if you don't solve the puzzle, the computer freezes up. nice, huh of? even if you reboot the p, the vs spread. >> a creative virus at the very least. >> terrible. and the end of year bonuses are making a comeback as the economy slowly improves. according to a consulting firm survey, 64% of employers are planning to hand out holiday bonus checks this year to help keep the best talent. that's up 54% from last year, a small fraction even plan to increase the amount they're giving. wow. did you get yours yet? >> that's what i was saying. we should be roling in it soon if they're trying to retain the best talent. back to the facebook virus. just if you're that creative and you can do that stuff, think of a cure for the common cold, something. >> you know, people just have too much time on their hands. >> i guess so. and those are smart people so it's even more disturbing. nine minutes past the hour. barbara starr has an "am original." she's focusing on a thriving province in afghanistan who embrace the americans and keep the soviets and afghans out. she'll show us coming up. ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. president obama and his noble peace prize both headed back to washington at this hour, air force one lifting off about 90 minutes ago. he's scheduled to arrive home early this afternoon and of course health care is topping his agenda. next week he heads to copenhagen to attend the climate summit. the man accused of making peeping tom videos of erin andrews will plead guilty. michael barrett is due back in court on tuesday. his lawyer released a statement apologizing to her. he now faces five years in prison. the seven short clips of andrews walking around naked in hotel rooms ended up being the most searched items on google for days before most sites took them down. perhaps listening a little bit to the pop lift outrage over the big bonuses, there won't be bonuses at goldman sachs. don't feel sorry for them. instead, 30 top officials will be paid in stock that can't be sold for five years. as for other employees, they are expected to take home an average of $700,000. if you travel 90 miles north of kabul, you'll discover what afghanistan could be someday. it's a province called panshear, featuring snow covered mountains, a river running through them and 300,000 proud people. a place where american troops and only american troops are welcome. barbara starr is there in the panjshir valley and has this "am original". >> reporter: the stunning beauty of afghanistan's panjshir valley. these mountain peaks have kept these fiercely independent people safe. neither the invading soviets or taliban were ever of able to control this region. because the area is now relat e relativerelativ relatively secure, u.s. troops are able to concentrate on encouraging the local government to take responsibility for its citizens, a major priority of the new counterinsurgency strategy. army major ian murray is part of a reconstruction team living here in the valley. >> we actually get to get out, work with the government officials, work with the local people and make sure the basic services are being provided to them. we've been really focused on building schools, providing basic electrical power through microhydroelectric projects. >> reporter: and you don't have taliban or insurgent activity here. >> no. we've had no instances of any kind of taliban activity in the valley. >> reporter: we are taken to visit the school the u.s. helped build. boys and girls attend separately as they do across afghanistan. it's a freezing cold day, and these boys have walked miles to get here in the early morning. this cold, remote valley is a place of great history to both the afghans of the panjshir and to the united states. shortly after the 9/11 attacks, the first c i a jawbreaker team landed here with trunkfuls of cash. and within days the war against the taliban would begin, a war that still goes on today. all up and down the valley you still find rusted hulks of soviet armor and artillery, a testament of the will of the panj areshirys to resist outsiders which make it all the more extraordinary that people here are willing to accept u.s. troops. here the u.s. soldiers have their own security force, local fighters who have sworn to protect the americans, fighters who once fought the taliban and the soviets. barbara starr, cnn. >> just amazing. and hopefully that can be represent mrikted in some of the other places there. >> it would be nice if it could. a lot of problems in some of those southern provinces, though. >> absolutely. still ahead -- christine romans will join us. she is minding her business today on details of hot jobs for the future. where are the jobs? she'll show us coming up. 16 minutes poost the hour. oil or cream? cream. some use hydrogenated oil. reddi-wip uses real dairy cream. nothing's more real than reddi-wip. it doesn't cover everything. ♪ what's worse than a ten-foot gator on your doorstep? how about a moody ten-foot gator on your doorstep? this one hissing and growling as trappers dragged him away. no one was home at the time, which is probably why the gator is upset. you knock on the door. you expect someone to answer it. nobody's there. >> he's vicious! >> he's a gator. he's doing what gators doing. the neighbors, by the way, tipped off authorities when they saw the gator on the doorstep. >> i'd be mad, too, if someone was trying to wrap me around a tree until we can duct tape your mouth shut. i'm sure they let him go someplace nice, right? someplace gator-like. >> you didn't see christine's handbag? >> oh, john. we're going to get mail from the animal lovers. >> i hope you're not wearing some gator boots. >> no. all synthetic. >> it's a fact of life. they make purses and shoes out of gators. >> what a cool job, gator wrangler. hawonder if you go weeks without ng a big deal and then suddenly, boom. >> in florida, probably hours. >> where do you go to school for that? >> i'mot sure. you learn that on the job i bet. i'm looking at jobs of the future. gator wrangler not this there. the department of labor comes out and says, every ten years where the areas of growth and where the areas not a lot of job growth. this is important so you think about what kind of skills and training you need to have to look forward. it's incredibly important if you're thinking of going to college. what are the areas that will be growing in the next ten years and what's the labor market going to look like. the fastest growing positions and fields for the next ten years, among them, biomedical engineers, guess what, this takes education, folks. there's supposed to be 72% growth. computer analysts, systems designers, the official title is network smdz and data communications analyst, not programmers, not commodity kind of computer jobs but higher end designing jobs. home health aides. remember, huge growth here. 50% over the next ten years. these are lower than average paying jobs in many cases. i think you can get $9 an hour, in many cases they don't have benefits. will personal and home health care aides. home health aides, those can be nurses and those with more skills. financial examiners, anything that has to do with money and numbers. this is going to be growth. managing jobs, no surprise here. anything that touches the consumer, department store jobs shrinking. probably 159 thoshgs on average jobs will be lost. semiconductor prfrs, printing and postal service jobs. economists say the trend has started. we're moving away from being a country that makes things to being a country that produces services. that will be the trend. the managing editor of the financial times and i go back and forth on we talk to silicone valley ceos and people about what they're telling their kids to go into. she said statistics, statistics, statistics. there's so much data and information out there, if you know how to harness it and mathematically apply it, you are really a boon to business. most important thing, though, here is that a 4.9% unemployment rate for a college education, compare that with 10%, i say this all the time, broken record, even though it's expensive and you have to figure out how to pay for it, a college education still is the best buffer for you going forward. >> how does that saying go, there are lies, damn lies, and then there's statistics. what about your roman numeral this morning? >> the number is 5. this is a number that tells you how difficult it is to get a job and the importance to know where the fields are. >> that's how many people apply for each available job now? >> the number of people you have to beat out to get a job. >> it's not as bad as it was. >> i think she said one you in six. >> six people for every job. >> now she change td and said, you have to beat out five people. that's it, statistics. >> exactly. you have to be better than five people to get the job. >> one other note quickly, eric schmidt, the ceo of google as you said, getting away from manufacturing, he sees that as a mistake talking about the need to not let this green technology get away from us, that china, japan, other countries are far ahead when it comes to that. and that need to make sure things sure and understand technology. >> the mayor of lansing, measure misch, on the same page. >> there's a story this morning that american patent filings are down. for the first time in 13 years, they're down because we're not spending so much on innovation because of the recession. that's something that's pretty -- we're going to talk about all of these things this weekend with my good friend and partly ali velshi on "your money" saturday and sunday. talk about all of this exhaustively. >> another shameless plug. >> hey, what can i say? >> thanks, christine. good to see you. oh, how quickly a year goes by. it was a year ago that we learned about bernie madoff and the huge ponzi scheme. our allan chernoff who was following this story closely updates us one year later. stay with us. sun life financial has never taken government bailout money, yet no one knows our name. ♪ get down tonight that's about to change. so you'll pay for the tour, but i have to change my name? no, you're still kc, but from now on, they will be the sun life band. it's funky. sooner or later, you'll know our name. sun life financial. ♪ ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. 27 minutes past the hour. it was just a year ago now that bernie madoff's empire of fraud collapsed out from under him, wiping out the life savings of many people, decimating chaerties. >> this morning, the 71-year-old convicted con artist is living out the rest of his life in a north carolina prison, and there's a growing conflict between some of his victims as they true to recoup ther losses. alan chernoff jioins us now. >> in some ways the victims have the same interest, but the bottom line, it's all about the money. and some of the madoff investors have gotten some of their investments back while many have not. and that is pitting one madoff investing against another. >> reporter: bennett goldworth thought he was set for life when he retired three years ago at age 50. he bought a waterfront condo in ft. lauderdale and said good-bye to new york and his job selling real estate. >> i felt like i had everything i wanted in life. it was great. >> reporter: a decade of investing with bernard madoff gave goldworth the financial security to enjoy the good life in florida, until madoff's arrest. >> hi, scott. it's bennett. >> reporter: today goldworth is back in manhattan, grateful to be selling homes again. he's grateful also to be among the first to receive a full $500,000 payment which ensured direct accounts of madoff. >> i'm one of the fortunate ones. i was very happy. i thought -- i really was very pleased. >> reporter: but other madoff victims, like judy and don, senior citizens who have had to come out of retirement, have gotten nothing. >> i felt as though we were cheated. i felt violated. >> reporter: the couple for years had withdrawn what they believed were earnings from their madoff account. the trustee overseeing restitution says the couple withdrew more than they invested and therefore are entitled to nothing. >> they changed the rules in the middle of the game, which i don't think it fair at all. >> the net winners should be at the back of the line. that's all. you know, the first thing that should be addressed is that everyone get back everything they invested. >> he got his money back. why wouldn't he feel comfortable? it's the people who haven't gotten their money back that are not happy. >> reporter: what bonded bernard madoff clients, victimization, now divides some them. the rafrties feel once again they're victims while other madoff investors