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treaty. that could happen today. you just heard dana telling tony we could also have a deal on the 9/11 workers' compensation bill today. but we already have the conclusion of a different bill today, don't ask, don't tell. now and inglorious part of u.s. history. it had been a stigma over the nation for years, forcing thousands of men and women to leave the military they loved and served with honor. earlier today president obama fulfilled a campaign promise to repeal the ban. >> we are not a nation that says don't ask, don't tell. we are a nation that says out of many, we are one. we are a nation that welcomes the service of every patriot. we are a nation that believes that all men and women are created equal. those are the ideals that generations have fought for. those are the ideals that we uphold today. and now it is my honor to sign this bill into law. >> mr. obama offered praise for all of those who worked to bring us to this day. the defense secretary, the joint chiefs, members of both parties and, of course, gays and lesbians serving today. he also took pains to emphasize that the repeal does not immediately put a stop to don't ask, don't tell but pleaded it would be put into action as quickly as possible. another victory for president obama is expected to happen this afternoon. the senate's ratification of the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty with russia. yesterday the senate voted 67-28 to end debate on the treaty. that is 11 republican senators joined all the democrats in supporting are the treaty. under the treaty signed by president obama in moscow in april, both sides agreed to resume inspections of each other's nuclear arsenals. they agreed to reduce warheads to 1,550,er launches to 700. by comparison, here are the current levels. the u.s. has 1,950 launchers. russia has 574 launchers. southern california has been pounded by torrential rain all week and it's still coming down. one l.a. county public works official is warning of a very heavy severe rain storm. one hard-hit area, laguna beach. casey wian is there. what's the situation around you? >> it's really unbelievable, the flood water that's came through here in laguna beach overnight. the situation right now is basically the rain has stopped, but crews are now working to try to clean up the damage. and you can see behind me if we can walk over here and show you this boardwalk behind me, the sand, before last night, was basically almost up to the level of that boardwalk. floodwaters came rushing through here and washed out all of that sand. can you see over here to my right the crews are trying to build a sand berm to make sure that if there's any high surf that none of that ocean water comes rushing through, back into this flood-damaged zone. if we can look up this way to my right past these folks here watching the damage, you can see some of those businesses, businesses throughout laguna beach have been hammered by this. we walked through some of the areas earlier today and shot some pictures, which we hopefully can show you now. and people have several inches of standing water in their stores. it's clear that some of these folks last some inventory and they're going to be cleaning up for several days. the good news is, though, ali, even with this incredible amount of rain, there have been no fatalities and no significant injuries reported. water rescue teams conducted 25 rescues, the water was so heavy they actually had to use canoes to get some of the folk who's were stuck in their cars in the flood water. so that's the situation now. a lot of cleanup ahead. >> we'll stay on top of it with you, thanks very much. casey wian. we're expecting president obama's top intelligence officer to be on top of all matters concerning terrorism, but james clapper, director of national intelligence, seemed bewildered when asked monday about the arrest of 12 men in britain allegedly planning attacks. clapper's awkward moment came in an interview with diane sawer, taped hours after the news broke. >> reporter: london. how serious is it? any implication it was coming here, any of the things they have seen were coming here? director clapper? >> he read the arrest of the 12 by the british this morning. >> oh. >> this is something the british informed us about early this morning as it was taking place. >> reporter: later in the interview, i came back to the director. did he really not know? >> i was a little surprised you didn't know about london, director clapper. >> well, i'm sorry, i didn't. >> before the interview aired last night, clapper's office issued this statement, quote, the question about the specific news development was ambiguous. the dni's knowledge of the threat streams in europe is profound and multi dimensional and any suggestion otherwise is inaccurate. moments ago conceding clapper was in fact in the dark about the arrests in britain, here's how john brennan put it. >> he was working on developments in the korean peninsula in terms of political military developments. he was focused on trying to provide support to the congress as far as the s.t.a.r.t. treaty deliberations were concerned. he was engaged in a variety of class identified matters. should he have been briefed by his staff on those arrests? yes. >> all right. i want to go to breaking news, dana bash at capitol hill with more on this move to provide compensation for 9/11 workers. what do we know, dana? >> reporter: we know according to two sources familiar with these discussions that there seems to be a deal very, very close to being totally inked, to actually get this bill through congress. this bill being compensation for 9/11 rescue workers. there were some changes we're told to accommodate republicans. republican critics, the top of that, is tom coburn of oklahoma. the changes we're told was to lower the price. ali, before it was $6.2 billion fund, now we're told it was lowered to $4.3 billion. we're also told that republicans were concerned that attorneys, they wanted to make sure attorneys who were representing the victims didn't get too much of the money, so it is a tightened cap at 10% for attorney's fees and there were some other changes in here to make sure that this compensation fund which we're told would run about five years would be run more properly from the perspective of republicans. now, ali, i'm told there was discussion among the two new york senators, gillibrand and schumer and the chief opponent of this, tom coburn, from oklahoma. and one other republican, mike enzi this morning. this is where they agreed to this deal in principle. they said that the staff would go and actually write the legislative language and that would come back and make sure that all of the ts were crossed and is were dotted properly. we do expect this to be formalized and possibly be passed by the united states senate this afternoon, maybe even by unanimous approval by the united states senate. this is a very, very significant development especially since republicans led by that -- led by tom coburn had said that they did not like this specifically because of the fact that it cost so much and they didn't like the way that it was being paid for. i want to tell you also, we've been trying to reach tom coburn to get official comment from this, we've not heard back. we'll let you know when we do. >> so this vote could happen today, is what you're telling us? >> reporter: yes. we expect it to happen today. because the senate wants to leave. the senate wants to leave for the holidays. we expect the s.t.a.r.t. treaty to be formally approved at some point in the next few hours, and this 9/11 deal, once its formally finalized on paper in legislative language to happen right around this afternoon. >> dana, we'll stay on top of this with you. boy, you're somebody who's covered congress for a long time, there's a whole lot going on there this week. >> oh, yeah. >> this may go down as some of the busiest in years in congress. we'll stay on top of this with you and all the other legislation that's going on. we'll take a break now. coming up more on this breaking news and how this legislation could unfold, and how jon stewart may have helped the cause. they've been chasing history for three seasons, they caught it. the university of connecticut women's basketball team has done something unprecedented in college hoops, winning their 89th straight games. they latest victim, florida state. this is a big deal for sports. not women's sports, sports. the bruins team held the wins record since 1974. 88 games in a row. this is less about gender than guts and passion for the game. >> it's kind of cool that this game happened in the middle of -- well, not even the middle of our season, because you get to the final four and you get to the end of the year and you're like, have you this big, just emptiness because your season is over. but now we have this high but we can still play. so i love t i'm ready to play the next game, actually. >> by the way, maya moore went to school up the road, basically this woman has lost five games since middle school. we'll take a break and come right back. ♪ yes! yes, yes, yes! [ laughs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds. and with 25% off our best selling jewelry, together we'll find the perfect gift, right down to the wire. that's why only zales is the diamond store. updating breaking news from capitol hill, cnn has learned that a deal is near to get a 9/11 health bill passed in the senate before the lame duck session ends. new york's two senators have been working with republicans to come to an agreement. one of the biggest changes is the cost of the bill. it would drop from $6.2 billion to $4.3 billion. it was actually higher than that before it was already brought down. when it seemed the bill was stuck in limbo the white house was hoping that jon stewart could help them out. >> i hope he can convince two republicans to support taking care of those that took care of so many on that awful day in our history. it seems at the end of a long year around the holiday season a pretty awful thing to play politics about. but that's a decision that 42 republican senators are going to have to make. >> jon stewart has been a very vocal supporter of this legislation, it would provide free medical care to first responders who are suffering from health problems after working at ground zero. >> passed it. sorry. the house representatives passed it and it would pass in the senate if it came to an up or down vote. they have more than the 50 votes they need. but the senate republicans have filibustered it. >> joining me now to talk about this is comedian pete dominick, pete once worked for jon stewart, now he works for us. interesting, pete, you are one of those guys and we talk to people like you a lot, but you're one of those guys who understands issues, takes them seriously, and bringing irony and humor to them. clearly this is something jon stewart does, but this is even further than he formally does. he wasn't poking fun at something, he wasn't pointing out irony, he wasn't making fun of people, he was getting involved to try to get this bill passed. >> well, that's true. and the video clip of that we just saw, that's true. but he did