Transcripts For CNN CNN Newsroom 20091217

tomorrow. meanwhile, here is "cnn newsroom"s with heidi collins. here is what we are working on in the "cnn newsroom." a father in brazil is hoping to return home with his son once and for all. and then what changes could be in the bill regarding you and the future of your health care? we are talking about foreclosures today and one firm of how it will handle them. a holiday hold. what does that mean? i will tell you more about homeowners who are hurting. good morning, everybody. i am heidi collins. it's thursday, december 17th. you are in the "cnn newsroom." >> the climate talks in cope y n copenhag copenhagen. hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested. inside the conference, one danish official says there is little hope for a comprehensive deal on greenhouse gas admissions. the reason? the difference between rich and poor countries seem to be deadlocked. so with the climate talks seemingly at a stalemate, what can president obama and others expect to accomplish. let's look to suzanne malveaux. what is the state of play now on the ground? >> reporter: i have been speaking with people on the phone and on the ground in copenhagen throughout the morning and there is a standstill in the negotiations. they say it's deal or no deal, crunch time, but there is a difference between the united states and china over the issue of transparency, that if there is some sort of agreement that china be required along with other nations to prove that it's actually cutting its carbon admissions. china balking at that, saying they are not just going along with this. this is not on the table. we heard from secretary clinton early this morning. she is in copenhagen and addressed that very issue, and it's a deal breaker, heidi. take a listen. >> we have presented and discussed numerous approaches to transparency with a number of countries, and there are many ways to achieve transparency that would be kredable and acceptable, but there has to be a willingness to move towards transparency in whatever form we finally determine is appropriate. so if there is not even a commitment to pursue transparency, that's a deal breaker for us. >> reporter: heidi, you are hearing harsh language. but there may be a break through, but the next 48 hours will be critical. i did talk to sources on the ground as well as the white house about a potential sticking issue, and that was the funds that developing countries would get to help with climate change and protecting the foests, and very expensive for the poor countries. there was annual fund to be raised for 2020 for the developing countries. the developing countries, the head of ethiopia said it was a good figure, and now what is happening now is the standoff with china, and officials say there is still the possibility of a break through, but the next 24 hours we'll see. president obama is going over there, and he is going to address copenhagen. he will talk about fuel efficiency standards for cars, and comprehensive legislation, and even that idea of offering tax credits to weatherize your homes and create jobs, and he will talk about that so americans get the picture that americans know there is a connection between what is happening with creating jobs back at home and the potential treaty in copenhagen. >> and health care reform. as usual, a lot on the president's plate. we appreciate that, suzanne malvea malveaux, thank you. and tonight make sure you tune in as we answers the questions on your mind, the cnn youtube climate change debate tonight at 11:00 p.m. eastern. did iraqi insurgents know where the u.s. soldiers were heading? insurgents saw the same surveillance video u.s. troops saw and may have known what areas u.s. forces were focusing on. the paper says the video feeds were found on captured insurgents' computers. now, mullen has been in afghanistan all week long. earlier he said the full droeltment of obama's 30,000 additional troops would not be finished until august. a new jersey father who has been fighting a long international custody battle now has new hopes of getting his son back. david goldman is now in brazil after a court there ordered 9-year-old son, shawn goldman, be returned to him. >> david goldman said he flew down to rio a dozen times. the decision by the court was unanimous, but no celebrating. not even a hint of a smile on the face of david goldman. >> i have been down this road many times, and until we are on the plane and the wheels are up i can only be helpful. >> the court ordered that his son be ordered to return home with him, but the homecoming could face one more roadblock. the family of the now deceased mother will file an appeal. >> remember, this is an abducting family. they are kidnappers. yet they -- but they come from a very high-powered legal family, so they have a great deal of sway with the court. >> the custody battle now spanned five years, starting back in 2004, when shawn's mother took shawn to brazil for what was supposed to be a two-week vacation. they never came back. she eventually remarried and died last year during childbirth. her family has taken up the fight to keep shawn in rio arguing it would be traumatizing to remove the boy from the home where he has been raised. here in the united states, goldman's fight has been taken up bisect of state, hillary clinton. it's that international pressure that some say could make this ruling stick. >> i think the justices are on their toes trying to do the right thing, because the world is watching this case. this case is being watched by the entire world. >> a case that won't be over until this father watches his son board a plane home. >> my emotions are in check. i am focused on just doing what i can to comfort my son. >> secretary clinton releasing a statement saying she appreciated the assistance and cooperation from the brazil, and she hopes the long legal process is finally over. representatives smith from new jersey, who you saw in the piece has been working with the family says the brazilian high court will take up the appeal today. the supreme court could grant a stay once again delaying shawn's return, or heidi, allow shawn to be returned to his father while the appeal is decided. heidi? >> jason, thank you that and we will follow that story closely throughout the day. and the boy at the center of a dispute has been missing for two months along with his father. a local san antonio newspaper reports the father used misleading documents from mexico to convince a judge he had custody. >> this is video of john paul lakomb on his school bus pleading police to let him stay with his mother. he accused his father of hitting him. the two of them have not been seen since. the boy's mother was waiting there at the bus stop. she talked to anderson cooper about the day her son disappeared. >> tell us about the day the officers came to take your son. you say they suddenly arrived at the bus stop? >> yes, they arrive at the bus stop. when i arrive, i thought it was an accident. and then i saw when they -- my kid was on the ground, and he was crying, and they -- a policeman came and served me with papers. you know, i started begging him to let me go with my child, because he was on the ground crying. so i came to him, and he was crying, and he was asking to whom he has to talk because he did not want to go with his father anymore because he mistreat him. so you know, i was begging also to the policeman that what was happening, and he said that they have court orders. i say court orders for what? i did not understand what was happening. >> again, the father and the boy have been missing now for two months. the father had actually lost custody of the boy in 2005 when he took the child to france. he is wanted now for kidnapping and lying to a judge. hope for the holidays. a major mortgage company issues a reprieve for homeowners on the brink of disaster. all the details coming up. we will talk about wind and light snowfall possible for parts of the northeast, and heavy rainfall, potentially flash flooding on parts of the gulf coast. that's coming up in a few moments. you want to watch hoops on the bus, cartoons during your big meeting, and breaking news when it breaks. watch real tv whenever you want. you don't need to get a phone. you need a phone that gets you. [sound of starter pistol] the race is on. who's going to win? the health insurance companies or us? we need lower costs, choice and real competition. but the insurance industry is spending millions to stop reform and protect their profits. remember, if the insurance companies win, we lose. tell congress we need good health care we can afford with the choice of a public health insurance option now. for millionsof americans the sour economy has made for a dismal holiday season. but some homeowners on the brink of disaster may get a retrieve. a mortgage giant is saw spending foreclosures temporarily. we have details on this. hi, christine. citi is offering the holiday gift for homeowners in trouble? >> yeah, this is citi group, citi bank if you have a mortgage owned by citi bank and owned by citibank and is a primary mortgage this could be suspended from friday until january 17th from foreclosures and convictions. that represents 4,000 homeowners will not have a foreclosure sale of their home and an eviction friday through january 17th, 2010. there might be a lot of people who write their mortgage every month to citi and might be behind several months, so be careful. these are city owned mortgages. check with citi and see if it pertains to you. >> a real solution or a band-aid, here? >> they have 70,000 homes right now in the foreclosure process for the third quarter. so you can do the math. 4,000 out of 70,000 of those, and there will be people that have primary and secondary mortgages on a home, and other people who do business with city and service the loan. it's not a citi-owned mortgage. and there are