like bennett goldworth have received compensation to get back on their feet. the trustee has reviewed more than 11,000 claims but okayed only 1600 of them. that's just about 14%. so the vast majority of investors are not seeing a dime just yet. >> people might recognize the cork aran name connected to the bernie madoff scandal. >> that's another reason mr. goldworth is so glad to be back at cork ran because they have actually sold two of the madoff properties out in florida and also on long island. and bethe way also contributed the commissions to the compensation fund for the victims. so another reason for him to be happy to be at cork ran. >> i guess. allan, good to see you this morning. half past the hour. here are your top stories this morning. a high-level al qaeda operative has been killed in western pakistan. government officials are not releasing his identity but confirm it is not osama bin laden nor his second in command eye man all zawahiri. secretary of state hillary clinton heading back to the hot seat on capitol hill, face lawmakers concerned about the cost of deploying 30,000 troops to afghanistan. the pentagon has estimated that the surge will cost between 30 billioned and $35 billion. it appears that the recession has been very, very good to federal employees. "usa today" reports the number of government workers earning six figure salaries exploded during the economic downturn. the six-figure growth has pushed the average federal worker's pay to more than $71,000 compared to just over $40 thoushg 4$40,000 e sector. the main reason? pay hikes and new salary rules. a bizarre conspiracy theory involving president obama and a charlie brown christmas special has now earned one government official special recognition. our wingnut of the week, independent analyst john avalon is back at it, he was off getting married. welcome. we missed you. >> thank you. >> you're calling people on the left and right for their extreme behavior. john, by the way has a column for the daily beast.com. let's get right to it. this one is arlington, tennessee, mayor. >> russell wiseman, the oddly named mayor wiseman. >> right. wingnut of the week on the right. here is the back story on this one. he said he was sitting down basically to watch the charlie brown christmas special with his children when he found the program was preempted. why? because the president was giving a prime-time address announcing his troop surge strategy for afghanistan. what happens next? >> he came to the conclusion that this had been done on purpose by the white house, a deliberate attempt to subvert charlie brown christmas and decided the smart thing to do would be facebook about it, in a state of unhinged anger. let's look at his first post. >> and then in a following thread on facebook he wrote -- >> finally, he wrote -- >> so he made these comments. i'm sure he didn't expect they were going to go unnoticed. did he take a lot of heat for it? >> he sure did. they evened up being reprinted in the memphis appeal. this is not the first time we've seen unconscious, idiotic and callous comments written on facebook by an elected official and making news. why? because it pulls the curtain back to what these folks are thinking and in some cases it's ugly wingnut stuff. >> scary because he ace mayor of a town. he's a leader and he's supposed to be telling the truth. even to say a muslim president is misleading. >> just -- >> president obama is not muslim. >> that's right. that's the most basic level. you've got this classic fear smear kicking around out there and being pumped up by an elected official. >> so did he apologize for this? >> well, he initially said people were making mountains out of molehills. then he did release an apology which i believe we have a copy of. in which he said it was a tongue-in-cheek humor. >> there you go. interestingly enough, while he did get roundly criticized for this, he actually also garnered some support. in fact a twitter page in support of a palin/wiseman ticket for 2012. >> we saw the same thing after joe wilson shouted "you lie" at obama. there is a segment of the population that seems to be taking any statement, no matter how unhinged, against the president as being sort of truth telling, part of this obama resistance. in that there's something a little bit disturbing going on. the idea that obama supporters should move to a muslim nation or getting no, s-- there are we streams that should have people concerned. >> let's look at your wingnut from the left. this is a high, high profile democrat. >> yes. senate majority leader harry reid. he compared republican opposition to health will care opposition to defenders of slavery and segregation. >> instead of joining us on the right side of history, all republicans can come up with is this -- slow down. stop everything. let's start over if you think you've heard these same excuses, you're right. when this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there are those who dug in their heels who said, slow down, things aren't bad enough. let's wait. >> credit eks are saying he's basically comparing people who are against health care reform to people who supported slavery. >> later in the speech he went on to say that filibusters against civil rights legislation might be replayed as well. yes. look, i'm a fan of historic perspective in politics but this is a degree of malpractice on a couple of levels. first of all, the fight over slavery and health care legislation, second of all, just for the record it was conservative democrats who opposed the emancipation and anti-satisfying ra gaigs policy, not republicans. finally, this reflects in playing the race card, actually diminishes credibility. he took a lot of heat for it as a result. >> it is a credibility issue for sure. thanks for joining us. if you want to read more about john's wingnut fix, go to our web site. he has a book coming up. great to have you back. we'll see you next friday. john? >> john, don't you just hate it when facts get in the way of a good speech on the floor there? how safe is our transit system from a chemical attack? . the government is trying to find out. it's long been thought that terrorists who try to attack a subway would have to really know what they were doing. well, apparently there's some evidenced that they don't. so we'll have that for you coming right up. jeanne meserve is looking into this for us. 37 minutes after the hour. even after waiting a month for my appointment, and spending two hours in the chair. there's nothing like feeling the open air freedom of my jeep wrangler. to make vanity... fly right out the window. i live. i ride. i am. jeep. someone needs to lighten up. 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( laughs ) new tylenol cold rapid release gels day and night release medicine fast to relieve painful coughs, congestion and sore throats. so you can feel better. zometa ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. our nation's subways are known as soft targets, considered more vulnerable because typically they have less security. if you have ever wondered what would happen if they were hit by a chemical attack, government researchers want to know as well and they want to find out. here is jeanne meserve with an "am original." >> a chemical or biological attack on a subway system could kill thousands of people so the department of homeland security, scientists from the national laboratories and other countries as well as private industry are studying what can be done to blunt the impact. >> reporter: 1995. a deadly nerve agent is released in the tokyo subway system. 12 die, thousands injured. horrif horrific. but in theory another biological or chemical attack could be much worse. this animation given to cnn by the department of homeland security shows small black subway trains acting like pivot on, pushing anthrax through tunnels and out entrances and vents, exposing more than 10,000 people to lethal doses in an hour and a quarter. scientists believe that early detection and stopping trains would result in something more like this, about 1,500 deaths. but they want to prove their theory. >> well, this is basically the entire underground portion of the boston system. >> reporter: an international team of scientists fans out through boston's subway to gather information on air flow. >> five, four, three, two, one. >> reporter: they release an invisible, nontoxic gas to mimic a chemical agent. harmless fluorescent particles play the part of a biological contaminant. scientists track them. some carry sensors on moving trains. >> it's way up. >> reporter: other detection devices are at fixed points in stations. >> as the trains come in and out, it's pushing the air and we're seeing increases an decreases. >> reporter: a computer compiles data in realtime and shows the simulated biological agent moving through most of the subway within 45 minutes. >> if this was a real biological attack, it would be a very lethal dose. >> reporter: the information gathered here will help determine where to put sensors, how to develop better sensors, and how ute ventilation and filtration systems to minimize an attack. >> in some cases it's better to shut the system down, shut the ventilation rapidedly evacuate the people. >> reporter: the deputy chief of transit police will help him refine emergency and evacuation plans for all kinds of events. >> it might be the unintentional release of a chemical agent, hazmat spill or smoke from a fire. >> reporter: but the principle goal is to prevent or minimize something like this. boston's mbta is the oldest subway system in the country, the same experiments have already been run on washington's metro, one ever the newest. scientists believe data from these two sets of tests will help all transit systems better prepare for the frightening possibility of chemical or biological attack. john, kiran, back to you. >> jeanne meserve for us this morning. my day just got a little darker after watching that. i don't know about you. >> well, at least if they're able to develop ways to make sure they can head it off or signal at least a little faster that it's happening, maybe we're making progress. >> i've got a sneaking suspicion there ain't nothing we can do. there's nothing we can do about the weather, for sure. it's been quite cold about many parts of the country after getting slammed by snow, now we have frigid air as well. rob marciano taking a look at when it's going to warm up. 44 minutes past the hour. you know why i sell tools? tools are uncomplicated. nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch hose clamp pliers. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping's easy. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that's not complicated. no. come on. how about... a handshake. alright. (announcer) priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. ♪ still orange for halloween. >> look at that. you know? hey, fyi, atlanta, we're coming closer to christmas now. you can change it. it's a little joke. he made fun of me because i thought, hey, the empire state building can change colors on demand. i thought maybe that nice little building in atlanta that looks like the tin man's hat, maybe that could change on demand. but no, it always stays that color. >> it was halloween. she said, do they make it orange for halloween? >> i'm so nice. as i said, the empire state building, boom, in honor of columbus day, they changed it to the colors of the italy flag. that was a live look at atlanta where it's 28 degrees right now. probably one of the warm spots, right, rob? it will be 45 later. i don't know if we're getting out of the 30s here in new york. >> now everybody is into the cold. we just don't have the budget that the empire state building has to start changing colors like that. listen, a lot of white upstate new york for sure. take a look at some of this video coming out of buffalo. finally the lake-effect snow machine -- visibility down to zero yesterday. could barely see the street lights. roads covered, obviously driving treacherous. and the snow flplows out finalln full force. more on the way today. people having a hard time getting around for sure. here are the snow totals for yesterday, middlebury, new york, 21 inches, 16 inches in east aurora, lancaster 13.5, alma, new york, 13 inches. finally, we're seeing ontario and erie go into action. very warm waters here, very cold air, and those winds coming all the way down the pipe here, they're getting a long stretch of waurm water to tap into. lake-effect snow warnings for buffalo, north of syracuse along the tug hill plateau. problems there. cold air driving all the way to the gulful mexico, everybody including central florida and another storm coming into california to bring more rain and wind for them. so the active weather pattern keeps coming. today's high in new york, 31, not terribly shapy. 