earlier in the week, he did really poke fun at it and there's a lot of different ways to be funny. as you know, ali velshi, you yourself are a really, really funny guy. >> we're not even trying. >> look at us. look at these two domes together. we're not trying, it just happens. but the point is we can look funny like you and i do right now, like brothers almost, but you can say things in a funny way. but what we can do as comedians or as funny people, we point out absurdy. of course that's one way. but what jon does and a lot of us do when it comes to the world of politics, you point out hypocrisy. >> right. >> earlier in the week that's exactly what jon stewart does. it's very funny to see someone say one thing or represent one thing and do something completely different. represent something completely different just a short time or even a long time after. and we can do it ourselves, we can point out our own hypocrisy or that of others. but that can be inherently funny and that's what jon stewart has been doing on this issue. he pointed out certain senators voted for the wars and pointed out all of the waste and he put headlines any of number of which, and then he said this is paid for, however. this is paid for. this isn't waste and it's for a good cause and that was inherently funny because it was hypocrisy and absurdity at the same time, sir. >> what does it say about jon stewart's influence? is it just because he's pointing out things and we're all watching it saying, wow, that's kind of interesting? or is it the last year we've seen him get involved in things which indicate that he and others like him might be moving into a new realm of influence usually reserved for opinion radio people, maybe some opinion tv people. >> well, there's always that conversation to be had. but if you think about the impact that lenny bruce had and i think to a larger extent that george carlin had, we all know george ka carlin's work, his hb specials. he toured the country for over 30 years as a comedian but i don't think he had the audience jon stewart had within a week. he had millions of people watching him every night. carlin made americans think through comedy all the time. and so does now lewis black and so many other comedians. i try to comi perform. but jon stewart does it every night, stephen colbert, it's just a much larger stage. when you have that big stage, a lot of people get thinking, and now you have the blogs and internet. everybody picks up on that. what jon did last week will get these hero that's we new yorkers really understand, the money that they deserve. >> all right. i love it. chock one up for comedy. pete, great to see you as always. if i don't see you before the end of the year, i hope i do, but if i don't, best of the new year to you and your family, and we look forward to spending lots more time with you on tv. >> ali, your team and what you do every day, you know, you -- maybe you get the credit, you don't, you're hilarious, smart guy, and i spent a little time in atlanta, keep doing the great work. >> we have an excellent team here. thanks, pete. next year you're going to get tax cuts. what do the experts really think needs to happen in this country? we're happy for the tax cuts. does it solve our economic problems? we have the cnn exclusive answer from some of the top economic minds of how it can affect you in just a minute. stay with us. 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[ both ] ♪ oh what a relief it is! we take your money seriously here so we've got an exclusive today, all about your taxes. cnnmoney.com surveyed 23 economists on big issues today. tax policy, the federal reserve, economic recovery, and forecasts for the next few years. here's one big question that we asked them. what is the best long-term strategy for tax policy? here's what they said. overwhelmingly, ten of the 23 said the u.s. needs complete tax reform. five of them said we needed a value-added tax, kind of like a sales tax, a lot of what europe does. in fact, the u.s. is one of the only major economies that doesn't have a value-added tax. three economists said that the bush era tax cuts just extended for everyone need to expire for the wealthiest americans. one said that the cuts should be permanent for everyone. one said all those cuts should expire for everyone. and three others said they had other ideas. does this sound like the beginning of a joke? you know, you ask 23 economists for their opinions and you get 47 responses? listen, this is hard to make sense of. it's hard for me and i'm the network's chief business correspondent which is why i often count on my friends over at cnn money who do this all the time and specifically to senior writer jean sahadi from new york. jean, it is kind of amazing to me that people who do this for a living and who are smart about the economy really do have such divergent opinions about what should be done. and to each of them, they're smart. they think that's the solution. but some say eliminate those tax cuts for everybody. some say give them to everybody. some say rewrite the whole thing. what do you come away from this with? >> well, i was talking to chris issador, i said, what's the one thing you think is best? what's the combination of policies? my guess is you'd see slightly different results. the truth is, tax reform and a v.e.t., or v.e.t. and lowering income tax rates, what's going to have to happen if the goal is to increase economic efficiency with the tax code and raise revenue to reduce the revenue, you'll need a combination of things. but the question to them was what's the one best strategy. so this is their top frefrprefes but they do have second and third choices and some said tax reform and a v.e.t. >> it's not like they said just do this. >> right. >> ultimately when you ask them this question about tax policy, for a lot of people they don't think that economic recovery hinges on tax policy. why did you choose this particular question? why is it an important question? >> this is -- was a long-term question. so beyond economic recovery. this same group of economists also had said in earlier survey they didn't think we should raise taxes at all. so they were not in favor of letting any of the bush tax cuts expire in the near term. this was a long-term question. because what tax experts and budget experts say once the economy recovers we really do have to think in broader terms both to reduce the deficit and to basically -- everyone tahate the tax coat. it you're going to get bipartisan support for changeding the tax code. you're not going to get bipartisan agreement on just lou to do it. >> the issue here is the government needs to try and raise more money over time from people and businesses in order to pay the deficit down and pay the -- reduce the deficits and pave the debt down. it becomes less obvious as to who to collect that money from. we start making amendments because we want certain businesses to flourish and encourage people to get into certain industries and this is how a simple tax code becomes a complicated tax code. >> well, except the idea that behind simplifying the code is you get to lower income tax rates bah you reduce -- there are more than 200 ktax breaks i the code. if you reduce the number of braen breaks you don't have to eliminate them entirely. it becomes more efficient. so you and i stop making decisions based on the tax consequence and make them based on what's best for us economically and presumably for the broader economy. so it's a more efficient way to raise revenue. you can choose to do it by raising the same amount of revenue as the current system or more and the economists we surveyed differ on which we should be. >> that's an interesting point. if i'm a business owner and have $100,000 to invest, i may decide it's about machinery or about hiring people or it's about buying a new place, depending on what the tax code tells me, as opposed to what the best thing is for the community and for the country. jeanne, always spectacular the way you explain things, and i invite you all to go to cnnmoney.com for more on this stuff. be sure to turn into "your bottom line" at 9:30 eastern, christine romans hosts that and "your $$$$$" airs saturday at 1:00 and sundays at 3:00. your weekends are chock full of ways to make you smarter about money. it's 25 minutes after the hour. updating breaking news from capitol hill, cnn has learned that a deal has just been reached to get a 9/11 health bill passed in the senate before this lame duck session ends. it would provide free health care to ground zero workers. one of the biggest changes, the cost. $6.2 billion to $4.3 billion. the senate is moving close tore a vote on the s.t.a.r.t. nuclear treaty. there seems to be enough support for that treaty that cuts the arsenals of the united states and russia, also allows for better verification and monitoring. president obama sign the deal with moscow in april. gas prices are likely to hit an average of $3 a gallon by the time you drive to grandma's for dinner. right now aaa has the national average at $2.997. oil has just topped $90 a barrel. and obviously the price of oil affects the price of gas. for more on the impact of the rising gas prices and a look at who's paying the most, check out our story on cnnmoney.com. the president signed the repeal of don't ask, don't tell today. what is the reaction at one of the military's most hallowed sights? we'll check in with our ed henry live to learn what they're saying at pearl harbor when we come back. if you live for performance, upgrade to castrol edge advanced synthetic oil. with eight times better wear protection than mobil 1. castrol edge. it's more than just oil. it is time now for our daily stakeout with my friend ed henry. this week he's been joining us live from hawaii where the president is expected to begin his vacation now that he's signed the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. but ed has not been sitting around on a beach like so many of you have been tweeting. he went to pearl harbor to talk to gay and straight veterans about don't ask, don't tell, the repeal of it signed today. here's what he heard. >> reporter: jeff and dale served in the u.s. military long before don't ask, don't tell. back then, gay people were simply banned from serving. and jeff, who was in the air force and not open about his sexuality, says it was like being hunted. >> when i was in the military in the '60s, that hammer over you for being openly gay, if they found you out, they'll kick you right out. >> reporter: dale, who is in the army, simply gave up and did not re-enlist. >> the reason i got out in hawaii is i had to make a decision whether to live a double life, as so many do, in the military, or be honest about it and just get out. >> reporter: most of the straight veterans we spoke to at pearl harbor were sympathetic to the plight of their gay comrades. lee hall, veteran of the korean war, said there were some in his unit who did not like serving with gays but he said it never affected operations. and you think that will be justice served for people who have been kind of having to keep their sexuality secret? >> i think so. i think so. you know, those people are soldiers, sailors, marines or whatever first, you know. they