millions, millions of people right now who are in default. it doesn't help them. i would not be surprised if we see other home loan servicers and companies who have -- we saw it last year. >> what about the roman numeral for today? >> 39%, heidi. i have been combing through the citi mortgage statistics trying to figure out what is the status here of people who have had a modification on their loan, for example. they had a chance to save their situation, and modify the loan so they could stay in the house. according to the data, the redefault rate, a year after a modification is 39%. this under scores the problem for the government programs and for the banks that when they are modifying loans, a big percentage of those people are still in trouble a year later or six months later and that's a real problem that we have not been able to figure out how to fix. the treasury secretary said so, and the bank said so trying to fix this problem, because when you modify the loans a big chunk of people are still in trouble a year later. >> thank you, christine. >> sure. there is a lot of rain in the southeast, particularly on the gulf coast, and reynolds, i understand the world brrr? that's how they spell it, brrr, and it has hit the northeast, right? >> yeah, we are having lake effect snowfall, but in the southeast it's not snow but rain. and let me show you. it looks like the heaviest rainfall was in places like brownsville, texas, but now the area of low pressure is setting up here in the gulf of mexico, and it will drive its way to the east. what we will see is it spread in new orleans, and thunderstorms also will be a possibility later in the afternoon. the reason why as i mention is pretty simple. it will be that area of low pressure marching eastward. when you get up here to parts in the northeast, you have strong winds coming in, and a little bit of lake effect action in places like buffalo and cool times there. and this is a live image out of central park. you can see the clouds off in the distance. i would expect more cloud cover to approach from the west today and possibly precipitation in parts of new york later today. that wind will be an issue for you in all of the metro new york airports. we will show you what we have. delays possible in new york. philadelphia, and boston, wind delays possible, and human and new orleans, rain and low clouds, 30 minutes, and then in san francisco, fog and low clouds may keep you waiting in the newspaper. be patient. if you have to be board in the airport, watch us, because we have good stuff for you throughout the day. >> reynolds, thank you, and we'll check back later on. the health care to reform have taken lots of turns lately. dr. sanjay gupta have a map to show where we are and where we might be going. pacific life can help... retirement, using 401k savings, life insurance, and annuities to provide a dependable income for the rest of your life. with more than 140 years of experience, pacific life can help you achieve your vision of the future. pacific life...the power to help you succeed. watch the pacific life holiday bowl, wednesday, december 30th. 5pm pacific, 8pm eastern on espn. time to check some of the top store yaeds we are following this morning. there were hopes a nuclear arms deal between united states and russia could be finalized in time for the climate summit in copenhagen, but now it looks like that won't happen. russia's foreign minister blames the u.s. delegation for slowing the negotiations. and south carolina governor, mark sanford, escaped another impeachment vote. the committee voted against impeachment but did improve a resolution senturing sanford. they criticized him for bringing ridicule on the state by having an affair. and roy disney dies. he battled stomach cancer for the past year. besides working in the family business for 56 years, roy disney also donated millions of dollars to schools, and theaters and hospitals. he was 79 years old. senate majority leader, harry reid's drive to get the health care legislation passed by christmas hit a speed bump. in the amendment the government would cover the health care expenses of every american. senate clerks read for three hours. and then bernie sanders surrender surrendered. sanders acknowledges there was not enough votes to get his amendment passed. what is left in the legislation right now, and what could you expect in a final bill? our chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, takes a look. >> there is so much to talk about when it comes to the concern the version of the bill. if this bill passes it could offer health insurance access to 30 million more americans. lots of hurdles that have not been crossed, a lot of obstacles we have been talking about almost since the campaign, public option being one of them as the senate bill stands now. there is no public option in it. and something we have been hearing over the last couple weeks, this idea of expanding medicare to age 55, that's not in the bill either. that was something talked about quite a bit over the last couple days. and one that you may not have heard about that helped lower drug costs with this idea of purchasing drugs from overseas, that's not going to happen because of the safety on the importations. and some things have happened. first of all, a health insurance exchange. this idea of having health insurance companies all over the country creating a marketplace to anybody buying in, and that's for people that do not have enough money to purchase the insurance subsidies would kick in. and no lifetime caps on benefits. as things stand now there is a lot of caps. for example, if a family has a significant illness, after a certain amount of money is paid out to cover the health care costs, it would cut off. that would not happen any more. and then mandated employee insurance coverage. meaning if you work for a large employer, you are going to get health care insurance cover or the employer will be penalized. and then a big one that seems to have really drawn some support really on all sides, no denial of coverage for preexisting conditio conditions. and even with that, we had trouble getting through. there was people buying insurance only when they got sick and cancel it when they got better, quote unquote, gaming the system. the compromise reached is the idea that people will be penalized for not buying insurance in the first place, and then penalized if they buy it and cancel it after they get better. what might be surprising to you and everybody in america, abortion remains one of the hot button issues in the debate. this idea that should any government money go to pay for abortions. if a woman buys into a insurance program but also getting government subsidies, should the government money possibly pay for abortion? that is still one of the hot button issues being worked out even as i talk to you now. heidi, back to you. >> yeah, in fact, we spoke with senator hatch, the cosponsor of the bill yesterday -- the amendment i should say, and we are following that side of the health care reform bill as well. meanwhile, cutting coupons to save money and make money, and how a layoff became a family business. announcer: in today's markets how can you get your retirement plans back on track? consider oppenheimerfunds, whether the markets are up or down, we follow a consistent investment approach. ask your advisor about oppenheimerfunds. and see how our numbers can help you reach your destination. 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. you can build walls that separate people from people, 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. wall street, stocks retreated yesterday after the fed said the economy would remain weak for sometime. we have more evidence today that statement is unfortunately true listening to the opening bell there. we have more detail on the jobless claims, susan, and also a preview of the trading day. hey, there. >> let's start with the jobless claims. that's an easy way to figure out the state of the economy. new jobless claims rose to 480,000. and on going benefits rose to 5.2 million. jobless claims had been trending lower but we have seen increases showing layoffs are still an issue although it's not unusual to see jobless claims rise this time of year. and then the treasury department plans to keep the investment in citi group now. the government is delaying plans to sell the 34% stake. the move came after citi said it would sell more than 5 billion shares but would do so less than what the government acquired the stake. and it means the government would have lost money on the investment, so it will wait. another big bank in the news. b of a has a new ceo. the current president of small business lending at b of a will take the helm. merry christmas. fedex shares are down 4.5%. and the three major averages are down, about half a percentage right now, heidi. >> all right. we are watching close, as usual. thank you, susan. >> i'll be back. ready for new sanctions against iran. that is the word from the white house after iran's latest missile test. iran launched a new long-range missile yesterday. they say it's meant as a deterrent to other countries. iran claims it will reach 1,200 miles, and that would put israel well within range. white house president gibbs says the nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. joining me now is the david albright, former nuclear weapons inspector. you are at the institute for science and national security. the president, in fact. your first reaction when we look at the new information. another missile test by iran. more talk of tougher sanctions, and a longer range missile. what is different this time? >> it's the continuing pattern of iran marching forward towards possibly a nuclear weapons. you don't see an iran willing to negotiate. the obama administration has really sincerely reached out to iran, tried to offer them incentives, good deals, and iran just