45 in atlanta, we're not used to that. that's definitely below normal. everybody try to stay warm as we head toward christmas. >> lob, thanks. tossing your leftovers in the garbage is a crime in san francisco. a new law requires residents to compost their organic waste. what's being done with the scraps of food might surprise you. dan simon has that story in this week's "exclusions." >> reporter: throwing out leftovers may soon be a thing of the past. in the bay area, a utility district is recycling food and generating power from the methane gas created when it decomposes. >> there's no shortage of food scraps. if it was all utilized to create renewable energy, you could provide enough power for around 25,000 homes. >> reporter: the plant processes about 100 tons of food a week, which is collected from local businesses like restaurants and grocery stores. and in san francisco residents are also doing their part to reduce what's being sent to landfills. in october, a law was passed requiring both residents and businesses to compost their own food scraps. >> we keep the bin handy under the kitchen sink. when it's ready to go out, you tie it up and take it down the hall. >> reporter: officials say this is the first step towards a long-term goal. >> san francisco is currently recycling into% of the 2 million tons we collect every single year. >> reporter: bloomen thel says he wants no waste going to landfills by 2020 and there may be another benefit. the city charges for garbage that goes to the landfill but not for what's recycled. dan simon, cnn, san francisco. >> there you go. disney's having one first this christmas season. its first african-american princess making her debut this weekend. why some people are saying it's about time. 52 minutes past the hour. i work for a global leader that offers a great start right out of college. that puts everything within my reach. that respects and welcomes my point of view. i work for a global leader that is guided by integrity. and powered by innovation. i work for lockheed martin. multiple voices lockheed martin. when you join one of the world's leading technology employers, you will discover everything is possible. ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. disney is getting back to baes icks this weekended with a release of a two-dimensional, handdrawn animated movie. forget that computer animated stuff. "the princess and the frog" is breaking new ground, starring disney's first african-american princess. kareen wynters sat down with a target audience to see what they felt about it. >> reporter: john and kiran, we're inside disney's animation studios where the first black princess was brought to life. and some say it's about time. >> one more time! ♪ it don't matter what you look like ♪ >> reporter: or does it? check out disney's new leading lady, tiana. >> i suppose you want a kiss? >> reporter: she's the studio's first black princess, and many are taking notice. even students at los angeles' clover avenue elementary. >> did you see many anything at all that was different that stood out from perhaps other disney movies? >> tiana was african-american? >> reporter: the third and fourth graders we spoke with had no problem sharing their thoughts about disney's new film "the princess and the frog," which they screened inside their classroom. >> there's a first time for everything, and i think this was a really good start. >> i think it's a good diversity. >> reporter: when it comes to diversity, disney's come a long way since snow white in the 1930s. since then, there have been just three ethnic princesses, the native american poke hont us, chinese mu lawn and arabic jasmine from alauden. question is, in the fantastic world of fairy tale -- does skin color really matter? >> it isn't fair. they should have had one earlier. it took them forever to fick out they should have had an african-american princesses. >> reporter: one of the film's re. animators ag >> it's about time, i think. it's absolutely about time. >> reporter: what took so long since introduction of snow white? >> i don't know what took so long. i'll be honest with you. we were there with different ethnicities before this film. maybe we needed to do those other films before we could actually do tiana. >> reporter: like some princesses before her, eric goldberg says tiana is already a marketing machine. >> everybody is buying african-american princess tiana dolls, you know. it doesn't matter what their background is. it's like this is a great, popular character. >> reporter: some students note the princess' popularity shouldn't be lost on the film, that there's a deeper message here. >> people that wanted to be princesses but their skin color wasn't white, they say, well well, if she can do it, then i'm sure i can do it. >> tiana's actually inspiring them. >> only thing important is what's under the skin. >> reporter: disney is keeping its next princess story under wraps, but animators say judging from tiana's initial response, you can expect something huge. john, kiran? >> kareen wynter this morning, fascinating. >> they market the heck out of these princesses. all the backpacks, everything. they have all of them together. you know, it's a big marketing thing. kids like it and they sort of -- everybody likes their princess. my daughter's favorite is one that looks like her, snow white. there you go. now we have a new one to look after and pay for. >> excellent. 57 minutes past the hour. the obama administration announcing a crackdown on executive pay. how is this going to play out in wall street? we're going to take a look. top stories in just 90 seconds. what do i get my husband? ♪ high-def tv, high-def tv ♪ in 1080p ♪ with 120 hertz, guys are so easy ♪ ♪ high-def tv, high def tv, we really do agree ♪ ♪ guys just want a nice big screen ♪ ♪ to stare at frozenly [ ding ] ok. ♪ when he sees this thing ♪ we have to warn you now ♪ it looks just so awesome ♪ he's gonna have a cow moo. [ male announcer ] a 46" tv with 120 hertz. delivered right to your home. the best gifts come from best buy. thanks very much for being with us on the most news in the morning. it's friday, the 11th of december. i'm john roberts. >> i'm kiran chetry. thanks for being with us. we have big stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes. first, their turn to pay. the obama administration announcing a new crackdown on executive pay. more than 2 with 00 second-tier executives will be getting the treatment that their bosses received. is it enough for the risks that they took with your cash? christine romans here to explain. the fbi now saying five americans who turned up in pakistan wanted to martyr themselves. how did students frt d.c. area end up in a hot spot for extremists? we went there for answers and we found their families. new details, exclusively, just ahead. a new warning this morning for women who have already survived breast cancer. there is a new study linking heavy drinking to breast cancer coming back. but how much is too much? elizabeth cohen will be joining us. bonus season getting lighter for executives who still have a job thanks to your money p. the obama administration announcing a crackdown on executive pay today. the so-called pay czar will put caps on salary for top-tier executives in companies that took bailouts. >> but are enough people responsible for the crash really feeling it? christine romans is fiminding yr business here. who are we talking about? >> the second-tier executives at the big banks that are and frankly insurance companies and automakers who are owned by you and me. our money is propping these companies up. they have exceptional assistance from american taxpayers so that means at the treasury department ken feinberg gets to say how much the executives will make. citigroup, aig, general motors, chrysler, gmac, bank of america used to be on the list. but bank of america was very eager to get out from under rules like this and paid back $45 billion to the treasury this week. here is what the pay czar has ruled. $500,000 will be the salary cap for the employees who make the number 26 through 100 top paid employ yeez at the firms. the top 25 have already been ruled on in a case by case basis for those. extra pay will be allowed if the company can show good cause. john and kiran, this is what i think is so interesting. because for many, many years leading up to the crash, there wasn't any kind of oversight. there was just wild compensation for risk taking. you couldn't show -- it was very difficult to show good cause. so ken feinberg says, some of these people may be eligible for more pay, bigger pay, if indeed they are doing work there that is good for taxpayers. you've got to show good cause. there is really this culture that governments are trying to end. the uk is taxing bonuses 50%. this is not popular in the city. >> what are they taxed here? >> bonuses are taxed at 50%, yeah. so these would be american bankers and european bankers in the uk. but this is a big tax there. not very popular. it could raise 6 billion pounds i think of revenue for the government. france is talking tough. you've got the president summoning the bankers to the white house. there's a boiling point that's been reached here about compensation. i think we're just going to see this start to develop. >> are we going to see the potential backlashes and consequences. you mentioned london, the uk. i was reading articles about how the people are calling up their real estate agent saying, get me out of here. >> or asking for transfers to someplace else through april or something. >> right. and so what is -- can i mean, we talk about the situation. a lot of these cases, we need these companies to be successful, want them to be successful. they argue they need to retain top tal ept. at the same time, some of this compensation seems on scene. how do you balance that? >> that's why ken feinberg has this extra pay if you can show good cause. he recognizes there are people who are star performers who taxpayers need frankly to be doing a great job and who maybe deserve more money if they're going to get a good return for us. >> is the talent pool that thin? >> you know -- >> christine romans this morning. thanks. shoppers and tourists sent scrambling in new york city's times square during a deadly shooting involving police. authorities say an officer shot and killed a 25-year-old man after he pulled a gun and fired several shots outside the marriott marquise hotel. the officer had tried to question the victim about cds he was peddling to tourists when the man took off running and began firing. >> the police were there. clearly they had either taken off him or found by him a pretty significant weapon that he pulled off to the side. >> what did the gun look like? >> someone else had said it was something like a mac 10 but it was a small gun what i huge clip underneath. it did not like like anything you want to get on the other side of. >> apparently it was a mac 10. the purpose traitor got a couple of shots off before the gun jammed. bullets shattered the windows of a gift shop and a theater where "white christmas" is showing. >> thank god the gun jammed. >> i fired one of those. it can get off 1800 rounds in a minute. >> this had a magazine with 27 additional bullets apparently. wow. president obama and his noble peace prize heading home to washington at this hour. air force one lifting off from oslo, norway, about 2 1/2 hours ago. before taking off, the president got a few laughs when he was asked about all the criticism that the noble committee faced for choosing him. >> as i indicated before, no one was more surprised than me. and i have to say that when the chairman spoke introducing me, i told him afterwards that i thought it was an excellent speech and that i was almost convinced that i deserved it. >> there you go. well, health care reform topping the president's agenda when he gets home this afternoon. he heads back to europe next week for the climate summit in copenhagen. private security guards employed by blackwater usa took part in top-secret cia raids against suspected insurgents in afghanistan and iraq according to a report in the "new york times." blackwater's role in snatch and grab operations between 2004 and 2006 reportedly reveals a deep connection between the north carolina security firm and the u.s. spy agency. and it's only raising concerns over the legality of using private contractors in sensitive government operations. also brand new this morning, we just learned a lot more about