do what they're told just like the rest of us did. >> reporter: a long time coming for jeff and dale. >> i thought it would come sooner. >> yeah. >> but it's here now, so -- >> we're happy. >> it's very pleasing to live long enough to see it. >> all right. and ed joins us now. interesting story, ed, and the repeal is signed, it is done, it's -- except the president did caution it is not going to be implemented just yet. it's going to take some time to implement it. so it's interesting to hear one of the guys you talk to say they'll do what they're told to do. it does sound like it won't be too much to get it sorted out. >> reporter: yeah, well, and i think you're right. the big question moving forward, how quickly will this be implemented. the bottom line is the president made clear today while you've had the marine commandant raising questions about this, he's now spoken to each of the service chiefs on the phone the last couple days saying you're going to implement this, right? and he got that and issued that clear order essentially as commander in chief. so there's going to be a little bit of a time period where the defense secretary wants to review this, admiral mullen, make sure it's implemented properly. this is what the military leadership wanted to, instead of a court decision where it would be much more of a mess potentially. i think the bottom line is from talking to veterans, they say there are gay veterans buried at military cemeteries all over the world, probably buried in the wreckage of the uss arizona at pearl harbor who are getting due. >> what have you got next hour for us, ed? >> reporter: we've got details on when the president is going to arrive, we broke details on that last night but we're getting new information we'll talk about next hour about when the president is going to get here, and a little bit of scoop on bo the dog. got a good little scoop on bo. >> ed henry, the stakeout, our senior correspondent at the beach in hawaii. elizabeth cohen will tell us why ignoring our instincts could be a deadly mistake, up next. >> reporter: it's been called the walter reed for dogs. a high-tech hospital in san antonio where the four-legged troops that serve our country get treated. >> medicine has changed over the years. we want to do what's best for the dog and also if possible return the dog to work. >> reporter: the $15 million facility is top veterinarian specials on staff and state of the art tools and rehab equipment. >> my role is to provide rehab therapy to all our military working dogs. each one is individualized. it's not a cookie cutter where everybody gets the same treatment. >> reporter: some dogs are treated in war zones but those needing more therapy come here. also those shows signs of ptsd, just like people. >> they're great dogs but they have a hard time conveying what's going on inside their heads. so we really have to rely on their behavior. >> reporter: most dogs are rehabilitated and return to their posts. dogs can have multiple deployments. the ones that don't go back to work get adopted. >> our four-legged soldiers mean the world to us here and they deserve everything we can give themment they're the unsung heroes. they really inspire me every day. >> reporter: gary tuchman, cnn. one word turns innovative design into revolutionary performance. one word makes the difference between defining the mission and accomplishing the mission. one word makes the difference in defending our nation and the cause of freedom. how... is the word that makes all the difference. i'm off to the post office... ok. uh, a little help... oh! you know shipping is a lot easier with priority mail flat rate boxes. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus, you can print and pay for postage online. and i can pick them up for free with package pickup. perfect! cause i'm gonna need a lot of those. wow! i knew i should have brought my sleigh. priority mail flat rate shipping starts at $4.90 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. 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[ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses at achievewhatsahead.com. singcheck the news onlinek the [ mweather, check the time the hartford helps businesses check the wife, check the kids check your email messages eck the money in the bank check the gas in the tank check the flava from your shirt make sure your pits don't stank check the new hairdo, check the mic one two 'cause i'm about to drop some knowledge right on top of you you check a lot of things already why not add one more that can help your situation for sure check your credit score free-credit-score-dot-com free-credit-score you won't regret it at all! check the legal y'all. anncr: offer applies with enrollment in triple advantage. happening now, breaking news from capitol hill, cnn has learned a deal has just been reached to get a 9/11 health bill passed in the senate before this lame duck session ends. it would provide free health care to ground zero workers. also on capitol hill, senators could vote on s.t.a.r.t., the new nuclear arms reduction treaty with russia. the treaty is expected to pass. its president obama's top foreign policy priority for congress. six counties in california are under a state of emergency because of the torrential rains. some areas could see an additional eight inches of rain today. mudslides have been reported in orange county, california. here's a story that can save your life. studies have shown one out of ten diagnoses your doctor makes could turn out to be wrong. so it's important to trust your gut. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen explains. >> reporter: one spring evening, don mccracken was playing ball with his kids in the front yard. he meant to hit a fly ball to his son matthew but instead it socked his 7-year-old daughter, morgan, on the head. she knelt to the ground in pain. morgan had quite a bump on her head. her parents iced it down and she seemed fine. two nights later, something changed. >> she started crying. >> reporter: tell me what you heard. >> she said, my head, it's hurting. she was holding it, saying my head's hurting. my head's hurting. >> reporter: they rushed morgan to the emergency room. >> reporter: when the doctor showed up, what did he say? >> it's late, she's tired, probably a touch of the flu. >> reporter: they told her to take morgan home and put her to bed. but their instincts told them this was no flu virus. they pushed the doctor for a ct scan of morgan's brain. what did you think the results would be? >> in my heart i knew there was a problem. >> he came back and said, i'm surprised. there's something there. >> there was a leakage of blood into her skull. >> reporter: medics rushed her to nearby rainbow and baby byes children's hospital in ohio. >> this is a big blood clot called an epidural hematoma. that's what we had to remove to take out the blood clot and stop the bleeding. >> reporter: today, morgan's just fine. do you feel like a lucky girl? >> yeah. >> reporter: lucky, because her parents followed their instincts. in the emergency room the doctors said she had a virus and she just needed to get some rest. if you had listened to that advice and brought her home to go to bed and rest, what would have happened? >> she probably wouldn't have woke up the next morning. and we would have lost her. >> what a good ending to what could have been a tragic story. how do you prevent this? what do do you? you go to a doctor, you and i have talked about this so many times. what are you going to say if you don't agree with them? >> first of all it's okay not to agree with them. that's the first thing that's important to remember. so let's talk about how to avoid being misdiagnosed. if you feel like what your doctor is saying doesn't make sense to you, say what else could this illness be? he told you it's x, chances are there's a whole bunch of other things it could be as well. if you feel you're not at the right spot, ask for more tests, and thirdly, you cannot assume that no news is good news. people think they do tests, the doctor never gets back to them, and they think oh, everything's fine. and that's not really the case. often things are not just fine. >> and watch "house." >> and watch "house" and read "the empowered patient" and go to cnn.com/empoweredpatient. we have linked and specific information. this can be hard to do. you need help. >> diagnosis is not, you display these systems, it's this. you have to give them the information and let those doubts bubble to the surface. >> medicine is an art, not an exact science. >> when i said "house" this whole idea that they get it wrong more than they get it right but you've got to be in on that. >> you've got to help them get it right. >> great to see you as always, elizabeth, and you should check out "the empowered patient" it does help you make some of these decisions and make smart decisions. trying to get home for christmas, it's not going to be easy for thousands of passengers who are stuck at europe's largest airport. we'll have a live report from there straight ahead. ♪ you're the one ♪ who's born to care this life was protected... ♪ seems you've always been right there ♪ this life was saved... ♪ soothing sadness ♪ healing pain and this life was made easier... ♪ making smiles appear again because of this life. nursing. at johnson & johnson, we salute all those who choose the life... that makes a difference. ♪ you're a nurse ♪ you make a difference ♪ [ male announcer ] open up a cadillac during our season's best sales event. and receive the gift of asphalt. experience the cadillac of crossovers, the striking srx. it's the one gift you can open up all year long. see your cadillac dealer for this attractive offer. backed by the peace of mind that only comes from cadillac premium care maintenance. the season's best sales event. from cadillac. time now to go globe trekking. first stop today, the korean peninsula. tensions are high, the south korean army says more than 800 military personnel will participate in the long-planned drills taking place 15 miles from the reclusive communist neighbor north korea. the drills come with seoul on high alert following pyongyang's shelling a south korean island last month, killing four people, two soldiers, two civilians. wolf blitzer is back from his trip with bill richardson. he will join us live next hour to give us insight into that trip and what he learned. in europe, officials are trying to get passengers moving again after thousands were stranded by heavy snow. atika shubert joins us from london's heathrow airport. ati atika? >> reporter: both runways are operational, 70% of flights were able to go ahead, but heathrow hopes to get back to normal scheduling by tomorrow morning. we did have a chance to speak with the ceo of the british airport authority. he said he takes full responsibility for what happened at heathrow because of the extreme weather and he will not take his annual bonus as a result. he says instead he's going to concentrate 100% on getting people home as soon as possible, hopefully before christmas, ali. >> atika, we'll of course keep on top of that and travel situations all across the world as people try and get home for the holidays. ati atika shubert in