has not been interested. i think the united states is in a difficult situation now. i don't think it has any choice but to move towards a path of increased pressure on iran to try to see if that could get iran to change its calculations. >> how would that work? yes, as you say, when you are talking about tougher sanctions, we have been talking about that for a long time. what would they look like and then what happens when the allies? the u.s. allies? >> well, one example of the tougher sanctions is what we saw with the swiss bank, it has to pay a fine of half a million dollars for facilitating illegal iranian bank business. there are things that you can do on the financial side that can have a bite to them. and there is also things that can be done with insurance of ships or reinsurance of ships that will make it harder for iran to go to the seas with its product. >> what about the international community? onboard? >> well, yes and no. iran is finding harder to do business around the world. in china you can see it moving towards euros. but one effort will be to get the european banks to start to pass their own regulations that would ban such business in violation of the existing sanctions or the european sanctions. i think you can see the effort spread. that's independent of what happens at the u.n. security council, just that there will be countries in a multilateral effort saying to iran, look, we don't want your business, it supports the nuclear weapons effort we believe and a more aggressive missile program and we just don't want your business. iran will face a much testifier economic situation as a result of the sanctions over the next couple years. >> in fact, when you talk about their intent, because, of course, as we just said in the story yesterday and today, they say that these missile tests and these missiles are just being used as a deterrent to other countries. there is obviously a lot of concern and has been concern for a long time about whether or not they have nuclear intentions. i know there is a memo out there that has been circulating for quite sometime. it's written in persian, and it talks a little bit more about the intent. tell us about that. remind us what it is and what concerns you about it. >> well the london times acquired a set of documents about the iranian nuclear program, particularly the part of the program that could be making a nuclear weapon. one document in particular, it talks about making a very complicated component of a nuclear weapon, a vital component that triggers the nuclear explosion. it's a document that is said to be written in 2007, and outlines a plan, a four-year plan to master the development and testing of the component. and what is significant is its date is 2007 reportedly. and that's after we thought based on our own u.s. intelligence agencies work that the program stopped. >> they said it had stopped, correct? >> yes, that's right. in '03. have you evidence that said it did not stop it has been on going or the document suggests we are ramping up the program again. you have additional concern that perhaps iran has faced some problems, had not solved off of its problems in 2003, and now is worried and wants to solve the problems and be ready to build a nuclear weapon if you believe the document around 2011. >> you looked closely at the document. your company was asked to do so. you said from what you saw, the amount of money that was evidence from this memo, and the number of people involved really only brought you to one conclusion, and quickly, what was that conclusion? >> well, the conclusion we reached was that this is a part that would be part of making a nuclear weapon. it doesn't have any realistic applications. >> significant? >> yes, it's very significant. >> david, we will continue to follow this, as usual, here on cnn, we would love to speak with you as we move forward and continue the investigation of the memo. thank you so much. cutting coupons to save money in a tight economy, and now one laid off marketing executive is turning her thriftiness into campaign for capital. a stop in savannah, georgia. ali velshi, the chief correspondent. nice to see you out of the bus for a second, ali. >> reporter: yeah, we have been talking to people all week, heidi, about things people are doing to improve their own personal finance situation or town, and some of them are interesting and resourceful. this is an interesting. this is a woman that has taken coupon clipping to a different level. >> because of needing financial help, we started to coupon, me and my friends. we developed a website called smart coupon deals.com. we show a shopping list where they can save 60% to 90% on groceries. we match the coupons out there with the sales out in the local stores. we charge $5 a month for the service, and e-mail on the day every single sale starts, a list to all the people. we do all the hard work for everybody. we do the leg work for them, because coupon something not an easy thing to do. >> what i will do is take the sales flyers. >> my father recently retired, and he just has taken to couponing like a duck in water. >> this is my stash, as we say here. >> he actually had to build on a second pantry under his house because he saved so much and buying so many things. >> i can walk in and spend $150 with my discounts, with my coupons. i can walk out with $35, $40. >> has this generated income for you? >> very little. we are just in the beginning stages. we started with facebook marketing. we went from having 100 fans to 2,067 fans in a month. a lot of people feel they are not that bad off where they have to use coupons, but the point is it doesn't matter how bad offer, you can take the savings and put it in your household. one of the things that we do, too, we promote charity, too. >> one of the nice things that i found recently, glucose meters, go into cvs and pay $20 for this, and they will pay you $20 back, an extra box, and then i will donate this to the mercy ministries, one of the doctor's offices so they can start patients out with a glucose meter. it's surprising me how many people are out there. >> the resourcefulness of this. they are saving money by using coupons, and running business by selling subskiptions of the database they have and helping the needy out by getting free or discounted goods that they don't need but using that to help people out. great story. >> yeah, i am glad you found it, ali, and you have many more stories coming up as we follow you on the road to recovery. got a big holiday gift list but need help in keeping their costs down? who doesn't. have we got a tight wad for you coming up. here in the u.s. that are untapped. we're able now to access oil and gas a mile down and seven miles out. we can do this safely. we can do it in an environmentally friendly way, and provide enough energy to fuel 50 million cars and 100 million homes for 25 years. a look at the stop stories now. a judge's ruling is expected next hour on a british airways move to stop the strike. and then meanwhile talks continue. the union plans a 12-day strike beginning tuesday. at issue is british airway's plan to change cabin crew conditions. the union says working hours will be extended and hours cut. and then award nominations. the latest, today's announcement of nominees for the screen actors guilt award. also nominated in the category, "the hurt locker" and "nine." they will air on our sister networks tnt and tbs. it was not the president or michael jackson. what was the most viewed story on cnn.com this year? the answer coming up. boss: y'know, geico opened its doors back in 1936 and now we're insuring over 18 million drivers. gecko: quite impressive, yeah. boss: come a long way, that's for sure. and so have you since you started working here way back when. gecko: ah, i still have nightmares. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. say you're on a call and your friend wants to know (from phone) "what time's the movie?" 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? ♪ holiday fugaltit. half of all americans plan to spend less on this year than last. how can you get the biggest bang for your holiday bucks? we are going to tight wad todd to find out. that's todd's nickname, of course. is that self imposed or who started to call you that? >> that would be terrible if i named myself that. one of the powers here had a brainstorm. >> are you still friends with that person? >> he is my boss, and i you are project editor of "consumer reports" and also the author of the tightwad todd blog. we're going to put this poll on the screen real quickly for everybody. it says this, spending on holiday gifts compared to last year, as we said, more only by 12%, less by 49%. about the same, 39%. so you guys also did a survey similar results. people are spending something like $60 to $90 less this year on gifts. what do you make of it? is it obvious with the current economic conditions? >> yeah, i think there's a lot of obvious to it. americans will be spending on average about $700. it's a number that's been steadily going down for about three years now. and it's only about -- our numbers are about $40 less this year than last, but they're buying the same number of gifts. 