the five americans arrested in pakistan on terror charges. just in to cnn, their mug shots and also some details of the interrogation that took place in pakistan. documents showing the men say they wanted to head to afghanistan to martyr themselves. they initially made contact with pakistani militants through youtube while posting comments on videos of americans being killed in a convoy attack. our arwa damon went to ground zero of this investigation. she joins us with exclusive details from islamabaislamabad. >> reporter: the city of sarghoda has become a stronghold of radical islamic groups. now police say they have thwarted a major terror plot. this is the room where wednesday they arrested five men who had vanished from their homes in the u.s. at the end of last month. sarghoda police chief says a few minutes later, and they would have been gone. he tells us they found maps highlighting known terror hideouts and an e-mail account the men used to contact their militant handlers. >> they were given extra specific instructions i would say, and the telephone usage was prohibited. >> reporter: now the five, as well as the father of one of them, are behind bars. pakistani officials say all men are americans. behind these doors is where the six are being held, interrogated by both pakistani officials and according to the pakistanis by the fbi as well. none has yet been charged, but the police chief claims they could have posed a serious threat. >> they were mercenaries. they were there for jihad. they could have done anything. they had u.s. you passports. they could have access to many, many points. which a normal person could not have access to. >> reporter: also in sarghoda we meet the mother of one of the men. she doesn't want to appear on camera for religious reasons. she says she came to pakistan two months ago to look for a wife for her son. then he disappeared from their home. >> and monday he told he will come back. monday all day he's gone he didn't come back, didn't pick up the phone. next day again, the other parent told that all are missing. then i told that now it's a serious thing. >> reporter: she doesn't believe her son could be involved in a terror plot. she thought he had been kidnapped and alerted authorities. a few days ago, her son and his friends turned up in pakistan. he told her he wanted to surprise her. now she says her family is caught in the middle of this complex pakistani/u.s. web. >> they are making a story because both country are fighting each other and they are involving other family. the people family are coming over here to visit, marriage, enjoy their home country. this is not meaning that we are terrorists. >> reporter: now a provincial town in pakistan is suddenly the focus of an investigation spanning continents. according to the police interrogation report, which we have just received, the group made contact with at least two militant groups in pakistan, both of whom, interestingly, refszed them. what is making this especially disturbing for pakistani and other authorities, though, is that the arrests took place in the province of punjab, home to the pakistani military and political leadership. destabilizing that city would destabilize the entire country. john? kiran? also new this morning, the battle to recruit arab and muslim troops getting even tougher since the ft. hood shooting. "usa today" reports discrimination and harassment are up 20% since the massacre at the post. army major nidal as san, a muslim and arab-american is charged with killing 13 people and wounding 32 in that attack. the man accused of making peeping tom videos of espn sideline reporter erin andrews will plead guilty. michael barrett due in court tuesday. his lawyers released a statement apologizing to her. he faces five years in prison. the seven short clips of andrews walking around naked in hotel rooms was the most searched site for days. andrews' lawyer is telling cnn she is still shaken. our best advice to you this morning -- wear layers. people across much of the country waking up to a biting cold. as one winter storm moves out, another one is moving in. parts of the mountain west that already got 30 inches of snow could see a whole lot more. rob marciano is tracking it all for us this morning. you know, if the snow falls where it's supposed to on the mountains, you get some great ski conditions and everybody's happy. up there north of the border in british columbia, they got the snowiest november on record. >> yeah. they were worried about not having enough snow after years past, but november was record breaking. no worries there for the olympics. got a good base right now. you could make snow in places like memphis right now, maybe atlanta. temperatures almost to the freezing point all the way to the gulf mexico. 8 in chicago without the windchill, minus 3 in minneapolis and 23 currently in new york. now everybody getting a piece of this with the cold. lake-effect snow machines have kicked into high gear. check out some of the totals over a foot in many spots, almost two feet in middlebury, new york. pictures out of rochester, not only is it snowing but the snow is coming down for the most part sideways. they have a dry november for lake-effect snow and now making up for lost time in upstate new york. here's where the lake-effect snow bands are and the winds are blowing 25, 30 miles an hour from erie to buff le to rochester and temperatures without the windchill into the teens in binghamton. you can just imagine how miserable it is out there. speaking of out there, out west, our next weather system is rolling into san francisco all the way into los angeles and san diego. this is another band of rain and snow. it's a two-day event at least, and it will make its way over the mountains and into the rest of the country by the beginning of next week. very active weather pattern as we head into the middle of december. everybody, almost all the way down to south florida, will need at least a jacket this morning. john and kiran, back to you. >> if you can't get away from the cold by going to south florida, you guess -- >> he said almost because i think he knows it's still sunny in miami. >> yeah. 73 in miami. i gue i. >> everybody move to florida now. >> rob, thanks. still ahead, we'll be talking about some changes in health care reform. the senate coming together possibly on a deal, but what does it entail and what does it mean for you? we'll break it down with a big panel talking more about some the changes presented in the newest version of reform. 13 minutes past the hour. there's a hospital where technology has a healing touch. there's a factory giving old industries new life. and there's a train that got a whole city moving again. somewhere in america, the toughest questions are answered every day. because somewhere in america, 69,000 people spend every day answering them. siemens. answers. 16 minutes past the hour. we're talking about health care here. just how badly does house speaker nancy pelosi want a reform bill passed by the end of the year? of course we know she wants it. she's no longer insisting on a so-called public insurance option to be in a final version and she appears to be ready and willing to go forward without it. senior congressional correspondent dana bash takes a look and is following developments for us. >> reporter: john and kiran, now that senate democrats are poised to jet i san a government-run health care option from their bill and the president is praising their progress, house democrats who had demanded a public option are beginning to bow to reality. the votes just aren't there to pass it through congress. >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi this summer. >> there's no way i can pass a bill in the house of representatives without a public option. >> reporter: yet now that senate democrats have a tentative deal to drop a public option she's softening her stance. you have said there is "no way i can pass a bill in the house of representatives without a public option." is that still the case? >> we in the house believe that the public option was the best way to hold the insurance companies honest, to keep them honest, and also to increase competition. if you have a better way, put it on the table. as soon as we see something in writing from the senate, we'll be able to make a judgment. >> reporter: pelosi opened the door to a health care bill with no public option as long as it meets certain standards like affordable health coverage and competition for insurance companies. but perhaps more surprising than pelosi's positive statements, the reaction from some of the most liberal lawmakers in her caucus. >> we certainly are not closing the door. >> reporter: you're open to it. >> i am. >> none of us care about what it's called as long as people have the type of coverage that they deserve. >> reporter: these members of the powerful progressive caucus had vowed to block health care without a public option. now? you know the reality and the reality is that the votes are such that you're going to have to live without a public option lately? >> that's what appears to be. while i won't like it, i'm not going to make that make me kill the program and kill the improvements in it. >> reporter: they especially like the senate idea of allowing people 55 to 64 to buy into medicare. >> if we're going to greatly expand medical ircare, that is a public option. >> reporter: but to be sure, not all liberals will stomach compromise. >> look, we need a public option for the purpose of choice, competition, and access. that's why we need it. >> reporter: many house liberals say they're in a wait and see mode, waiting to see the details of the senate democrats' tentative agreement. that's not going to happen until the congressional budget office finishes its analysis. still, in talking to democrats it's clear they're more willing to put aside their policy differences to send the president a health care bill soon. in fact, the house speaker said that could even happen by year's end. john and kiran? >> dana, thanks. we could actually have a reform bill for the holidays? we don't know the answer to that. what we are doing is take a closer look at the plan emerging in the senate. here to talk about us from chicago is kenneth thorp. thanks for being with us this morning. >> thanks for having me on. >> also, shaen telly, fortune magazine editor at large. thanks, shane. ken, two things presented in the senate version we're talking about. one is the change in the public option. this was something that actually looks like there was a compromise reached on this. what does it mean and what's the solution to be able to afford to cover larger groups of people without a public option? >> well, i think what they're talking about with the public option now is to have a government plan contract with a not for profit private insurance company to provide coverage nationally. if you live inable kweshg or indiana, pennsylvania, you pay exactly the same premium. that was one of the premises, national availability. put competitive pressures on insurance companies and everybody would pay the same. >> scene, is this basically a public option without calling it that? >> that part is not a public option because the government through the office of personnel management would negotiate with private insurers the way they do for public employees. the good element to this bill as ken pointed out is that it is a national plan, whereas the insurance is regulated by state and there are enormous differences in premiums across state lines. this would, in fact, inject some sort of national competition. the problem with it is that this plan already is facing very, very high premiums that are rising faster than premiums in the nonpublic sector, and also you're going to have an adverse selection problem because you'll have older, sicker people going into this plan so they can't use the actual government plan. because it would shift the cost enormously to the upside. what they have to do is create a parallel plan. but the biggest single change is making medicare available to people starting at the age of 55. >> that's what i want to get to next, this change, dropping the age that you could actually opt into medical i carry. right now it's 65, dropping it to 55. how would we pay for that, kenneth? >> well, that's going to be the challenge evening that the senate is working out right now. they're looking at a couple of proposals. the first option would be to make medicare available to adults 55 to 64 probably starting next year, but having seniors really paying the full price of it. about $7500 or $8000 a year for a single person. alternatively, they're looking at options that would