london. spray-on stem cells. you heard me right. i'll show you how it works. that's so dumb. [ laughter ] nice. [ male announcer ] don't be left behind. get it first with at&t. the nation's fastest mobile broadband network. period. rethink possible. in today's big i, spray on stem cells for heart surgery and burn patients. this is one of those areas where i'm not even going to try to explain this, that's why i brought in an expert. dr. amick patel in salt lake city, utah. spray on stem cells, are we talking about the future or something already here? >> well, ali, it's actually here today. where we really take only three tablespoons of your own blood, separate out the important cells, add some calcium, thrombin and it's a biological band-aid. it's like a jell-o. >> is it sprayed on our applied -- how do you put it on? >> ali, it really is. you just spray it on. we have a little syringe full of your own cells and the other syringe has the calcium and thrombin, you just spray it on and within 30 seconds it looks like jell-o. what the jell-o has is all the right growth factors and that's basically what really acceler e accelerated the wound healing. >> what are the various applications that can you use this for? >> so we started out using it in open heart surgery to help the breastbone heal and actually decrease the pain, decrease the rate of infection. but some of the most interesting applications after heart surgery is in the burn wound patients where they usually need skin grafts, which sometimes don't heal because the blood supply is really bad, and what we've been able to do is actually apply the biological band-aid and it really accelerates the rate of healing, makes the grafts heal and decreases the rate of infection. >> that's incredible. how is this process? do you have to be at a facility that is able to do this, take three tablespoons of your own blood, mix it up into this gelatin that can be sprayed on to you? >> that's a great question, because about three to five years ago that's what it used to be. we needed a big facility, a lot of specialized techs. now we work with a lot of local companies here and it's a 14-minute process done at the bedside. so this can be done as an out patient wound therapy if we're not using it for heart surgery. but diabetic ulcers, chronic wounds, even sports medicine where this is an outpatient procedure, very low risk to the patient and it's really using the patient's own body to heal itself. >> so give me an example. if we're talking about a burn, like we showed the graphic animation of where we applied it, it's being applied to a hand, if i had that sort of a burn, a bad burn like that, what would the current, prior to this application, what would the treatment for that be, and how does this change it? >> they'd do surgical debrisment or remove all the scar tissue and apply a skin graft. and that skin graft may or may not actually stick to the wound and help it heal. by adding this spray, you actually accelerate that -- how quickly the graft can take. this is still a first generation therapy. the next generation of this is instead of needing the skin graft, you actually spray on the biological band-aid that already has cells in it, so it's spray-on skin. that's about still three years away. >> okay. this is exactly why we do this big i every day, take concepts that people like you are involved in, that people like me know nothing about and give us lots of hope. lots of reason to think that there are great things happening in the world. dr. patel, thanks so much for coming in and talking to us about this. we look forward to following its progress with great interest. >> thanks again, ali. >> for more information on this, check out my blog, cnn.com/ali. let me update you on the breaking news on capitol hill. cnn has learned a deal has been reached in the senate to pass a 9/11 health care bill. the legislation would provide free medical care to first responders who are suffering health problems after working at ground zero. a wrote a how-to guide for pedo files expected in the courtroom this afternoon charged with disbulldog of obscene material. when asked if he is a pedophile grieves said, quote, i only have sex with grownups. random security sweep at atlanta led to seven men in a cargo truck. all seven were undocumented immigrants but kn immigrants. more on the breaking news in a moment. ♪ [ male announcer ] open up a cadillac during our season's best sales event. and receive the gift of asphalt. experience the cadillac of crossovers, the striking srx. it's the one gift you can open up all year long. see your cadillac dealer for this attractive offer. backed by the peace of mind that only comes from cadillac premium care maintenance. the season's best sales event. from cadillac. i'm hugh jidette. as president, i promise your taxes will help build roads, bridges and schools. oh not here, overseas. i'll keep using your taxes to pay over one hundred billion dollars a year in interest to foreign lenders, helping their economy. hurting ours. i'm hugh jidette, let's keep borrowing. oweno, let's not. with a plan we can stop sending billions to foreign lenders, grow our economy and meet our needs. visit oweno.com to stop hugh jidette. that is a live picture of the u.s. capitol. wouldn't know if it's live other than the weather. there's a lot going on in there. you would think with a couple of days to go until christmas it would be quieter. breaking news from capitol hill with word an agreement has been reached on a multibillion dollar plan to help those 9/11 fir responders. cnn senior congressional correspondent dana bash is on top of this developing story and joins me live from the capitol. dana, there has been legislation whipping around that place for the last few days, much meeting success. this has been the sticking point, this legislation that's been on the docket for months and months and months and may be coming to an end. >> reporter: that's right. this has been the thing that's been between senators and the exits, frankly, for them to go home for christmas but obviously it's a critically, critically important issue especially for the senators from new york who negotiated that, this being a 9/11 compensation form for the rescue workers. this is a deal that was cut between the new york senators and two republicans in particular, tom coburn and mike enzi. tom coburn had been the biggest opponent for several years but first and foremost because of the cost. they agreed to bring the cost down. since we first reported this from sources we now have an on the record statement from the republican senator from oklahoma, tom coburn who says that he's claiming success. he says this is a good package. we're talking $4.2 billion. it is a compensation fund that will last for five years so people will be able to go into it for no more than five years to make their claims who have issues. the other thing republicans say they got concessions on is something called double dipping. this compensation fund as you know, ali, initially for 9/11 victims was closed a few years ago and will reopen. there are now more restrictions to make sure people that get money didn't already get it in the past. another thing important to republicans, attorneys' fees. they tightened in this legislation the restrictions to make sure attorneys representing the victims or first responders don't get more than 10% of what the first responders are going to get. those are sort of the outlines of this. we do expect it to pass at some point later today but before that we're actually watching the senate floor because we expect the second thing that the republicans and democrats have been working on to pass and that is approval of the president's top priority. that is, the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. that could happen within the next few minutes, frankly. we're just waiting for final word on when that is going to happen. very, very, very busy day. it is always busy before they're trying to get out of here because it is a frenzy as they realize that christmas is coming. >> i'm just puzzled. all of these bills we're talking about today have been there for months. what is it? does christmas come as a surprise to people on capitol hill? i'm a little puzzled. >> reporter: it seems to do that every year. it is odd. >> you know what it's like. in the business side of things it's when a cold blast comes through in october and everybody goes and buys gloves and sweaters because they forgot winter comes every year. >> reporter: it's not unlike that. with this, the s.t.a.r.t. treaty had been something that democrats -- that the white house wanted to bring to the floor a very long time and been in negotiations with the republicans. they were holding off. that was the answer there. the 9/11 compensation fund was frankly part of rub. republicans led by tom coburn were arguing wait a minute, this is from their perspective coming out of nowhere because they didn't feel there were enough hearings on the senate side. there were lots, i think 20 on the house side but more on the senate side to go through this legislation. the bottom line is this, democrats who run this senate in particular where the action is right now, they know it's going to be a lot harder to do these things when they have fewer seats in the senate and we're talking just two weeks from now when the new congress takes over in january. that is why there is this frenzy to push hard and say we're not going to leave here until we get this done. that kind of got somebody like tom coburn to come to the table and coburn as you know has now gotten a lot of pressure from another news organization -- that is more conservative. we know the one i'm talking about -- and others. to say, look, please do this. he's not somebody who usually bends to pressure but in this case he did with a little help with the compromise. >> nobody knows this stuff or the inner workings better than you. your next update from the best political team on television is just an hour away. taking a quick break. i'm lisa ryan stationed at bagram airfield in afghanistan. happy holidays to all my family in oklahoma. happy holidays! i'd get this tightness in my chest. so i went back to my doctor again. we chose symbicort to help control my asthma symptoms all day and night. [ man ] symbicort improves my lung function, starting within 15 minutes. symbicort will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. it is a combination of two medicines and should not be taken more often than prescribed. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems, and children and adolescents may have an increased risk of being hospitalized for asthma problems. symbicort is not for people whose asthma is well controlled with a long-term asthma control medicine like inhaled corticosteroids. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop symbicort without loss of control, and prescribe a long-term asthma control medicine. be sure to see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. symbicort is a good choice to help control my asthma all day and night. [ inhales ] [ exhales ] ask your doctor if symbicort is a good choice for you. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, has the biggest hotel deals we're offering the big deal guarantee. book a hotel with name your own price and if you can find a lower published price anywhere else we'll match it and pay you $25. book now and save up to 60% on hotels. only at priceline. we're taking a look at capitol hill. lots going on there. we just heard from dana bash breaking news. cnn has learned a deal has been reached in the senate to pass the controversial 9/11 health care bill. not controversial in that everybody agrees that they'd like these 9/11 workers to get the health coverage that this bill will provide for them. the controversy is in how to pay for it. the bill had been whittled down to just above $6 billion and is now whistled down further but a deal has been struck to pass it as early as today. another bill that's already passed and now going into law, "don't ask, don't tell" now part of u.s. history. the law that prevented gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military for years. it led thousands of men and women to leave the military. earlier today president obama fulfilled a campaign promise to repeal the ban. mr. obama offered praise for all of those who worked to bring us this day. the defense secretary, the joint chiefs, members of both parties and gays and less bans serving in the military. he also emphasized that the repeal does not immediately put a stop to "don't ask, don't tell." mr. obama must certify that the changes to the law do not derail the military's ability to fight. another legislative victory for the president is expected to happen any time now. the senate's approval of the new star startd treaty were red. the senate voted 67-28 to end debate on the treaty made possible by 11 republican senators joining the democrats in supporting the treaty. critics led by republican senator jon kyl senile here argue that the treaty's inspections are inadequate and russia would be in a stronger position to try to prevent deployment of a u.s. missile defense system in europe. here are the nuts and bottles of the treaty. both sides agree to resume inspections of nuclear arsenals and reduce warheads to 1550 and launchers to 700. now u.s. has 1950 warheads, 798 launchers. russia 2540 warheads but only 574 launchers. poor southern california been pounded by torrential rain all week and it's still falling. one public works official is warning of a very heavy severe rain storm. one hard-hit area is laguna beach. our casey wian is there and we'll check in shortly. we expect president obama's top intelligence officer to be on top of all matters concerning terrorism especially breaking developments but the director of national intelligence seemed bewildered when asked on monday about the arrest of 12 men in britain allegedly planning attacks. it came in an interview with diane sawyer taped hours after the news broke and it's today's sound effect. >> london, how serious is it? any implication that it was coming here? any of the things that they have seen were coming here? dr. clapper? >> the arrest of the 12 individuals by the british this morning. >> oh. >> this is something the british informed us about early in the morning. >> later in the interview i came back to the director. did he really not know? i was a little surprised you didn't know about london, director clapper. >> i'm sorry. i didn't. >> before the interview aired last night, clapper's office issued this statement. quote, the question about the specific news developments was ambiguous. the din's knowledge of the threat streams in europe is profound and multi-dimensional and any suggestion otherwise is inaccurate. a short while ago the deputy national security adviser conceded that clapper was in fact in the dark about the arrests in britain. here's how john brennan put it. >> he was working on developments in the korean peninsula in terms of political developments. he was focused on trying to provide support to the congress as far as the s.t.a.r.t. treaty deliberations were concerned. he was engaged in a variety of classified matters. should he have been briefed by his staff on those arrests? yes. back to california and hard-hit laguna beach. cnn's casey wian is there to tell us more about what that situation is. we've been reporting on this for days. is it getting worse? is it getting better? what's happening? >> reporter: well, right now it's a little bit calm but overnight it certainly got worse and southern california is bracing for the possibility that it could get worse later today. let me show you some of the power that this storm has demonstrated. if you look over my shoulder here, you can see this boardwalk and you can see that island of sand on top of a cement platform. that's what the beach level was last night before this latest wave of the storm hit. all of that sand has now completely washed away and it is now a danger zone, if you will. authorities are not allowing the public to go along this boardwalk anymore. it's altered the coastline of laguna beach. let me walk down here and show you what authorities are trying to do. there's a berm over there that they're trying to construct and here's why. the water came -- normally in these situations, the water comes from the ocean. this time the water came from the hills and the canyons down that road. that was all under water last night. three to four feet of water was there because of this storm. businesses were flooded. there were evacuations of residents. and all of the businesses in this area have been closed so far today. now, what you're seeing here is some of the tractors that are trying to build this berm up because obviously last night we had the situation with the flood rushing down from the hills. now what the concern is, if there's high tide and a significant storm surge out in the ocean, the water could come back in through the ocean and create damage that way. so a very difficult situation and it's going to be several days before laguna beach is back to normal again, ali. >> all right, casey. thanks very much for staying on top of that. we'll keep checking in with you and the team about the situation in california. a truly sad day in chicago. the fire department is mourning two colleagues killed in an early morning fire. it broke out in an abandoned building often the south side. it had mostly been extinguished when crews went in to put out hot spots and look for squatters who sometimes stayed there. out of nowhere, a wall collapsed pulling down part of the roof and trapping several firefighters. the department put out a mayday call drawing 100 crew for search and rescue. today happens to be the 100th anniversary of a blaze that killed 21 city firemen. a few days left in this year. we'll take a look at the year that was right after this. but first they've been chasing history for three seasons and they caught it. the university of connecticut's women's basketball team has done something unprecedented in college hoops. the huskies won their 89th straight game last night. the latest victim florida state. this is a big deal for sports. not just women's sports. sports period. uconn dethroned the ucla bruins men's team that held the win record since 1974 had. this is less about jenldzer than guts. >> it's kind of cool that this game happened in the middle of -- not even in the middle of our season. you get to the final four and ends of the year and you're like you have this big emptiness because your season is over but now we have this high and we can still play. i love it. i'm ready to play the next game. >> she went to school just up the road from here and led that team to a 125-3 record. i can't tell the story and not smile about it. basically, this woman has only lost five games since middle school. watch. [dramatic soundtrack plays] wasn't me. you think i could do something... that awesome? adding a little fun to auto insurance. now, that's progressive. see "tron: legacy" in theaters december 17th. this film is rated pg. the year that's almost overloaded with events, some small and big, good and bad. we all have a list. cnn's tom foreman joins us from washington with his. >> hey, ali, how are you doing today? >> there's been a lot. i'm eager to hear what you put together because this has been one busy, busy year. >> reporter: it's an unbelievable year. every year i'm tasked with putting together all the best and all the worst of 2010 and looking at some of the best stories and some of the worst stories. one of the worst by far was haiti. one of the best by far was the chilean miners. do we have the clip? are we going to run the clip of the stuff we did from this year? >> let's do it. >> reporter: let's take a look. the world of big news gave us the best real reality show of the year, the nearly 2 1/2 month sag yaf the trapped chilean miners. >> i love that story. i mean, who knew that the chilean miners were so hot? >> america, we need to learn from these -- these guys are motivated. >> the chilean miner story was hands down the best story of the year. >> i mean, somebody compared it to the moon launch and it really was kind of like that. >> reporter: their journey to and from the underworld was riveting, their story inspiring, their return to the land of the living full of happy endings even hollywood can't topped. >> i was utterly shocked everything worked out and, by the way, they had a live feed via fiberoptic cable down in the mine? what the hell was that? >> was that unbelievable. >> oh, my gosh, i was shocked. chile, go chile. >> then they come out alive and only to be greeted by wives and mistresses. >> some of them probably wanted to go back in the ground once their wive got ahold of them. i'm so happy you're alive but now i have to meet your gumar right here? what the heck? >> reporter: worst winter weather. the blizzards that had folks in the washington, d.c. area running for cover faster than a sex scandal. 