15 on average. but what's happened is one of the great questions we asked, it's a pretty telling one. 34% of americans say that they wanted to get more practical gifts this year. and so that, i think, has something to do with it. maybe they're being less extravagant, buying the same number of gifts but spending a little less so there might be that emphasis on the pragmatic this year at a time when so many people are struggling and out of work. >> that's what i think is the most interesting right now. we've talked a lot about it and i've heard many people saying i'm actually not going to be going out and buying my gift cards to maybe the department stores or for that neat little luxury item, if you will. i'm actually buying gift cards maybe for groceries or for gas for my loved ones. >> well, you know, it may not sound like the most romantic or indulge jent of gifts but i think things like that are truly, truly appreciated. >> what about the online shopping? has that helped at all? obviously -- well, maybe people don't know this. today is national free shipping day so you still have time, right? >> yeah. today, december 17th, about 600, 700 companies are offering free shipping with or without a minimum purchase. everybody from amazon down to small retail merchants. it's a great way -- it was a brain child of a fellow who wanted to keep people shopping later into the season online and it's been a success. but what it tells us is that today is pretty much around the cutoff day if you're going to shop online. again, it's been trending upwards for the past three years now. about 39, 40% of people are going to be shopping online this month. and if you're going to do it, today, tomorrow are pretty much your last chances to qualify for those free standard shipping offers. if you wait until around the 20th, you're going to have to use two or three day shipping which costs much more. and goodness gracious knows you have to wait until the drop dead date, which is the 23rd, for next day delivery, that's going to really cost you an arm and a leg. so there is no delivery on christmas day for normal routine deliveries so you've got to remember that. >> yeah, we've paid those prices many times personally in the past this year. boxes are out. so very proud. tightwad todd, thanks for the info. o appreciate your time this morning. >> my pleasure. happy holidays. we're talking about holiday shopping on my blog today as well. are you spending less this year or buying different things? are you one of the people buying gas or groceries or something that is necessary for your loved ones? let us know. go to cnn.com/heidi and let me know. we do have a lot going on this morning. our cnn crews are in place to bring you all of the details. let's check in with some of our correspondents beginning with poppy harlow in new york. hi. >> reporter: hi there, heidi. citigroup's mortgage division saying they're going to put a moratorium on foreclosures for 30 days but is it going to help people and honestly the mortgage modifications have fallen way below expectations. we'll dig into the numbers in the next hour. >> reporter: i'm elizabeth cohen in atlanta. cesarean section rates are skyrocketing. i took to one woman who took unusual steps to get the birth she wanted. i'll tell you what she did at the top of the hour. and we've got two, two big weather stories that we're following and one of those would be the light snow and wind in parts of the northeast. also the heavy rainfall expected for parts of the southeast and the gulf coast. now, coming up in a few moments i'll let you know how it's going to affect millions of travelers and that is just a short while away, heidi. >> doesn't sound good. all right, reynolds and everybody else, thanks so much. we'll talk to you shortly. also ahead this morning, changing lives one stove at a time. it's a remarkable story about a simple charity that aims to protect women and the environment at the same time. is nuts! any ideas? alright, best buy. [ male announcer ] last minute is no problem. at best buy you can get this 10-megapixel insignia camera. the new "harry potter" on blu-ray. the latest video games like "tony hawk ride" rated e10+. all of the 2010 ea sports titles rated e to t. or a gift card good for anything. the best gifts come from best buy. very quickly, we are just now getting this information into the cnn newsroom and want to share it with you. the nfl's chris henry has died from his injuries. you may have heard about this story. he received major injuries during a domestic dispute, some sort of domestic dispute in charlotte, north carolina. it all happened yesterday afternoon. now, according to our affiliates in the area, again the charlotte mecklenburg area, this is a police department as well that is telling us this, chris henry died at the medical center. they received -- it originally started, they had gotten a call around noon about a person who was injured in a home there and now we know the result of those injuries. we did know at the time that they were very serious injuries. but of course did not know what the result could have been. cincinnati bengals wide receiver chris henry has now died from those injuries. i want to go ahead and bring in josh levs now with a little bit more about this because i know you've been watching this story as well. it's been all over cnn.com and a lot of people have been following what happened here. >> reporter: this is what a lot of people have been fearing. the specifics of what happened, this was about him fighting for life. here you can see a picture of him. we've been talking about on cnn.com are the specifics from the authorities about this domestic situation and what it is that they believe led to this. if you go to cnn.com right now it talks about the life-threatening injuries that he was experiencing after falling out of the bed of a pickup truck. they talk about how it was during a fight with his fiancee. all of this information coming from police in charlotte, north carolina. we got the latest coming on for you, heidi, right now at cnn.com. it's being updated with all the latest details. obviously a lot of interest in this and a lot of people very sad about this. we'll keep bringing you all the information we get throughout the day. >> very good. once again the nfl wide receiver for the cincinnati bengals chris henry has now died from injuries in a domestic dispute that happened yesterday afternoon. we will continue to follow that story for you. here now are some of the other stories that we are watching right now. pakistani officials say as many as 15 people are dead after several u.s. drones attacked an area near the afghan border. those same officials say seven of the dead are militant fighters. a separate drone attack in the same area killed two people. the u.s. has not confirmed either strike. italian prime minister silvio berlusconi left the hospital with his face covered in bandages. he was attacked earlier this week by a mentally ill man who hit him with a small statue. the italian leader broke his nose and two teeth. the injuries are keeping him from attending this week's climate summit in copenhagen. he's in brazil and hoping to finally bring his son back home. a new jersey man is trying to put an end to a five-year-long international custody battle. he arrived at rio de janeiro this morning after a brazilian appeals court granted him custody of his 9-year-old son. jason carroll brings us up to date. >> reporter: well, heidi, david goldman says he has flown down to rio de janeiro at least a dozen times when a brazilian court has ruled in his favor. this time he's hopeful it will be the last time. the decision by a brazilian peels court was unanimous, but there was no celebrating, not even the hint of a smile on the face of david goldman. >> i've been down this road for five and a half years. until i'm on the plane with shawn and the wheels are up, i can only be hopeful. >> reporter: the ruling upheld a decision this summer that ordered his 9-year-old son, shawn, to be returned home with him to new jersey. but the homecoming could face one more roadblock. the family of shawn's now deceased mother is expected to file an appeal with brazil's supreme court today. but goldman supporters are cautiously optimistic the ruling will stand. >> remember this is an abducting family. they're kidnappers. and yet they have had -- but they come from a very high-powered legal family in rio de janeiro so they have had a great deal of sway with the court. >> reporter: the custody battle has now spanned five years, starting back in 2004, when shawn's mother took shawn to brazil for what was supposed to be a two-week vacation. they never came back. she eventually remarried an then died last year during childbirth. her family has taken up the fight to keep shawn in rio, arguing it would be traumatizing to remove the boy from the home where he's raised. goldman's fight has been taken up by secretary of state hillary clinton and it's that international pressure that some say would make this ruling stick. >> i think the justices are on their toes trying to do the right thing because the world is watching this case. this case is being watched by the entire world. >> reporter: a case that won't be over until this father watches his son board a plane home. >> my emotions are in check, i'm focused on doing what i can to comfort my son. >> reporter: secretary clinton releasing a statement saying she appreciated the assistance and cooperation from brazil and she hopes the long legal process is finally over. representative smith from new jersey, who you saw in the piece and has been working with the family, says the brazilian high court will take up the appeal today. the supreme court could grant a stay, once again delaying shawn's return, or, heidi, allow shawn to be returned to his father while the appeal is decided. heidi. >> all right, jason, thanks so much. again, we will be watching that story throughout the day right here on cnn. meanwhile the climate talks in copenhagen, optimism cools, passions boil over. police and protesters going up against each other at the global warming conference in denmark's capital. hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested inside the conference. one danish official says there is little hope for a comprehensive deal on greenhouse gas emissions. the reason? negotiations between rich and poor countries grew divisive and dead locked. president obama leaves tonight for the talks. he is to be joined by more than 100 other world leaders. let's talk more about these protests for a moment and the growing dissatisfaction that is rippling inside