provide some financial assistance for people to buy those plans. that's going to be one of the issues. how much does it really cost? add to the overall cost of the bill? and is it really going to be affordable for people to buy it? >> it won't be. people today pay 25% of the cost of medicare via premiums and taxes. this would call on people to pay the full actuarial price of the medicare coverage. it's going to be far too expensive, require enormous subsidies. the question is will those subsidies be higher than the subsidies that people uninsured would get through the exchanges? the history of medicare is that the cost projections are always way off by a factor of two or three times. so this is a program will that's already in the red by over $50 trillion, to give you some sort of perspective, kiran, of the deficit. it's around $1.5 trillion. this would actually expand the problems we now have with medicare, which is the biggest budget buster. >> kenneth, do you agree with that take, that you're talking in the trillions already when it comes to underfunding? and if so, what is -- is this bill going to "bend the cost curve," which is what many proponents of reform have been saying needs to happen and will happen if it's passed? >> well, there are a lot of good new ideas in the proposal to slow the growth in medicare spending in particular. we've got to go to the root cause here. medicare costs are rising because we have an explosion of chronic diseases in the program, diabetes, high blood pressure, and secondly we don't do a very good job of working with patients that have multiple chronic health care conditions to keep them out of the hospital, to keep them being readmitted to the hospital. in fact, 20% of medicare patients are readmitted into the hospital within 30 days. so there are some good provisions that move us in the right direction that do a better job of preventing disease and doing care coordination. the question is, are we doing enough and are we doing it fast enough? but at least they're going in the right direction. >> shawn, you say we could be in term will of trying to find a way to pay for this, what do you think the inevitability of this is? >> the only way it can be paid for is a value-added tax. >> a national sales tax? >> yes. almost inevitable given we can't grow our way out of these budget problems. there's really almost no will to cut our way out of these problems. so the only way we can move forward and come anywhere near balancing the budget is through an enormous new national sales tax. i think it's inevitable. the other problem with this bill that no one is talking about is the fines on individuals in the senate bill are so low. if you spend over 8 pr of your income for a policy, you're totally exempted from fines. what people are going to do is opt in when they get sick. when the flood is approaching your house, you're going to buy flood insurance and when you're young and have to pay far more than your cost, which is also a feature of this bill, you're going to drop your insurance. so people will be going in when they get sick and dropping out when they're healthy. >> i know the house version is a little bit more robust on that front. we'll see if these moves forward if that changes. i want to thank you both. >> thanks for having us on. the copenhagen summit, a week has gone by and still those e-mails are casting doubt over the science and proceedings there. we're going to talk to a scientist mentioned many times in those e-mails. he wants the raw climate data to check the science and so far scientists at the climate attic research unit have been denying him that data. global warming, fact or fiction? is it truth or trick? we'll find out, coming up. stay with us. ♪ (announcer) yoplait's perfect blend of real fruit and the goodness of dairy... ...is just a peel away. explore all 25 delicious flavors. yoplait. it is so good. throughout our lives, we encounter new opportunities. at the hartford, we help you pursue them with confidence. by preparing you for tomorrow. while protecting what you have today. you've counted on us for 200 years. let's embrace tomorrow. and with the hartford behind you, achieve what's ahead of you. welcome back to the most news in the morning. if you traveled 90 miles north of kabul in afghanistan, you'll discover what afghanistan could potentially be some day. it ace a province called panjshir. 300,000 very proud people live there. >> it's also a place where american troops and only american troops are welcome. an "am original" now, went gone correspondent barbara starr. >> reporter: the stunning beauty of afghanistan's panjshir valley. these mountain peaks have kept these fiercely independent and devote panjshirys safe. neither the invading soviets or the taliban were ever able to control this region. because the area is now relatively secure, u.s. you troops stationed here are able to concentrate on encouraging the local afghan government to take responsibility for its citizens, a major priority of the new counterinsurgency strategy. army major ian murray is part of a reconstruction team living here in the valley. >> we get to actually get out, work with the government officials, work with the local people and make sure that the basic services are being provided to them. we've been really focused on building schools, providing some basic electrical power through microtried droe electric projects and providing the clinics. >> reporter: and you do not have taliban or insurgent activity here. >> no. no taliban, insurgent activity. no instances of any kind of taliban activity in the valley. >> reporter: we are taken to visit a school the u.s. helped build. boys and girls attend separately, as they do across afghanistan. it's a freezing cold day, and these boys have walked miles to get here in the early morning. this cold, remote valley is a place of great history to both the afghans of the panjshir and to the united states. shortly after the 9/11 attacks, the first cia jawbreaker team landed here with trunkfuls of cash and within days the war against the taliban would begin, a war that still goes on today. all up and down the valley, you still find rusted hulks of soviet armor and artillery, a testament to the will of the panjshirys to resist outsiders, which makes it all the more extraordinary na the people in this valley are willing to accept u.s. ytroops. here the u.s. soldiers have their own security force, local fighters who have sworn to protect the americans, fighters who once fight the taliban and the soviets. barbara starr, cnn, the panjshir valley. >> interesting stuff. we're half past the hour a look at the top stories this morning. robert gates and hilary clint p are heading back to the hot seat on capitol hill, facing questions from lawmakers concerned about the cost of deploying 30,000 additional troops to afghanistan. the pentagon has estimated the surge will cost between $30 billion and $35 billion. a top al qaeda operative is dead, killed by an american missile in pakistan. a government official telling the associated press the terror leader was hit by a u.s. predator drone in western pakistan. so far, no word on who the target was, but the government official did say it was not al osama bin laden or his number two, ayman all zawahiri. a yale lab technician who reportedly worked in the same building where annie le was murdered is missing this morning. 47-year-old john danelo has not been seen since monday. police say he takes daily medication and did not have it with him. investigators treating this as a missing persons case and not a criminal investigation. the contentious debate over global warming on the front burner after those stolen e-mails from a climate change lab. skeptics say they cast doubt on the science behind climate change, but supporters say it's just a bunch of noise. joining me now to talk about the implications of the e-mails and whether in fact there is global warming, steven mcintyre, editor of the blog climate audit.org. he was mentioned in many of the e-mails. and dr. michael mccracken, chief scientist at the climate institute. good to talk to you. steven, let me start with you. you've written extensively about these hacked e-mails. do they cast suspicion on the entire science of climate awarming or just one particular set of temperature data? >> there >> there's only one set of data in question. this is a technical area, but an important technical area, and it's as though this is one expert element in a large prosecution case and i've argued against that technical aspect of the argument. >> right. but does it suggest to you that the whole case for manmade global warming is a fraud? >> no, it doesn't. it suggests that in this one particular technical area scientists have, i believe, overstated the case, but this has nothing to do with other aspects of the argument. >> michael mccracken, can you say from your standpoint with absolute certainty that the global warming we are seeing these days, the climate change we're experiencing, is in fact due to manmade factors? >> well, no scientist really can talk in terms of absolute certainty, but we look at a lot of different aspects of it and there's really no other explanation for the kinds of things that are happening. so there's a possibility there could be something we're missing, but it's very, very small. we look at changes in solar radiation and they can't explain it. we look at changes in volcanic eruptions. they can't explain it. there's a question about whether there could be some poorly understood natural variations that could cause a little bit of it, but mainly it has to be human activities. there just isn't any other way to explain what's happening. >> stephen mcintyre, do you have another cause that you know of besides a human component? >> the issue that i have is whether there has been a proper engineering quality analysis of the other explanations. i -- i'm fairly conventional in my invoiviewpoints and i assume scientists do a sensible job at what they're doing, not with standing the fact that the scientists in the particular area i've studied have, in my opinion, done a very unprofessional job. i think it would be very healthy to have an outside engineering quality examination of the very best climate model to reassure the public, as well as policymakers. having said that, policymakers make decisions under uncertainty all the time, and i think that policymereks are entitled to make decisions. >> michael mac cracken, when we look at the temperature record over the last i guess 100 or so years there appears to be an uptick in and around 1960 to 1970. that continued until 1998 when temperatures actually startsed dropping. many global warming skeptics say that's reason to believe that maybe this is just part of a natural cycle, that the temperature is not going to continue to go up. what do you say to that? >> well, there are some natural variations that go on. there are also needs to keep looking at the record. there's an uptick, for example, during the years particularly of world war ii and it's being realized now that that may be because particular ship records that were taken when they were taking the measurement technique may have measured a little high. but there's always going to be some variation going on over the short term. over the long term, which is what we're talking about for climate change, what you see is we've come from a quite cool, industrial period in the 18th and 19th centuries to much, much warmer conditions now. >> stephen mcintyre, allen leshner, the ceo for the american academy of the advancement of scientists, also the executive eder tore of the journal of science of an op-ed yesterday, saying the science is clear. he wrote, "don't be fooled about climate science. in april 1994, long after scientists are clearly demonstrated the addictive quality and devastating impacts of cigarette smoking, seven chief executives denied the evidence, swearing under oath that nicotine was not adektive." what do you say to the charge that skeptics may be so wheted to the financial impact of curbing greenhouse gases they're willing to ignore science? >> well, i for one am not particularly whetted to any position. i don't think that analogies to the tobacco case are very helpful because certainly for someone like myself i don't smoke, i don't have any interest in the tobacco situation, and any concerns that i have are ones that are honestly felt. so i think that rather than criticizing past issues like the tobacco industry that scientists would be better to look in the mirror and ask themselves whether they are doing the most effective possible job of explaining their case to the educated public. >> all right. one more week to go in the copenhagen conference and this is the part where the leaders, in fact, will factor into it. stephen mcintyre, michael mccracken, thanks for being with us this morning. >> it's hard to believe it's been a year since the bernie madoff scandal broke. >> it went like that. >> the huge ponzi scheme. this fight that's gone on for the past year to get money back taking a bit of a turn. our allan chernoff breaked it down for us. 38 minutes past hour. (announcer) the #1 prescribed acid reducer brand over the last decade... ...is now over the counter at walmart as prevacid 24hr - to treat frequent heartburn. over the counter. unbeatable prices. talk about a relief. save money. live better. walmart. bonus on every single purchase. what you do with it is up to you. what will you get back with your cash back? it pays to discover. - sure, cake or pie? - pie. - apple or cherry? - cherry. oil or cream? oil or cream? cream. some use hydrogenated oil. reddi-wip uses real dairy cream. nothing's more real than reddi-wip. welcome back to the most news in the morning. 