40 inch of snow, no flights, no open roads, no power for hundreds of thousands. good times. >> the snowstorm was insane. >> the newspapers had a really fun time trying to name the blizzard. snowpocalypse. >> snowmageddon. >> snow-calepsy. >> i never lived in a place that had that much snow. i'm a southern girl. >> really? i have absolutely no memory of any snow this year whatsoever. >> reporter: no wonder. he was in haiti for the worst big story of the year. the earthquake that left nearly 250 million dead, a million homeless and countless sorrows. >> every reporter i know who was down there and cameraman and producer who spent time in iraq and afghanistan, i think we all agree haiti was the worst thing any of us have ever seen. >> haiti, earthquakes, cholera, mud slides. it made the book of revelations look like "good night moon." >> haiti had so many challenges before the earthquake hit. >> reporter: worst domestic story, give it to the gulf. the explosion that took 11 live and produced the oil spill that just kept on spilling. >> the gulf oil spill was quite possibly one of the most depressing events certainly of my lifetime. watching this oil on a live feed just gush and gush and gush. >> and nothing was working and it was gushing and gushing and gushing. it was shocking that we couldn't plug a hole. >> the gulf oil spill was one of those reminders that decisions have consequences. >> i don't think people who weren't there, not on the ground, really realized how it was like the keystone cops bumbling around down there on the coastline. >> well, clearly we should have called chile in. we just didn't realize it. >> that, ali, is just a little sample of what we did. those are the big news stories. we have sections on politics, pop culture, on sports, on things on the internet. as you can see a great panel there. you joined us a couple of years ago, ali. that was good fun. >> i know why they invite you to do this every year, because you're such a fantastic storyteller and this is what you do. it is a curiosity. i always wonld they are a business where we try and say we're all about looking forward, we as a human race are fascinated by looking back. and in this case, in the case of 2010 in particular, there are many lesson to be learned from looking back. some good ones. how did chile do what it did right? how did we do that oil spill stuff wrong? it is actually valuable to us and it will inform our future. >> you're totally right about this, ali. this is an important year. people should remember this year long into the future because many of the things you report on, the economic things we dealt with this year, really a tough year full of important lessons but also a great time. the reason you look back is that old thing about studying history so you don't repeat it again. but i'll tell you this. this show repeats several times and i hope people will watch at 5:00 and at 8:00 on christmas eve. that's eastern time. and then 8:00 and 10:00 on new year's eve. that's also eastern time. so when you're doing your last-minute christmas wrapping you can do some and early new year's eve drinking you can watch some. it's really a great fun show and we'll have more previews of it tonight on "anderson cooper 360" and tomorrow night. >> if it's true -- whether he we understand history we're less prone to repeat the bad parts of it, you must live a perfect life because you look at stuff that happens in the world. always a pleasure to see you and look forward to see you much more. >> you're absolutely the best bald money reporter i've ever met. >> you are such a gem. we'll be watching the specials. the first family going on vacation, the whole family. it was not easy to get everyone cleared for the trip to hawaii by the way. our friend ed henry will be along from honolulu to fill us in on the travel issue. there he is standing by. i am gunnery sergeant anthony gonzalez with 373 in camp leatherneck, afghanistan. hello to my family in los lum yas and albuquerque, new mexico. c during our season's best sales event and receive the gift of asphalt. experience the exhilarating cadillac cts with a direct injection v6. it's the one gift you can open up all year long. see your cadillac dealer for this attractive offer. backed by the peace of mind that only comes from cadillac premium care maintenance. the season's best sales event. from cadillac. but i knew that i was going to need a day job. we actually have a lot of scientists that play music. the creativity, the innovation, there's definitely a tie there. one thing our scientists are working on is carbon capture and storage, which could prevent co2 from entering the atmosphere. we've just built a new plant to demonstrate how we can safely freeze out the co2 from natural gas. it looks like snow. it's one way that we're helping provide energy with fewer emissions. ♪ i'm just never getting tired of this. my wife often asks me if i'm going to change that ring tone, "hawaii 5-0" when my phone rings. i never tire of ed henry being in hawaii for christmas although it might get old for you. last year on christmas there was big news about the underwear bomber in detroit. we were killing time on christmas day and this happened. it ended up being very busy. despite how you look you are ready on a moment's notice for news to break. >> reporter: i'm glad you're anchoring and not kathy griffin because i'm not sure this clash but every new year's eve she asks who dresses me and last year said i should sit down with wolf and get style tips. but when in honolulu just go with it. >> i hear it. here's the thing. washington is crazy busy. we've talked to dana bash and there's bills being signed and bills passed and everything cut. everything is going over there. you're there because in theory the president is supposed to be there. now it appears the president signed the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." he's at some point i imagine heading over toward you but there's a little problem with the president's dog. >> reporter: it's interesting. last year bo, the dog was new not family and not along for the road. it turn out when you land in hawaii they make you fill out forms whether or not you're bringing in fruits or plants, vegetables. they're worried about different diseases coming from the mainland. when you bring in pets it's a rigorous process and takes literally months, three or four months to go through this. my colleague actually put something on our blog about this. this year bo decided -- the family decided to put him through the shots to make sure he doesn't have rabies. he passed all the teftsz so bo arrived before the president. he came in friday with the first lady and their daughters. we've gotten reports he's been out in the early morning frolicking in the water in kialua where they are in honolulu. you read all about that at cnn.com/1600 report. and we've got all the details and a whole little vacation log going there as well. >> have you been frolicking in the water at waikiki beachy the way? >> reporter: i haven't been frolicking much but seems like every day you try to get me harder to get in trouble. you say dana bash is working hard on the hill, getting all this news. you're on the beach. so and so is doing this and dan lothian is slaving away it white house. you're trying to get me in trouble. >> i'll let you do news. i understand there are safety precautions that have to be taken when the president goes to hawaii. i wouldn't thought about this dog thing. i would think if you're the president's dog you get through without a pat-down. but apparently flying patterns change. >> reporter: we reported this first on cnn.com last night and just got new information. the faa put in a no-fly zone around honolulu for several miles for later tonight. and that was when they were expecting the president to arrive. but now as you see and as dana has been reporting and others there's still some business up there on capitol hill. so bottom line is there's a new faa advisory we've just gotten that suggests they expect the president to come late wednesday, early thursday, because he's going to stay back there and as dan lothian has been reporting he's likely to have a news conference. not set in stone but you might see that in a couple of hours. the president has a good story to tell suddenly. a couple of months ago a lot of people were skeptical he would get much done in the lame duck session. he's gotten the tax cut and repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," s.t.a.r.t. treaty coming in, the omnibus to get the government funded a few more months. now this breakthrough 9/11 bill, something democrats are pushing for as well. this may be an early sign that 2011 might not be as bad with this new balance of power. >> it is clear as you underscore. people in washington are getting a lot done this week. but don't worry, ed, dan lothian and i will keep you posted on everything going on. we'll tweet everything going on in washington. >> reporter: i follow you on twitter but members of congress get a lot done once they smell that jet fuel and the planes are warming up to bring them home. they're not all coming to hawaii. only a couple from hawaii. once they get that they get a lot done. >> good to see you. i've got some tweets that say next time take your shoes off. we don't need to see flip floms on the beach. >> reporter: i saw that on twitter. i'll take them off. >> you see, you tweet, he does that. follow ed on twitter. follow me@ali velshi. that's senior white house correspondent ed henry working hard rolling up those sleeve. oh, wait, they're short sleeves. working hard in hawaii. 24 minutes after the hour. bring you up to speed with breaks news from capitol hill because they're all working there. cnn has learned a deal has been reached to get a 9/11 health bill passed in the senate before this session ends. it would provide free health care to ground zero workers. one of the biggest changes is the cost of the bill. it would drop. it had already dropped to $6.2 billion. now it will be just over the $4 billion mark. the senate also moving closer to a vote on the start nuclear treaty. there seems to be enough sport to approve the treaty that cuts the number of weapons in the arsenals of the u.s. and russia. it also allows for better verification and monitoring. president obama signed the deal with moscow back in april and we still haven't got it past the senate. here's a christmas present for you. gas prices likely to hit an average of $3 a gallon nationwide by the time you drive to your grandma's for dinner. some of you are saying i'm already paying that. this is a national average. right now aaa has the national average for a gallon of unleaded gas at $2.997. oil has topped $90 a barrel. for more on the impact of rising gas prices a good explanation because a lot always ask me why are prices going up and who is paying the most. check out our story at cnnmoney.com. there's a great story there about gas prices. heavy rain continues to pour onto california. there's a state of emergency in half a dozen counties. we'll tell you how bad it is and how much worse it could get when i come back. severe weather. a powerful storm in southern california has led to a state of emergency in half a dozen counties. evacuations. rain is forecast to fall at rates of two inches per hour. bonnie, we've been reporting on this for days. is this not going to end? >> look like we'll see relief tomorrow but the problem is runoff. canyon road into the downtown area of laguna beach. >> where casey wian is. >> right. usually this water drains into the ocean but unfortunately with all the rain that's falling we've seen flooding and we have pictures to show you what it's been looking at. a square mile of the downtown laguna beach is shut down. store owners are trying to do what they can but the water has really piled up and it's not going to be so easy to drain out because there's still mud slide and debris blocking the flow of water and that's going to prevent the water from getting back where it needs to be in the ocean and clearing out the streets. plus the steady flow of rainfall continues on the map. it's coming into southern california right now into the l.a. area and northward towards bakersfield. we're watching for this to persist the next day or so. also the energy kind of pushing to the east so las vegas getting wet right now. we're looking for the rainfall to measure another couple of inches. the snowfall totals 17 feet. >> feet! wow! i keep forgetting -- these are feet! that's unbelievable. >> i think this is the highest snowfall map we've ever shown. unfortunately the snow will also be a problem because the same storm system is working east. at least two to four feet as we go into parts of the rockies. that's where we'll see heavier snow. this storm is on the move and will affect areas in the south. we'll talk more about that later on. >> thanks, bonnie. keep on top of this. casey is in laguna beach. wolf blitzer back from a trip from north korea. with tensions running high between pyongyang, the capital of north korea and its neighbor to the south. he'll tell us his biggest concern when he join me live. hi really save you 15% or more car insurance? a bd in the hd worth 2 inhe bush? praiser: well you rarely see them in this good of shape. appraiser: for example the fingers are perfect. appraiser: the bird is in mint condition. appraiser: and i would say if this were to go to auction today, woman: really? appraiser: conrvativy it would be worth 2 in the bush. praiser: it's just biful, thank u so much for brinit i woman: unbelievable appraiser: conrvativy it would be worth 2 in the bush. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. happening now, breaking news from capitol hill. cnn has learned a deal has been reached to get a 9/11 health bill passed in the senate before this lame duck session ends. it would provide free health care to ground zero workers. we are just hearing now -- my producer just telling me that this deal has been approved. the vote has been passed. if i'm understanding that correctly, they have passed this bill in the senate? it has passed unanimously. we will get an update on this as soon we can. this is what dana bash was telling us. they were going to take a voice vote and it was passed unanimously. unanimous consent after bringing the bill to $6.2 billion and lowered to just over $4 billion when they got agreement to get this done. the senate passed the 9/11 health bill that will give health care for life to workers who was -- who were helping out at 9/11. the s.t.a.r.t. vote we understand is also about to start. this is the new nuclear arms reduction treaty with russia. the treaty is expected to pass. it passed a test vote last night, a procedural vote to end debate after a number of republican senators agreed that they would actually support this bill. it is president obama's top foreign policy priority for congress. we expect that vote to be concluded within the next 20 minutes and we will bring you an update on that as soon as we have it. in the meantime, while that is the top foreign policy for president obama, one of the biggest issues for the president right now as it relates to the rest of the world is the continuing threat of a belligerent north korea. we've been covering this for month. we've been covering it in the last several days as new mexico governor bill richardson made a trip to north korea. along with him was our very own wolf blitzer. you'll recall the tensions are high on the korean peninsula because last month there was an attack on an island very close to north korea but it is actually a south korean island. two military people were killed in that, two civilians. wolf accompanied bill richardson on this trip. he joins us now to give us a sense of what happened on that trip and what role, if any, that trip played in the fact that south korea went through those promised military exercises and north korea did not respond militarily. wolf, tell us what he know. >> reporter: it's always hard, as you know, to understand what's really going on inside north korea. it's such a mysterious country. it's closed and you don't fully appreciate the leadership, their decision-making process. what is clear the military in north korea had made a very bold statement in advance of the most recent south korean live fire exercises that if south korea goes ahead with it, the north korean military will respond in a catastrophic way and they wouldn't back down. the south koreans did their hour and a half exercise. the north koreans issued a statement saying it wasn't really worth responding to that exercise and all of a sudden everybody calmed down. there was a crisis atmosphere. i have to tell you i was in pyongyang and i was deeply worried if there was going to be a conflict, if there was going to be a war with the airport in pyongyang closed would i be able to get out of there at some point. it was a pretty nerve-racking few moments for all of us including governor richardson. >> we were all worried for you would you become prisoners or held for something? i had a professor han park with me here saying that the north koreans very pleased that you were there because it sort of meant that their discussions were being taken seriously. but you were definitely part of the news around you. that's always tough for a news person when you're part of the story. >> reporter: yeah. you want to be reporting on the story. you don't want to become the story. that's what all of us strive to do, just report the news. but we were on this roller coaster. we were deeply worried about what's going on. i have to tell you i've written about this now at cnn.com. i did a long reporter's noteb k notebook. i spent a lot of time on the streets of pyongyang and spent time with young kids and at the university at kim sung university but looking at their faces wondering what would happen if there were a war. let's not forget there are a million north korean troops just north of the dmz, almost as many as south korean troops. almost 30,000 american soldiers in between with lots and lots of artillery and even rockets and nuclear weapons. this is a continued -- continuedcontinued tinderbox. i was worried how many could die in that situation. you get caught up in that kind of a story, that kind of emotion as you know and it's deeply worrying. >> we're glad you were there because you were able to provide context to an important story. i need you to provide context to snor story. this is a picture of the senate voting on the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. this is a name that guys like you have remembered and forgotten and it's come back on here. give us context as to why this treaty is important, this ability for the u.s. and russia to have inspections of each other's nuclear stockpiles and reduce -- it still sounds silly to people that they're going to have 700 launchers and 1500 missiles each. >> reporter: there are still going to be tons and tons, plenty of nuclear bombs and nuclear missiles that the russians will have. the u.s. will have more than enough to obliterate the entire world but they will reduce the arsenal significantly. most importantly, they will allow the u.s. now to go back in and inspect. remember ronald reagan used to say trust but verify. right now, unless this treaty is ratified by the senate -- you need 67 votes to ratify it. they have the 67 votes. it will be ratified. the u.s. will be able to go back and start inspecting russia's nuclear arsenal, which is very, very significant. i honestly believe, ali, that the main reason if -- maybe not the main reason but one of the most important reasons -- maybe the main reason why the president accepted the tax cuts continuing for the richest americans as part of the bush tax cuts, that compromise, is because he wanted to get that over with as quickly as possible so that before the lame duck session disbanded they would be able to ratify the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. this is really important for the obama administration. it's important for the u.s. and russia relationship. and that's why he was willing to make those compromises as far as the taxes were concerned. this s.t.a.r.t. treaty is a big deal for the obama white house. i know the president when he heads off to hawaii and his vacation will be totally relieved that the senate ratified it and don't have to negotiate it in the new session that convenes in january. this is an important development for the u.s. and for russia. i must say, if you have take a look at the s.t.a.r.t. treaty, take a look at "don't ask, don't tell" now being repealed by the congress, the tax deal, this 9/11 compensation package for the first responders, they accomplished from the obama administration -- they accomplished a lot in these past few weeks. so the president could go out somewhat relieved that they did accomplish all of this. but let's not get overly carried away. coming in january there's going to be a significant republican majority in the house, a significantly reduced democratic majority in the senate. he's got a lot of work ahead of him over the next two years. and before you know it, there's going to be campaigning in iowa and new hampshire. >> for people mad at congress saying not enough was getting done, a lot is getting done in the last few weeks. wolf will be in later following all of these developments. the president may have remarks a little later and of course we'll continue to follow what you're looking at on the right side of the screen there. that's the senate vote on the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. should be over in minutes. the expectation is that it will be a successful vote and that the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty will actually pass. you can hear the roll call vote taking place. you do know that the senate vote that just passed on the 9/11 first responders compensation bill was not a roll call vote. that was a voice vote. it was unanimous. that was done by prior agreement. this will not be a unanimous vote. president obama, we are just learning, is going to be holding a press conference at 4:15 eastern time this afternoon. as wolf was saying, there have been a number of accomplishments. he signed the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" today. they passed the first responders compensation bill unanimously and now they're looking to pass the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. there was a test vote yesterday to see whether there would be enough support to pass it. that test vote did work. unless something happens that's very surprising and unexpected, this vote you're looking at right now, an historic bill, will pass. three very historic things happening today. a very, very productive day for the u.s. congress and this administration. we are going to stay on top of that story for you as this developed. i should be able to tell you in just a moment or so that this vote has passed. >> ms. murkowski. >> we'll keep an eye on that for you. the annual enrollment period ends december 31st. now is the time to find the plan that best meets your needs. here's a plan that could give you the benefits and stability you're looking for, an aarp medicarecomplete plan from securehorizons. what makes it complete? this plan combines medicare parts a and b, which is your hospital and doctor coverage, with part d prescription drug coverage, and more... all in one simple plan starting at a zero dollar monthly premium beyond what you pay for medicare part b. this plan offers you benefits like annual preventive screenings and immunizations for just a $0 copay. you'll also have the flexibility to change doctors from a network of providers dedicated to helping you stay healthy. there's more. when you enroll 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taking place right now on the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty. it is expected that enough