and outside of the copenhagen summit. one of the concerns and what are the possible compromises. phil black breaks is down for us. >> reporter: danish police haven't shown a lot of tolerance for protesters during the climate talks, and they didn't hesitate when hundreds of people tried to break into the conference center to hold their own. they used batons, tear gas and pepper spray to move the crowd. but in some cases, the protesters fought back. there were heated scenes inside the center too. the number of activists allowed inside is being dramatically scaled back each day, as more world leaders arrive. the activists aren't happy. this group from save the world had the necessary credentials but security refused to let them pass, so they sat down and refused to move. the united nations climate chief tried talking to them. >> i think if we can get that process moving, we can still get a result out of this conference, but we're at a critical moment in the process. >> reporter: it didn't go well. >> we are here at 7:30 in the morning. >> i have been reasonable throughout my three years in this job trying to create -- all right goodbye. >> this is your fault. >> reporter: activist groups are increasingly frustrated because negotiations over a global strategy to deal with climate change are going badly. one of the danish politicians moderating the talks gives a grim assessment of their progress. last night you used the f word, failure, acknowledging that it is very much a possibility here. how likely do you think that is given where we're at right now? >> well, i still believe that we can do what we came for, all of us, but what i want last night that time is really short and now people must show a will to compromise. even the strongest pressure cannot get us off the hoop when it comes to solving specific issues where so far there are huge disagreements. >> world leaders have begun addressing the conference, giving a further indication that the strong feelings that have resulted in deadlock. >> we are the developing world. we of the developing world are drowning. we are burning, indeed we are the tragedy that climate changes have turned out to be for the larger half of mankind. yet the we never caused that crisis. >> reporter: the president of the european commission believes two countries are holding up progress. >> i think the big thing is they have to move, honestly, because this is a global challenge that needs a global response. so i believe that the united states of america and china, of course with different capabilities and different responsibilities, should do some move. >> reporter: bigger emissions cuts for the west, a system to ensure everyone lives up to their commitments. these are just some of the unresolved issues here. it's hope that as more national leaders arrive, the pressure will build and the deadlock will break. at the moment, it's a lot to hope for. phil black, cnn, copenhagen. cnn tonight, will the 100 plus leaders at the copenhagen summit reach a consensus on climate change? will the u.s. take the lead? get answers in a cnn youtube climate change debate tonight at 11:00 after ac 360. reynolds wolf joining us now from the severe weather center. we have rain to talk about in the southeast and cold in the northeast. that makes for nasty, nasty travel conditions. >> no question about it. and not just for people who are experiencing air travel today, but people on the roads. it's going to be a tough time for them, especially in places like buffalo, new york. but the farther south you go we make the transition from snow to rain and rain is really the big story. it has been the big story in texas. now we anticipate some of the rain we have towards houston and back in new orleans to continue its march off to the east. right ahead of that frontal boundary and that area of low pressure. so places like birmingham, alabama, and eventually spots like, say, back over towards montgomery, macon, atlanta, you'll see scattered showers an possible storms later on tonight. not severe thunderstorms, just a rum rumble of thunder. atlanta looks pretty good. a few scattered clouds here and there. enjoy the sunshine because we can anticipate big changes for other parts of the southeast, you can expect increasing clouds and a chance of those showers. meanwhile let's go back to the weather map. breezy conditions for parts of the central rockies. if you're taking that drive from denver southward to albuquerque, right along parts of i-25, you're going to have windy conditions right through those high mountain passes. same deal may be expected through parts of the cascades. i'll tell you we may see some scattered snow showers up in mt. hood, even parts of mt. shasta before the day is out. could see some snow forming up in parts of the upper peninsula. what does this mean for you travelers today? you can expect a few delays at the new york metro airports, all of them. same in philly and boston. check this out, you may be waiting 30 minutes to an hour. in houston, new orleans, rain and low clouds. san francisco, fog and low clouds might keep you stranded for 15 to 30 minutes. if you're doing some driving in south florida along alligator alley, keep those windows down and the air conditioner today, mainly 70s. tampa same story with 71. that is a look at your forecast. as always, we've got more coming up straight ahead. back to you, heidi. >> we'll check in later. thank you, reynolds. hope for the holidays. a major mortgage company issues a reprieve for homeowners on the brink of disaster. we'll have all the details in a moment. ( sneeze ) transform drinks you want, into cold medicine you need. intrpducing fast crystal packs. a new way from alka-seltzer plus to... get cold and flu relief in a taste-free, fizz-free powder. alka-seltzer plus. cartoons duringch hoops your big meeting, and breaking news when it breaks. watch real tv whenever you want. you don't need to get a phone. you need a phone that gets you. i was just in town for a few days, and i was wondering if i could say hi to the doctor. is he in? he's in copenhagen. oh, well, that's nice. but you can still see him! you just said he was in... copenhagen. come on! that's pretty far. doc, look who's in town. ellen! copenhagen? cool, right? vacation. but still seeing patients. oh. [ whispering ] workaholic. i heard that. she said it. i... [ female announcer ] the new office. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco. fed chairman ben bernanke is up for another term as fed chief. the senate banking committee is meeting right now to consider bernanke's nomination to a second four-year term. we'll give you a live look now. if approved, the newly named "time" magazine person of the year would still have to be voted on by the full senate, of course. but that probably won't happen until next year. former fed chairman alan greenspan is appearing to know capitol hill today. he will be testifying before the senate homeland security and government affairs committee. susan collins there. the committee is looking at the country's economic future. they are also hearing from the heads of the senate budget committee. there is help coming for thousands of troubled homeowners from one of the nation's most baled-out banks. cnn money.com's poppy harlow is in new york with more on this. what's the very latest here? >> reporter: sure, heidi, this is citigroup, their mortgage division coming out late last night saying, listen, we're going to suspend foreclosures for 30 days for about 4,000 people. it starts tomorrow. when you add it all up, this is about 20% of citi's total lending portfolio. it only applies if your loan is owned by ci tflt iflt more gablg so if yyou make payments to cit but somebody else owns your loan, that doesn't apply to you. you need to meet certain other criteria so we want to know exactly what that is. but this comes at a point when by all accounts really the obama administration's efforts to modify mortgages have really fallen short. when you look at the numbers only about 4% of troubled borrowers have gotten that long-term help under the foreclosure prevention plans and citigroup has enrolled 100,000 people in the program but only 271, 271 of 100,000 of those modifications have been made permanent. that's according to the treasury. >> wow. >> reporter: at the same time, i want to be fair here. i talked to a bank executive this week who leads one of the big banks and was in that meeting with president obama on monday. and he said the paperwork that we the banks get from treasury is about three-quarters of an inch thick and most people can't get through it or get it done right so their modifications don't go through and that's a major problem. the banks seem to want less complex paperwork to get these things done, heidi. >> yeah, we've heard that before. the house of representatives is also trying to deliver some help in time for the holidays and we're talking about the jobs creation bill that was passed last night. >> reporter: it's a big deal. it's $154 billion bill passed late last night. $75 billion of that money would come from the t.a.r.p. money which we heard president obama pushing for. spend it on infrastructure spending and helping states prevent layoffs. the other $79 billion would go to what is being called an emergency safety net spending fund. that would most of it we should be clear add to the deficit, according to the congressional budget office. but what are we talking about in terms of where that money would go? again, it's all about unemployment, extending those unemployment benefits and also extending cobra's health care subsidy among other things. so it's passed the house and now goes to the senate. unfortunately for a lot of folks that need the help the senate is not expected to take it up until next year, so we'll see if it does pass the senate. we'll give you more details on that bill. you can check out this story. we'll try to pull it up for