41 past the hour right now. it was a year ago today that bernard madoff's empire of fraud collapsed, wiping out life savi savings and decembimating charities. today he's living out the rest of his life in prison and there's a growing conflict between some of his victim as they try to recoup their losses. allan chernoff has been looking at the story for the past 12 months. he's here now. one would with think all the viktds would have interest in sort of pursuing the same sort of thing, not fighting with each other. >> you would think they would be banding together, but the fact is that some of these investors have actually gotten some of their money back while others haven't gotten a dime. that's pitting victim against victim. >> reporter: bennett goldworth thought he was set for life when he retired three years ago at age 50. he bought a waterfronts condo in ft. lauderdale and said good-bye to new york and his job selling real estate. >> i felt like i had everything i wanted in life. it was great. >> reporter: a decade of investing with bernard madoff gave goldworth the financial security to enjoy the good life in florida. until madoff's arrest. >> hi, scott. it's bennett. >> reporter: today he's back at the cork ran group in manhattan, grateful to be selling homes again, grateful also to be among the first to receive a $500,000 insurance settlement from the securities investor protection corporation, which insured direct accounts of madoff. >> i'm one of the fortunate ones. i was very happy. i really was very pleased. >> reporter: but other madoff victims like judd di and don rafrty, senior citizens who have will come out of retirement have gotten nothing. >> i felt as though we were cheated. i felt violated. >> reporter: the couple for years had withdrawn what they believed were earnings from their madoff account. the trustee overseeing restitution says they withdrew more than they invested and, therefore, are entitled to nothing. >> they changed the rules in the middle of the game, which i don't think is fair at all. >> the net winners should be at the back of the line, you know. the first thing that should be addressed is that everyone get back everything they invested. >> because he got his money back. why wouldn't he feel comfortable? it's the people who haven't gotten their money back that are not happy. >> reporter: what bonded bernard madoff clients, victimization, now divides some of them. investors like this couple feel once again they're victims while other madoff investors like goldworth have received compensation to get back on their feet. the trustee thus far that's reviewed more than 11,000 claims but approved only 1,600, just about 14%. a lot of unhappy people. >> you were saying a lot more claims haven't even gotten to. >> yes. more than 16,000 madoff victim claims filed. so they've got a good 5,000 or so to get to. >> allan chernoff watching it all for us. thanks. >>. >> special programming note. all next week, ali velshi and the cnn express hit recovery road to find out if americans are buying these claims that the recession is over. 's looking at what americans are buying this holiday and what they've learned one year after the financial collapse. "recovery road" premieres next monday. 44 minutes after the hour. 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at oppenheimerfunds, our fund managers' perspective on the numbers helps uncover opportunities no matter which way the markets are moving. ask your advisor about oppenheimerfunds. call your advisor for a prospectus with complete fund information. read it carefully and carefully consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. mutual funds are subject to market risk and volatility. shares may lose or gain value. oppenheimerfunds. the right way to invest. a beautiful shot this morning. welcome back. it's 53 minutes past the hour. there is a new warning this morning out that has a lot of people scratching their heads. for the women that have beaten breast cancer in the united states, some studies say a drink a day increases your chances of developing breast cancer again. now, can you explain first of all why researchers think alcohol increases your chances of getting cancer? >> sure. that's a great question because the answer is not immediately obvious. tumo tumo tumors thrive on estrogen. >> you hear conflicting things all the time about alcohol in general. you talk about health benefits, and now some are asking should women avoid alcohol altogether? >> what i have heard doctors say is look through your family history and personal history, and if you have heart disease in your family and no breast cancer, you might consider a drink a day is okay for you. if you have a history of breast cancer or cancer in your family, you may want to look at avoiding alcohol. what some found, three to four drinks a week increased their risk of getting breast cancer again. >> how much is considered heavy, moderate and light drinking on average for men and women? >> i will tell you, it's interesting, the american cancer society recommends for all women, women who never had breast cancer, to have one drink a day and no more. if you have not had breast cancer, one drink a day is considered the limit if you want to decrease your chances of getting breast cancer. top stories coming your way after a quick break, including the five americans who were detained in pakistan. the road. 154 are tracking shipments on a train. 33 are iming on a ferry. and 1300 are secretly checking email on a vacation. that's happening now. america's most dependable 3g network. bringing you the first and only wireless 4g network. right now get a free 3g/4g device for your laptop. sprint. the now network. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com this is maggie. a very smart little girl. i'm not a little girl i'm a big girl. and this is a seat from the seven passenger toyota highlander. this is a little seat, i'm a big girl. well this is the eight- passenger chevy traverse. which offers more room and an epa estimated 24 on the highway. that's a big girl car. i want the big girl car. a very smart little girl. the chevy traverse. amer. compare us to anyone and . now your card comes with a way to plan for what matters to you. introducing blueprint. blueprint is free and only for chase customers. it lets you choose what purchases you want to pay in full to avoid interest...with full pay. and those you split... you decide how to pay over time. if having a plan matters. chase what matters. create your own blueprint at chase.com/blueprint. 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[ male announcer ] smartphones, plans, and no annoying mail-in rebates. the best gifts come from best buy. good morning. it's friday, december 11th. thank you for joining us. >> here are the big stories we will tell you about. breaking news this morning. brand-new information about five americans that concerned into pakistan. their mugshots, detailed of their interrogation and how they plan to go to afghanistan to wage jihad against u.s. troops. and then a biological attack on u.s. subways, and it's deadly but could be simple. how vulnerable are we and what can we do to better prepare for the threat? we will get some answers. and then long term stock. the shares at risk start investing next year and cannot be sold for five years. we learned a lot more about the terror charges in pakistan. documents show the men were planning jihad and wanted to head to afghanistan to martyr themselves. we have exclusive details from islamabad. >> reporter: the city here has become known as a strong hold of islamic groups. they thwarted a major terror plot. this is the home of five men that vanished from their homes last month. a few minutes later and they would have been gone. they found maps highlighting known terror hideouts, and an e-mail account that the men used to contact their hand lures. >> they were given specific instructions, i would say. >> reporter: now the five as well as the father of one of them are behind bars. two of are pakistani decent, one egyptian, and one ethiopian. all are americans. behind the doors are where the six are being held, being interrogated. >> they were mercenaries and were there for jihad and could have done everything, and they had american passports and could have access to many points. >> reporter: we meet the mother of one of the men, and she says she came to pakistan two months ago to look for a wife for her son, and then he disappeared from their home. >> one day he told he would come back. and he did not come back and did not pick up the phone. the next thing again the other parent told all are missing. now i told, it's a serious thing. >> reporter: she did not believe her son could be involved in a terror plot. she thought he had been kidnapped and alerted the authorities. a few days ago he showed up in pakistan, and he said he wanted to surprise her. >> they are making a story because both countries are fighting each other and involving other family, and people family are coming over here to visit marriage and enjoy the home country. this is not admitting that we are terrorists. >> reporter: now the town in pakistan is suddenly a focus in the investigation. according to the interrogation report, the group made contact with two militant groups in pakistan both of who, interestingly, refused them. and the arrest took place home to the pakistani military. >> thanks. also a developing story out of washington. officials confirming a top al qaeda authority has been killed in a drone attack in pakistan. officials are not releasing the identity of the person, and they confirm it's not bin laden or second in command. the deployment of sending 30,000 troops into battle. the first to go is a battalion of marines scheduled to leave next week. and then secretary of state hillary clinton as well as defense chief robert gates will face questions from lawmakers on tuesday about the price tag for escalating the war. the pentagon estimating the money will have to be approved. president obama heading home to washington at this hour with his nobel peace price in hand. topping the president's agenda when he gets home this afternoon, health care reform. he heads back to europe next week for the climate summit. and subways are considered more vulnerable because they have less security than an airport. have you ever wondered what would happen if they were hit by a biological attack? here is an a.m. original. >> john and karen, a chemical or biological attack on a subway system could kill thousands of people. the department of homeland security, and scientists as well as private industry are studying what could be done to blunt the impact. >> a deadly nerve agent was released in a tokyo subway system, and 12 died and thousands are injured. horrific. but in theory, another biological or chemical attack could be worse. this animation given to cnn shows small black subway trains pushing anthrax through tunnels, exposing more than 10,000 people to lethal doses in an hour and a quarter. scientists believe that early detection and stopping trains would result in something more like this, about 1500 deaths, but they want to prove their theory. >> this is basically the entire underground portion of the boston system. >> reporter: an international team of scientists fan out through the subway to study the air flow. they release an invisible nontoxic gas to mimic a chemical agent. scientists then track how they move through the system. some carry censors on moving trains. other detection devices are at fixed points in stations. >> we are seeing increases and decreases in the pushed air. >> reporter: a