republicans have gone over to support the democrats -- all -- every single democrat voting there we expect is supporting the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. but enough republicans have gone over -- because it is a treaty it requires 67 votes, more than two-thirds of the senate. that will have to get you to 67 votes in order to establish this treaty. but it is understood that those 67 votes are there for the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. again, until the vote is counted, we don't know. there may be a surprise but the expectation is that this, the president's single greatest foreign policy initiative is going to pass. the president is expected to hold a press conference at 4:15 p.m. eastern time. an hour and a half from now. 4:15 p.m. we of course will bring that to you live. it is a press conference, which means he is going to take questions from the media on this. now, earlier today, the president signed the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" law, although while that is now the law of the land, it is not going to be immediately effective. they have to implement it in a way that ensures unit cohesion in the military. and there is some resistance in certain parts of the military. so the defense secretary and the pentagon want to ensure that it is done in an orderly fashion. so as a result, they are still -- people are still not advised to come out of closet in the military. but that is a major piece of legislation. this is a major piece of legislation. and the third major piece of legislation passed just moments ago in the senate unanimously in a roll call -- not a roll call vote but a voice vote. and that was the james droga 9/11 first responders compensation bill. that's a bill that will provide health care to 9/11 responders. it's been reduced in cost to about $4 billion. that is what it took to get republican support on that. as a result it has passed. three major pieces of legislation today to talk about. i want to talk about education for a second, something i talk about every day on this show. both pine manor college and harvard. they're both colleges right outside boston, only six miles between the two campuses but the school's methods and missions are worlds apart. harvard of course seeks the cream of the crop. overachievers, legacy students. pine manor students have a lot to offer too but 4.0 andney gen it. the small women's school to boost grads from lower income communities. kids who may have not thought of college as a possible. joining us is the president of pine manor college. gloria, thank you very much for being with us. >> thanks for the opportunity. >> tell me about the mission of pine manor. >> well, you stated it well. pine manor looked around 15 years ago and said why does the world need another small liberal arts college in chestnut hill, massachusetts? and our answer was because of the job of education is not being completely accomplished. we are overlooking a tremendous portion of potential in our population among especially low-income young people. this country as a whole hasn't moved in 40 years in terms of the percentage of the population that goes to college and graduates from college. so globally we have slipped from first place to 13th place. that hurts us on every level. certainly hurts us on the human level. it hurts us economically. hurts us in terms of national defense, citizenship, democracy. so we got very fired up about the nobility of this mission, the importance, the national significance. and away we went 15 years ago to prove that it could be done. >> it's noble but expensive. you're a private college that's normally the domain of state colleges. you've brought tuition down. how do you manage to make this make business sense to keep on doing it? >> that's the biggest challenge. the first challenge was to document that young people who hadn't done so well in high school perhaps, hadn't met their intellectual potential yet, that you could intervene at 17 or 18 years of age and change their live. and offer an educational environment that was very diverse, that was effective. and we did that. and the second major challenge, which not only pine manor is facing but another hundred colleges across the country that primarily educate low income students -- we're all facing it, especially in this time of the global recession. we need the help of friends. and it is only through philanthropy and other people, many of whom have gone to our colleges but many of whom have not. but get the fact that this mission is crucial to the well-being of our country. and are offering support and help to these young people so that they cannot only get to college but, most importantly, graduate. >> dr. gloria nemerowicz. thank you very much for that mission and staying with it through tough times. we'll folt with great interest. thanks so much. >> thank you. we're continuing to folt the developments on the floor of the united states senate where roll call continues and should wrap up shortly on the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty. there is an agreement or at least there are enough republicans supporting this that it is expected to get the 67 votes necessary in order to pass. so we expect that moments from now we'll be bringing you that. we're going to take a quick break. by the time i get back we should have news for you on that. we're updating breaking news on capitol hill right now. we're watching a vote under way. you're looking at it right now. it's under way on the floor of the house. this is about the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty. it's hard to keep track of what's going on today because there's been so much activity on capitol hill. this should be ending momentarily. this is a roll call vote of the senators. you need 67 votes in order to enact a treaty. that's the way it goes in the senate. all the democrats are supporting this. so they have got enough republicans to vote on this that they expect this to pass. anything can happen. we are waiting for the results of this vote and as soon as we get it we will tell you what it is. but we do expect this major priority of the obama administration is going to pass. this is a bill that deals with verification of russia and the united states nuclear warheads and warhead launchers. it limits them and it allows each side to inspect the other sides. that is one piece of legislation that is about to pass. the other piece of legislation that did pass the senate just before this is the 9/11 first responders health care bill. the compromise legislation that they arrived at will provide free medical care to first responders who suffer health problems after having worked at ground zero. we also have just learned that president obama is going to hold a news conference in which he will take questions from the press today at 4:15 eastern. so a little over an hour from here. to discuss all of today's big developments, including the fact that he signed the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." we will have live coverage on that as well. we're going to take a break. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my 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own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. if you're watching tv or following the news for the last few days, you'll know congress has put things into overdrive with the christmas holiday approaching, voting on the s.t.a.r.t. treaty and 9/11 first responders bill just this hour how is this playing with the public? cnn national correspondent john king joins me from washington. i guess people differ on what they think about these bills but you have to appreciate they're moving full steam ahead. >> reporter: it is hard to comprehend. remember that november shellacking, the president and democrats crushed? call this the december to remember. that's why the president will have the news conference today. we asked people what do you think of the president, democrats and republicans during the lame duck session of congress? 56% approve of the president's performance. that's a big number for a guy who just took a shellacking. 34% approve of the democrats, 42% of the republicans. people still don't like the congress. as we wait for the final s.t.a.r.t. vote we expect it to join the list of accomplishments. "don't ask, don't tell" passed the lame duck, continuing resolution to keep the government funded through next march passed the other day was signed by the president this morning. the s.t.a.r.t. treaty will pass within moments. the 9/11 responders bill passed earlier and tax compromise. dream act, the big piece of democratic legislation that went down. tonight on "john king, usa" we'll talk to somebody who was supposed to be a lame duck. remember lisa murkowski lost to joe miller and won as a write-in candidate. he's cast votes that would surprise you. used to be with the republican leadership and now a bit of a maverick. we'll talk about that tonight. >> let's bring that picture back up from the senate, see if you can tell from what's going on there. nobody shaking hands or patting each other on the back yet. it will pass momentarily. quite remarken. i wonder what listen we take away from this. all of these bills that you talked about have been on the docket for months and then all of this done in the last days of this congress. >> reporter: this is going to be fascinating to watch going forward because there are generational and ideological divides in both parties now. watching the republicans you have this whole new tea party class coming in. rand paul of kentucky doesn't like what's happening in the united states senate. they didn't want this bill to pass. what tensions will be in the republican party. we saw it play out in the primary and then the republicans went on to big victories. next week the republicans will control the house and close to it in the senate. they have a narrow majority in the senate but huge leverage. will there be more bipartisanship like in the last 48 to 72 hours in washington, d.c. sf or a republican family feud? that's one of the big dynamics to watch going forward. >> we'll pay close attention to your show and of course everything else going on in washington. your next update from the best political team on television just an hour away. they're discovering simponi®, the first self-injectable r.a. medicine you take just once a month. taken with methotrexate, simponi® helps relieve the pain, stiffness and swelling of r.a. with one dose once a month. visit 4simponi.com to see if you qualify for a full year of cost support. simponi® can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious and sometimes fatal events can occur, such as infections, cancer in children and adults, heart failure, nervous system disorders, liver or blood problems, and allergic reactions. before starting simponi®, your doctor should test you for t.b. and assess your risk of infections, including fungal infections and hepatitis b. ask your doctor if you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, or develop symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough or sores. you should not start simponi® if you have an infection.

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