you. >> there's been a lot of discussion about that, whether taking the t.a.r.p. money for jobs creation, it's ploerobably political question. >> reporter: and if it's even legal, so we'll see. >> we're watching. thanks, appreciate it. holiday frugality. nearly half of all americans plan to spend less on gifts this year than last. are you spending less this year? buying different things in fact? go to my blog at cnn.com/heidi and let us know what you're up to. having a baby and choosing the way you want to deliver that baby. we'll tell you how to get the birth you want. the great taste of splenda® no calorie sweetener and added a little fiber? sweet! sweet! (together) sweet! (announcer) now for the first time, a gram of healthy fiber in every packet. sweet! (announcer) splenda® with fiber. ♪ on♪ 12 cookies cooking my iphone gave to me ♪ sweet! ♪ 11 cards a sending ♪ 10 gifts for giving ♪ 9 songs for singing ♪ 8 bells for ringing ♪ 7 slopes a skiing ♪ 6 games for playing ♪ 5 gold...rings ♪ 4 hot lattes ♪ 3 flights home ♪ 2 feet of snow ♪ and an app that can light up the tree ♪ time now to check some of the top stories that we're following this morning. cincinnati bengals wide receiver chris henry is dead. the five-year nfl veteran was badly injured yesterday in a car accident. police say he fell out of the back of a pickup truck during a domestic dispute. they are investigating. he hadn't played in six weeks after being put on injured reserve. henry had several run-ins with police during his early years in the nfl, but coaches and teammates said he really seemed to have turned things around this season. chris henry was 26 years old. roy disney has died. the nephew of walt disney is credited with revitalizing the company with some of its most popular animated films of the last 30 years, like "beauty and the beast" and "the lion king." he battled stomach answer for the last year. besides working in the family business 56 years, roy disney was also a philanthropist donating millions of dollars to schools, theaters and hospitals. roy disney was 79 years old. italian prime minister sill vee yo berlusconi left the hospital with his face covered with bandages. he was attacked earlier this week by a mentally ill man who hit him with a statue. he broke his nose and two teeth. the injuries are keep him from attending this week's climate summit in copenhagen. the number of c-sections in the united states is on the rise. one in three babies is born via cesarean section. women who want vaginal births sometimes have to fight to get them. in this week's empowered patient, elizabeth cohen is joining us with advice on how you get the kind of delivery that you want. this seems surprising to me you have to say wait a minute, i'd like to do this the way we're supposed to. >> exactly, you do have to fight sometimes. really one of the bottom lines is doctors don't like being sued. they just don't like being sued. you know what, as they say, you don't get sued usually for doing a cesarean section, so c-section rates are way up, 30%, when the centers for disease control says they really should be more like 15%. >> so back in october you actually told us about a woman who had a story here where she was in the the hospital, she was insisting that she have a c-section when she didn't really need one, so this is sort of linked here. kid she have the baby, everything go okay? >> it's a very happy ending. this woman was pregnant, about seven months pregnant when her doctors said you know what, the hospital that you're going to deliver at will not deliver you vaginally. you are going to have to have a c-section because she'd had a prior c-section. she had huh-uh, i do not want another c-section if i can avoid it. i obviously want my child to be safe. she said i'm going to find a hospital that will deliver me vaginally. so she three weeks before her due date moved six hours away from her home and you can see the product. little baby marcus anthony, seven pounds 13 ounces. she said it was the easiest birth ever. she delivered vaginally. she said she pushed once. and she said oh, my goodness, they wanted to cut into me and here i had the easiest delivery vaginally that she's ever heard of. >> wow. >> yes. so she feels like she proved her point and she got the delivery she wants. >> definitely. and the cute baby too. >> and the cute baby too, right, exactly. >> so if you're an expectant mom, what exactly can you do to get the delivery you want? we always talk about this birth plan and having this plan. the first thing they tell you is whatever you have planned, it's never going to go that way. >> you'll have a plan with your doctor, but there's an excellent chance your doctor is not going to deliver you. >> that happened to me. i'm still mad, by the way. she was skiing. >> exactly. but so many women have that story. so you can have the greatest plan in the world that you went through with your doctor, but you know what, when you get to the hospital, it is a whole different deal. you may end up having delivery room discussions about how you're going to deliver this baby. so i talked to some midwives and doctors and said how do you get the delivery you want if you want a vaginal delivery and your doctor says i think you ought to have a c-section. you need to ask the doctor is this an emergency or do we have time to talk? some c-sections really are an emergency. you're going to die, the baby is going to die, you don't want to have a discussion. but most of the time it's not. most of the time it's not, so you can say to the doctor i get it that you want me to have a c-section but is this an emergency or not. you can ask what would happen if we waited an hour or two. that's another good question to ask. and then you can also ask are you sure the baby is too big for me to deliver, because sometimes that's the reason. sometimes doctors will say, and i know i have many friends where they were told this baby is way too big for you to deliver and the baby turns out to be seven pounds or something like that. >> but i feel bad for first-time moms because, boy, a doctor looks at you, you're there,s you're in the moment and he says we need to do a c-section. i'm glad that you're doing this and empowering people because i don't know if too many that would say hold on a second. no, no, no, doctor. my first child, i'm terrified, we shouldn't do a c-section. >> it is incredibly hard, i know having given birth to four children, it is incredibly hard in that moment to have that discussion. but if that's something that you really want, you need to think about how you're going to do that. what you really need to think about is finding the right doctor or midwife to begin with. that's first on the list. but the full list of tips i'll show you where to get those, they're at cnnhealth.com, how to get the delivery you want. some women want a c-section. some women want it. so if that's what you want -- >> i feel us going off into the delivery room drama story. >> there are so many. >> it's a half an hour special, i feel it. our senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen, thanks, elizabeth. here's a story now, off the beaten path a bit. a charity that's trying to change lives and ease suffering with a simple stove. we'll show you how a few dollars can make a huge difference. 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(announcer) the new emergen-c immune plus shot. this little shot is more like a big shot of-- (dog barking) ...for your immune system. feel the-- (dog barking) feel the good global warming, heated tempers, cooling expectations, violent clashes between police and protesters have stolen much of the spotlight at the climate change summit in copenhagen. bitter divisions have complicated the meetings inside the conference, all before the arrival of president obama and more than 100 other world leaders. so what can they hope to accomplish now? let's look ahead with cnn white house correspondent suzanne malveaux. good morning. what's the stakes here? what are the stakes when the president goes and goes into this knowing that all of these clashes and all of these tensions are at a real high point? >> reporter: they certainly are, heidi. i've been speaking with people who are on the ground in copenhagen this morning as well as white house officials. they realize they're really at a crossroads here because it does look like there's a roadblock with china. they have been in negotiations the last 48 hours, not really moving in the direction that they would like. we heard from secretary clinton who was saying earlier this morning that the chinese have to be transparent as well as other nations when is comes to proving that they are in fact going to cut down on the greenhouse gas emissions and that this in fact is a deal-breaker. now, that doesn't mean that they don't have some sense of hope that they're going to be able to move forward, but one of the things that they're talking about is that it is worth it at the very least for the president to show up and be involved in this the next 24 to 48 hours. so it's a rumor coming from actually the summit itself that president obama would not be attending, that is not true. robert gibbs just finished a briefing and made it very clear that the president's plans have not changed, that they are going to move forward here and he is trying to make the case it's not only important about climate change but creating some jobs back at home, heidi. >> did gibbs talk about then at all the possibility that the president could come home empty-handed? >> reporter: yeah. we asked that question, whether or not that was a real political liability. we know that the last time he went to copenhagen, making a bid for the olympics, he didn't come back with anything. gibbs responded and said come back with an empty agreement would be far worse than coming back empty-handed. but, you know, you have to question that because this agreement essentially