computer exi yur piles data. information will determine where to put censors. >> in some cases it's better to shut the system down and rapidly evacuate the people. >> reporter: the study will also help define emergency responses. >> it may be the unintentional release of a chemical agent or a hazmat spill or smoke from a fire. boston's nbta is the oldest system and scientists believe data from the two sets of tests will help all transit systems better prepare for the frightening possibility for chemical or biological attack. >> thank you. seven minutes after the hour. also new this morning, a new virus targeting facebook. there is a cute christmas video, but what happens when you click on it a window pops up with a warning message telling people to solve the puzzle within three minutes, and if you don't solve the puzzle, the computer freezes up. you reboot it and it happens all over again. if you solve the puzzle, you have a new facebook page and spreads the virus more. hold the hair spray. critics of "jersey shore" are calling for tiesers to boycott it. some call the show a disgrace and an insult. there are reports of at least two tiadvertisers that have puld out. and the network's programming director says the cast takes pride in their ethnicity. >> why don't they take pride on what they do in that show, like when the guy decked the woman. >> i don't think he is taking pride in that, but some have tanning beds in their own home because it's nice to keep orange golden right there in your home. goldman sachs' executives will not be taking bonuses, or will they? what about the goldman sachs sort of move to frugle. ♪ guys just want a nice big screen ♪ ♪ to stare at frozenly [ ding ] ok. ♪ when he sees this thing ♪ we have to warn you now ♪ it looks just so awesome ♪ he's gonna have a cow moo. [ male announcer ] a 46" tv with 120 hertz. delivered right to your home. the best gifts come from best buy. delivered right to your home. s(from phone) "what time's the friend movie?"o know you can tell him. and if your friend asks: (from phone) "where's the theater?" you can show him. and if your friend says: (from phone) "want to grab sushi afterwards?" you can do that too. (from phone) "great, on my way". all without ever leaving the call. can your phone...and your network...do that? good morning, new york city, where it's sunny and windy and cold outside. 22 degrees outside. partly cloudy with a high of 32 today. the blue in the picture will turn white and become ice. goldman sachs decided against handing out cash bonuses, instead they will get stock options. they are enjoying huge profits, goldman sachs, after being bailed out by the taxpayer. we want to talk to andrew sorkin, the author of "too big to fail." >> good morning. it's good that they are doing the kind of things we wanted them to, and in the next five years, they are in it to win it. all of that is good. the bad news is that the numbers in some way -- this is almost a moral issue, the numbers are still as supervi sized as ever. >> we are talking about the top executives. >> yeah, that's the other part of it. it's not 30 of the highest paid executives, it's 30 of the top executives. if you are in senior management, you will only be taking home stock. you do get some cash, not as a bonus, but you get a salary, so it's not like you are living off a stock. >> some of the other employees are getting millions. >> well, if you made a fortune because you were a trader, you will make a fortune. we are still talking about a bonus pool of probably 20 billion -- with a b, dollars. given the public outrage, is the public and share holders willing to accept this type of payoff? >> we are in the wrong business. >> that always has been clear. >> what we hear from the companies is you have to pay your top people all of the money, and obscene amounts of money, because if you don't they will jump ship and go somewhere else. all of the schools are pumping out all of the students, and they are on the dean's list, and is the talent pool that thin? >> i don't think it's that thin. morgan stanley has to get it in this game where everybody is playing chicken with each other. is there a lot of talent out there? yes. is there a top talent? >> the top 20% are bringing in all the revenue, and they do have other options, but, you know, it's a lot of money. >> it's not like television news where a handful of select people can do these sorts of things? >> yeah, with these numbers, yeah. >> when it comes to a company like goldman sachs which did not want the bailout money in the first place, they paid it back, but is there any control? >> well, the pay czar is trying to curb money, the t.a.r.p. babies, and in the u.s. there has not been the push to do anything across the board. in the uk they are getting tax bonuses. if you make $40,000, 50% is going to be taxed. >> taxes are high here on bonuses too, aren't they? >> not nearly the same. we should point out, immelt gave up a $12 million bonus, but has taken multimillion dollar bonuses in the past, and this wall street get the message or will they say, jeff, shut up? >> i think it's a little jeff, shut up. the biggest problem that we all have is the idea of rewarding bad behavior and putting the system at risk. what we need to do is find a way to align everybody's interests so they are putting themselves and the system together. the question is can you do that and what is the price? >> we understand in one of president obama's interview, he will come down hard on the banke bankers. what are we expecting on monday? >> the problem for the president. he has to wag one finger over here. it's a very difficult mix. i think it pushes it with him, but how far can he really push it, and what control can he put on them? >> check out andrew ross sorkin's book, "too big to fail." thanks, john. also still ahead, a minister on a mission to get more angel kul christians onboard with saving the environment and accepting climate change. also still ahead, who is number one in 2009? we'll find out. christmas, thers a lot of driving... over the river and through the woods. and a little bit of skidding on the ice... and taking out grandma's garage door. so while you're celebrating, allstate will be standing by. trouble never takes a holiday. neither should your insurance. that's allstate's stand. are you in good hands? ♪ yeah. would you like a pony ? yeah ! ( cluck, cluck, cluck ) oh, wowww ! that's fun ! you didn't say i could have a real one. well, you didn't ask. even kids know when it's wrong to hold out on somebody. why don't banks ? we're ally, a new bank that alerts you when your money could be working harder and earning more. it's just the right thing to do. it's hard to believe the boy band stuff happened in this decade, and it was in sync's top album of the decade, "no strings attached." barbara walter's ten most fascinating peoples list. michelle obama was first on the list. she talked about barbara walters about her life in the white house, and her guilty pleasures including foods and really bad tv. >> and the first couple's first christmas. what do you get the guy who has air force one? >> is there a greater pressure to give a good gift if you are a president? >> well, i have been giving good gifts. i give nicer stuff than i get. >> no way! >> absolutely. i gave you good gifts last year? >> oh, please. >> all right. >> it's like mothers's day and fathers's day -- >> we are talking about christmas. don't become distracted. >> you are a good gift giver? >> where did you get this nice -- >> this was a gift. >> anniversary. >> come on, you don't do that. where did you get that from? >> you don't say that! minister on a mission. this is a big initiative actually to get more evangelical questions that typically don't believe the climate change to get them onboard with climate change. and we are checking with barbara starr, and she takes us to a place where u.s. soldiers are embraced and things are actually peaceful there. wait until you see her report coming up. it's 23 minutes after the hour. i'd like one of those desserts and some coffee. - sure, cake or pie? - pie. - apple or cherry? - cherry. oil or cream? oil or cream? cream. some use hydrogenated oil. reddi-wip uses real dairy cream. nothing's more real than reddi-wip. have put their faith in sun life financial. we should be a household name. and we will be. so you're suggesting that we change our name from florida, the sunshine state, to...? florida -- the sun life state. the posters will be so cool. sooner or later, you'll know our name. sun life financial. welcome back to the most news in the morning. if you travel 90 miles north of kabul in afghanistan, you will discover what that country could be some day. it features breath-taking snow top mountains, and a river that runs through them and a few,000 very proud people, and it's a place where american troops are welcome. and we have this exclusive original. >> reporter: the stunning beauty of afghanistan's panjshir valley. neither the invading soviets or taliban were ever able to control this region. because the region is relatively secure, u.s. troops stationed here are able to concentrate on encouraging the local afghan government to take responsibility for its citizens, a major priority of the new counterinsurgency strategy. and this man is part of reconstruction team living in the valley. >> we get out and work with the government officials and local people and make sure basic services are being provided to them. we are providing schools, and providing clinics. >> reporter: you do not have taliban or insurgency activity here? >> no. we had no instances of any kind of taliban activity in the valley. >> reporter: we are taken to visit a school the u.s. helped to build. boys and girls attend it spritly as they do across afghanistan. it's a freezing cold day and these boys walked miles to get here in the early morning. this cold remote valley is a place of great history to both of afghans and troops of the united states. the first jaw breaker landed here with cash, and within days the wars of taliban begin a war that still goes on today. you still find rusted soviet armor and artillery. that makes it all the more extraordinary the people in the valley are willing to accept u.s. troops. here the u.s. soldiers have their own security force, local fighters, who have sworn to protect the americans, and fighters who once fought the taliban and soviets. barbara starr, cnn, panjshir valley. and police say a body was taken from a grave sometime thursday night or early this morning. the motive remains unclear. the former president died a year ago from lung cancer. and a 47-year-old lab technician has not been see since monday. he works in the same building where any was killed. very popular spot with terrorist. it's an issue divided some conservative christians. the environment. jonathan is a baptist minister that says evangelicals need to accept that climate change is real and not a climate issues. traditional christians do not buy into climate changes as much as other groups. why don't we see traditionally evangelical christians believing climate change and global warm something a proven fact? >> thank you so much for having me on, karen. the answer to your question is two parts. first of all, religion and science always have had a tumultuous relationship, and there is the distrust between the two camps. i think sometimes it's unnecessary. that's the first reason. but here in america, and more specifically to the context, it's a historical answer more so. in the 1970s, and '60s and even in the '80s, there was a cultural revolution. there was a plitization of america, and the right stole god and the left stole green, and you never saw those things in the same sentence until now. i wrote a book, because i think the things belong together. i think our god has a lot to say about what we see going on in the world right now. >> you say you had a ah-ha moment. describe why this situation became so personal to you? >> yeah, i became a environmentalist, not really a story you hear every day. i was sitting in class and i had a professor, and he was teaching about revelation, that god speaks to us through his word, the bible and the natural world around us, and paul talks about it, too. for me, an evangelical christian, this struck me and signals and began in me a shift in perspective. i began to search this issue out more carefully. >> it's interesting, because politics and religion oftentimes merge in ways that don't seem to necessarily be true to the roots of the bible, i guess we could say. pastor rick warren backed initiatives fighting global warming. and look at pope benedict speaks out on this, and talks about it more like