is not even a legally binding agreement, it's not a treaty, it's a political agreement. so if these guys all get together and say at the very least we believe that we are working towards a treaty, towards an agreement here, that is good enough. and so they are certainly hoping that everybody signs on the dotted line, including the chinese, saying we at least intend to go ahead, cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, commit to it and commit to some sort of transparency. so we'll see how that language is worked in there, but this is a very important trip for this president to in fact come back with some sort of tangible political agreement from these nations. >> all right. well, we will certainly be watching as those tensions rise. appreciate that. white house correspondent suzanne malveaux this morning. and now speaking of the environment, a really interesting story. there's a charity out there with a simple mission. buy fuel-efficient stoves for refugee camps in the congo. but the goal is huge. protect the women there from what is often referred to as a pandemic in the region, rape. cassandra nelson works with the charity mercy corps and just returned from the congo and has this story for us. it's nice to talk with you, cassandra. i know you just came back week before last. i want to put the story out there in the right light because there's some information that people may not know here. let's talk about how much firewood it takes. i was pretty amazed by the tonnage per day that is required per day in order for people in the congo basically to eat or to get any type of warmth or whatever it is that they may need. that's something like, what, 169 tons of cooking fuel, which again is firewood, that's needed every day. >> exactly. and that we're just talking about the displaced population that mercy corps is originally working with. so if you look at the fact that there is nearly one and a half million displaced people in 2009 in eastern congo and start to do the math, the amount of firewood that's needed in that country is incredible. >> yeah. and so then what happens is typically the women are the ones who go out and get the firewood. >> exactly. it really is the woman's job isn't the congo culture to be the firewood collectors. and what we see, particularly when there's displacement camps and very large populations of people concentrated, that the environment around those camps gets complete thely deforested. what that means for the women, though, is they have to go farther and farther out into very thick forests alone or maybe just with their children and it's a very dangerous place for them because, unfortunately, it is a country that's filled with men with guns. and we found just a huge instance of women who are raped or harassed or have some kind of violence inflicted on them. >> you say something like 90% of these women who have experienced violence like this. >> yeah. we did a baseline survey last year and found that 90% of the women that we surveyed had experienced some kind of violence or harassment when they had been out collecting firewood. >> that's unbelievable. okay, so you come in and say how do we cut down on not only the deforestation but also the violence these women experience and we're going to come up with a way to help them not to have to go out and get so much firewood with this fuel efficient stove. >> exactly. what mercy corps is doing is designed fuel efficient stoves that actually require about 75% less firewood. and so what that means is essentially that it means 75% less time that you have to go out into the forest to collect the firewood to actually do your cooking. >> how does it save so much? >> well, the way it's designed, it's a highly efficient stove. it's a clay stove. it's made with all local materials. we've trained the people there to actually make the stoves themselves so it's not something we have to provide to them. >> we're watching that right now on the screen next to you, just so you know. >> okay, great. those are our technicians that were trained on how to make them. we've made about 30,000 stoves so far. the great thing is they learn to make these stoves and then they can also start small businesses themselves by making the stoves and selling them, as well as we're distributing them for free to those that can't afford to buy the stoves. it just burns at a very high temperature and so the wood is completely burned. the old style or traditional style of cooking is just to have three stones and toss a bunch of wood on it and it's very inefficient. the wood just is never fully burnt and is not very hot. >> understood. so have you been able to gather any statistics or feedback on the effect of all of this and if it's been able to help not only with the deforestation but also cutting down on this violence against the women? >> well, we are actually just about to do our next survey, so -- because we did our baseline survey last year. but what we have found is if we take the numbers and look at 10,000 stoves going out to 10,000 families, cooking over the course of one year, what we're saving is we're saving about 13,000 tons of firewood on an annual basis. that's just for about 10,000 stoves. so the numbers are fantastic and it's one of those programs that is viral in a way in that now that these people know how to make these stoves, they start to build them themselves. they don't need mercy corps there to do all the work for them. we train them and then they can go out and carry this on so it can spread from community to community. >> so self-sufficient. >> so a long-term impact. >> self-sufficient is good too. i'm still very interested in how we can measure or find out if the violence against the women, because they're not having to go back so far out into the forest, is cutting down. are they telling you, hey, i feel a little bit safer, i'm glad that i'm able to stick around the camp closer because i'm not having to go out so much? >> definitely. i spent a lot of time in the camps talking to the women that use those stoves. and i asked them, i said so what's the biggest change in your life. do you like the stove? and every single woman i talked to was incredibly happy with their stove and the number one reason was they said i don't have to go out and collect firewood anymore. i feel safe. and so the security for the women is really the most important part. i mean our broader aims are certainly climate change issues and others as well as protection of women, but for the women, it is the protection that is so good for them. >> understood. all right, we'll be watching closely all of these ideas. cassandra nelson with mercy corps, thanks for your time. >> thank you. the number is staggering. for the first time a billion people on earth are hungry. a new effort aims to get a billion people to help online. our josh levs is here now with more on that. hi, josh. >> reporter: it's so interesting to follow that fascinating segment about helping people in the congo. it's amazing what's going on there. what i'm here to tell you about also is something for the world food program to help get food to people all over the world. we know this is a time of year that a lot of people are thinking how they can reach out and help others. let's go to this video. i want you to see what's going on online and what's so new. this is the world food program and these numbers are about what people do every minute. within 60 seconds you're seeing how many people get online, send e-mails, tweets, use facebook. in that same amount of time, ten children around the world die. so what the world food program has created is called a billion for a billion. what they want to do is get a billion people online to help the one billion people who are hungry. and they're asking people no matter what you use, if it's facebook, if it's twitter, if you have your own blog, whatever i, to send out the world about world hunger. i spoke with a representative of the world food program about what this could actually accomplish. >> there are so many people online. in a nutshell, for example, all the folks who are using these tools, cell phones, computers, if they help the ones who need a cup of food, the billion online to help the billion who are going hungry. and if you spread the word, if you just do a little tiny bit, if you go to your computer and you tell the story and you spread it and you tweet and you blog and you link up with us, we can really change the world. we can make hunger -- we can eradicate it. it's extremely powerful what the internet can do. >> let's get pragmatic here. what you're talking about is getting the word out in the hopes that the more that hear about it, the more that will give money. ultimately this is a fund-raising activity. >> it's fund-raising and awareness. fund-raising of course this year has been really hard. we got very very good donations from government, but clearly not enough. we have huge shortfalls. we had to cut rations all over the world. so we need new donors, we need more people to know about this. >> one thing you can see actually is this right here. let's zoom back in. this is the wall against hunger. people who take action as part of this billion for a billion can snend their information and send in a photo or video about what you are doing. people are sharing their stories. all of it is part of the world food program. i posted links for you. they're up at the blog, cnn.com/josh, also facebook and twitter. if you want to get involved or learn more about this or learn where your money goes, it's very interesting. the billion for a billion program. heidi, as i was just saying between what you were saying about the congo and this, this is definitely the time of year a lot of people are thinking how can they reach out and help. a couple great ways right the there. >> thank you. now to health care reform. getting all the democrats on board, but could there be a liberal back lash? 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(from phone) "did you see my client anemail?"ks you can say "yep-got it right here." or, if you're chatting with a buddy, and he says, (from phone) "hey, can you change that reservation?" you can say "sure." or you're talking to your wife who says, (from phone) "i can't believe our anniversary is a week away." you can say "me neither." all without ever leaving the call. can your phone...and your network...do that? checking top stories now, a new jersey father fighting for five years to get his son back has new hope in the custody battle. david goldman is now in brazil after an appeals court there granted him custody of his 9-year-old son. but the brazilian family of david goldman's late wife may file another appeal with the brazilian high court today to keep the boy. we will follow what happens there. south carolina governor mark sanford escapes another impeachment vote. the state's house judiciary committee voted against impeachment but did approve a resolution censuring sanford. they criticized him for bringing ridicule on the state for carrying on an affair with an arming tin january woman. crews are waiting for a break in the weather to continue looking for two missing hikers on oregon's mt. hood. authorities told the families it is unlikely they are alive. the threat of avalanches forced crews to suspend the search and they are waiting for better conditions to begin the recovery operation. we have new numbers this morning on unemployment. for the second straight week first-time claims for benefits went up. the labor department says 480,000 newly unemployed people applied for benefits. nearly 5,200,000 people filed claims for ongoing unemployment benefits. that doesn't count the millions of people whose state benefits have already run out. small businesses take another hit. a new report shows credit is still very hard to get and that had a big effect on the economy. susan lisovicz is on the floor of the new york stock exchange with details on this. susan, earlier in the week this is exactly why president obama met with bank ceos. susan, we can't hear you. can we hear susan? oh, darn it. she is messing with the mic. do we have her now? maybe not. all right, so you know what, we'll check back with susan in just a little while and get to her. but meanwhile all of this talk brings us to today's blog question. we're talking a lot about the economy and holiday shopping, how the two affect one another and ask whether you are spending less this year or maybe just buying different things, necessities over luxury items. i want to show you this now from sharon. she writes my three adult sons, their wives and i decided to forego gifts to each other this year. instead, we will splurge on a festive christmas dinner and give gifts to their children, my grandchildren, in the form of gift cards and contributions to college savings. from rose, we are a family of seven and buying gifts for everyone is going to be impossible. to make sure everyone receives something, we decided to do secret santa and set a price limit. and then from linda, this year my family is not buying a lot of stuff for christmas. instead we rented a cabin in the mountains and will spend christmas in the snow together. remember, we always want to hear from you. just log on to cnn.com/heidi to share your comments. we're back in a moment. is nuts! any ideas? alright, best buy. 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democratic support for the senate health care reform bill is no guarantee. first independent senator joe lieberman vowed to abandon the democrats over medicare. now there is a threat of a backlash among liberals who want a public option. jim acosta is in washington with details. >> reporter: heidi, senate democratic leaders are hopeful they'll get all 60 votes, but the danger in the senate is that you could have 100 joe liebermans with the potential to stop everything if their demands are not met. so the question now for democrats is whether anybody else wants to pull a lieberman. >> i'm not much of a deal maker in this regard. >> reporter: remember roland burris, appointed to fill president obama's senate seat by impeached illinois governor rod blagojevich? >> we must not settle. >> reporter: burris has sounded like a spoiler in the democratic quest for 60 votes to stop a gop filibuster on health care reform. >> but i understand that i have drawn a line in the sand and i've said that i will not vote for any bill to come to me, especially if it's going to be a final bill that does not have a public option in it. >> reporter: ever since senators stripped the public option out of their version to play kate joe lieberman, liberal bloggers have cried kill the bill. howard dean is leading the charge. >> this is a bigger bailout for the insurance industry than aig. this is an insurance company's dream, this bill, and i think it's gone too far. it's just, it's a shame. >> reporter: dean also accuses democrats are watering down insurance reforms in the bill. not so, says senator jay rockefeller, who is firing back at dean, shame on you. >> that is so inaccurate, i don't know how to express it but to say that howard dean is a doctor, heerkd know better and he should be ashamed of himself. >> the white house was also having none of it. >> i don't think any rational person would say killing a bill makes a whole lot of sense. >> reporter: but bernie sanders, self-described socialist said he will not block a filibuster. >> we're working hard to try to make this a better bill. >> reporter: despite the fact he condemned filibustering health care last summer. >> i can respect people in the democratic caucus who end up not voting for final passage. but at the very least they have got to prevent the republicans from stopping progress in health care reform. >> reporter: i know senators don't like to talk about other senators and what they're doing. >> oh, i don't mind. >> reporter: senator rockefeller says it's time for unity. >> you don't want to be the person that brings the whole thing down. >> reporter: case in point, when senator sanders introduced an amendment for a single payer health care system, a measure that has no chance of passing, republicans insisted on having the entire 767 pages of that amendment read allowed, a process that could have taken eight hours. democrats say it was a delay tactic at a time when they fear time is not on their side. heidi. >> all right, jim, thanks so much. and this just in now to cnn. a strike that could have crippled british airways over the holiday season cannot go ahead. here's what happened. a judge ruled in favor of the carrier just a short while ago. the union had planned a 12-day strike starting on tuesday that would run through the holidays. at issue, british airways' plan to change cabin crew conditions. the union says working hours will be extended, crew levels cut. we're going to be hearing from our correspondent at the high court on this issue in just a couple of minutes. now to the front lines in afghanistan. one of the top u.s. commanders there right now talking to troops about the new strategy and the threats from the taliban. what doctors recommend for arthritis pain... in your hands... knees... and back. for little bodies with fevers... and big bodies on high blood pressure medicine. tylenol works with your body in a way other pain relievers don't... so you feel better... knowing doctors recommend tylenol more than any other brand of pain reliever. somewhere in america, there's a home by the sea powered by the wind on the plains. 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. getting a look at the front lines in afghanistan, joint chiefs admiral mike mullen is there right now visiting troops at a base in the dangerous kandahar province. mullen has been in afghanistan all week. earlier he had the full deployment of president obama's 30,000 additional troops probably would not be finished until august. a hero's honor for two members of the third special forces group at ft. bragg, north carolina. they were awarded the silver star for their fearless work defending fellow soldiers in afghanistan. military officials say they fought off taliban insurgents while they were under attack themselves. >> i think they thought they were pursuing us, but every engagement, their casualties and just the outcome and the way the guys on the detachment performed, which was amazing. >> nine other members of the third special forces group earned bronze stars. six received purple hearts and 25 were awarded army commendation medals. thanks to all of them for their service, of course. quickly we want to get to michael holmes for the moment. we've been talking about this british airways strike and the information that now a strike apparently cannot happen because a judge ruled in favor of the carrier just a short while ago. michael is standing by at heathrow to tell us more about this. hi there, michael. >> reporter: hi to you, heidi. yeah, this information just coming out a few minutes ago from london's high court. british airways, a little bit of background, they had applied for an injunction against this union action by the union known as unite of british airways cabin crews going on strike. of course this crucial period of december 22nd for 12 days. well, the injunction has been granted. what british airways had claimed was that some of those who voted in the ballot to go on strike weren't eligible to do so. now, it wasn't a huge number of people, but it was a legal technicality and the justice has grand the injunction. so at the moment the strike is off. now, there could be an appeal by the union. at the moment we have no idea whether that's going to happen or not. we are waiting to hear, heidi. >> at least at this point it will be easier on holiday travelers. michael holmes, we know you're following it closely

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