poverty? >> yeah, i think god's on the move. i think people are beginning to rediscover what our scriptures say about these things. the sierra club was not the first entity to say this world was good, god did. he said this creation is a good thing. he asked us to take care of it. people like rick warren, and other evangelical christians are now looking at the world around us and speaking with one voice saying we can do better. >> you know, you have an uphill battle it seems, at least according to some of the polling. a recent poll from april of '08 asked is there solid evidence the earth is warming. let's put it up because there is a difference in terms of how people identify themselves in religion. take a look. >> right. right. it goes back to what we said before. this issue has become so political, and many environmentalists, they support things that evangelicals can never support. they take a proabortion stance. we have to oppose that, our faith demands it. that makes us skeptical, because we disagree with so many issues, and that's unfortunate. >> the point is, as i said, when religion and politics merge together, so you are fighting the ideology of a certain group of people who have beliefs one way, and what do you do when you are actually with them on a major, major belief, which is that we have to do something about climate change? >> well, i think you have to do two things. the first thing, and people always laugh at this and think it's a sunday school answer, but you go back to the word of god. you begin as a follower of jesus christ, you go to the bible. we see a picture of what he asked us to take care of, and then once you have that perspective through that prism, you look and have to get educated. it never has been easier to become a so-called expert. in churches today, you talk to somebody for 30 minutes, and you ask yourself if this person a scientists or theologian or what, and we have to be honest and admit where we are experts and where we are not, but it begins with the study of the word of god. >> we appreciate you talking with us. we told you a couple minutes ago at yale university they are looking for a lab technician for four days. apparently he was found at home and everything was okay. mystery solved. and we have tips to save money. dr. eyesight to the blind. stay with us. marie callender's homestyle creations -- a little touch of home for lunch. like she was drifting away. we wanted to be there for her... to hold on to her. mom's doctor said his symptoms were signs of alzheimer's, a type of dementia, and that prescription aricept could help. it's thought aricept may reduce the breakdown of a vital chemical in the brain. studies showed aricept slows the progression of alzheimer's symptoms. it improves cognition and slows the decline of overall function. (announcer) aricept is well tolerated but not for everyone. people at risk for stomach ulcers or who take certain other medicines should tell their doctors because serious stomach problems such as bleeding, may get worse. some people may experience fainting. some people may have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bruising, or not sleep well. some people may have muscle cramps or loss of appetite or may feel tired. in studies these were usually mild and temporary. (woman) if it helps mom be more like herself longer, that's everything to us. (announcer) don't wait. talk to your doctor about aricept. the event was -- what? you can't keep -- you got to fill them up during the nobel prize ceremony? what is will smith doing there? to be fair, he is probably going to play him. >> will smith was talking about playing barack obama in any kind of movie that comes up, and his wife jada reached over and said you have the ears to do it. >> he does, actually. there you go. he fulfilled two requirements. he was the fresh prince of bellaire at one point. sitting with royalty. >> the new year will mean health care insurance for many of us less generous and more expensive. >> act now if you want to save money come next year. gerri willis has tips that will save money down the line. we are all ears. >> it will be more expensive for health care than in the past. schedule your appointments now. buy the glasses. ask for extra medicine refills now. maximize the flexible spending account. remember an fsa helps you to have health care expenses. let's take a look at what you can spend the money on, if you are looking to get some of your fsa dollars. over-the-counter medicine. massage therapy. first aid kits. and dancing sessions as treatment, believe it or not, and of course you can just use it for regular old fashion medical stuff. >> ballroom dancing is covered? >> a doctor has to say that you need that. you cannot go out willie nillie and take cha-cha lessons. it has to apply to something that is wrong with you, obviously. >> how do you make sure you get everything that you are entitled to? >> you wanted to think about, can i get the free stuff? a lot of employers give you free stuff. cigna insurers took a sampling of low cost screenings, and prostate cancer, and mammograms. it's free stuff you want to take advantage of. next year it will be more expensive. >> are you going to take dancing lessens? >> well, between the testing he has to get done, a dental cleaning, and -- >> somebody once said to me, if you keep dancing like that you will hurt yourself. so -- >> well, that's not a doctor's prescription. >> close. well, we hit the recovery road to find out if americans are buying the claims the recession is over. we also look into what americans are buying this holiday and what we learned one year after the financial collapse. "recovery road" premieres next wednesday. and our rob marciano here with the weekends forecast. >> do we really have to tell you this, be careful where you stick your tongue where it's cold outside. three separate incidents where kids had to get rescued -- well, that's from a movie. >> yeah, one young woman that got her tongue stuck to the flagpole. don't do this at home. 42 minutes after the hour. i don't think you can live the american lifestyle without energy. we have all this energy here in the u.s. we have wind. we have solar, obviously. we have lots of oil. i think natural gas is part of the energy mix of the future. i think we have the can-do. we have the capability. we have the technology. the solutions are here. we just need to find them here. here we go. 45 degrees right now somewhere -- not here. in denver it's 16. this has been hard to look at those numbers from so far away. in denver, mostly sunny, and 41 degrees. the sky is nice and blue. sun is coming up there, but, boy, don't forget your gloves, mittens, and hats and scarfs, or just stay inside. r r rob. >> yeah, not everybody saw snow or cold air, but now everybody is seeing cold air. the winds are coming across the great lakes, and so we have the lake effect snow machines cranking. teens for temperatures, 20s to 30s for winds. windchills close to zero. and just north of rochester and syracuse we will see another couple of feet today. 20s all the way out in the gulf coast. and teens out in portland, oregon. we could see snow in the lower elevations. enough about that, so let's go to florida. check out this guy out of palm harbor. that's a ten footer. he ended up on somebody's doorstep yesterday. animal control came in, and he was not happy. they managed to somewhat subdue the reptile. now, this little deer apparently is a pet to these people. she sleeps inside and eats ice cream and is potty trained or house broken, if you can believe that. that's the four-legged furry file friend. i will give you that. >> there is a big difference between potty trained and house broken. which one is this? >> well, if it's house broken or potty trained, maybe we will get that video. >> yeah, if it's potty trained please get somebody back out there to videotape that. with those little legs, it's probably hard to sit on the toilet and harder to flush. >> yeah, if that video is not difficult to believe, i think potty trained would be a bit unusual. good to see you, guys. >> yeah, you too. cleveland browns fans went out for tailgating, and other activities. later on their team feasts on their opponents. they all but eliminated pittsburgh from the playoff race. >> that's a tailgate, you bring in an entire pig? >> yeah. computer chips in the eyes of the blind to help them see. our dr. gupta shows us what it's about next. but it is impossible to build a wall that separates a man from his freedom. because freedom always finds a path... to build peace. this film is dedicated to aung san suu kyi, still prisoner in burma. . a medical break through is giving us a bionic eye. dr. sanjay gupta shows us how it works and is changing one woman's life. >> her vision began to dim when she was just 13. the first hint? it came at school. >> the teachers called my parents in and said she is not seeing stuff on the page. >> years later, it got worse. >> there was an open manhole i was about to go into, and it was scary, and that was a huge wake up call. >> and one day her vision was gone. >> everything was a gray, foggy haze. >> reporter: five months ago she began to she a glimpse of light using some some are calling a bionic eye. first an operation to implant a computer chip directly into the eye. this is where her story starts to sound like science fiction. the letter e is registered by the camera. that's the first step. after that, the camera sends a signal wirelessly to the back of campbell's retina, transmitting the information of the letter e. and then the e subsequently goes to the back of the brain to a part of the brain that is responsible for sight. you have a camera and microchip, and it allows her to see once again. >> now i can see that the lights are on. >> for patience that have had no vision for years and years, these are major milestones for them. >> we can take somebody totally blind and turn them into somebody with very, very poor vision. that's really the first time in history that we have been able to do that. >> doctors caution that retraining campbell's eye and brain could see could take years. her vision is in black and white and will never be perfect. still, campbell has dreams. >> i am not sure it's going to happen, but seeing colors, and that's my number one thing. if i could see colors again, my plan was to go to the grand canyon. >> dr. sanjay gupta reporting. >> that's amazing. >> yeah, look where hearing aids are now for the hard of hearing. that's amazing. >> yeah. there is a rise in 911 calls because of doing this, sticking their tongue on a freezing object, like a poll, and then wondering why it won't come off. 54 minutes past the hour. trying to sort out what health reform means to seniors? for the first time, a law... to prohibit cuts to medicare benefits. no one standing between you and your doctor. and no increase in the deficit. reform will cover preventive care. help close the medicare prescription gap, to lower your costs. paid for with common sense ideas -- like ending duplication of tests and other waste. praised by doctors, nurses, and senior groups. it's reform that works for all of us. are you kidding? stick my tongue to the stupid poll? that's dumb. >> that's because you know it will stick. >> i double dog dare you. >> now it was serious. and now, the sinister triple dog dare! >> you know what happens after that if you are a fan of the movie, right? >> you call 911 and get your tongue unstuck from the poll. welcome back. subzero temperatures can make kids do silly things. >> when tongue meets frozen metal -- well, here is jeanne moos. >> it's like being tongue tied to a poll. >> this is the dumbest thing i have ever done. >> reporter: frozen to a poll on purpose. if you thought it only happened to movies like "in a christmas story," real kids have gautsen stuck three times in the past few days, from vancouver, washington -- to this boise, idaho, flagpole. in spokane valley washington, a girl used her cell phone to call 911. the second girl put her tongue on the poll after the first girl put her lips on the pole and her lips came off without a problem. in the movie, the kid is abandoned. in real life, the girl stuck by the girl with her tongue stuck. >> breathe on it, go -- >> reporter: breathe something not usually enough. nor do we recommend the technique used in "dumb and dumber." and the best method is room testimo water. the captain did not bother to give the girl a tongue lashing, figuring it had been lashed enough. >> i did ask her why she did it, and she said curiosity. >> we know what that did to the cat? >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. hi

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