Skip to main content

tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  December 21, 2013 3:00pm-4:01pm PST

3:00 pm
of the wreckage of a smoldering plane. it unfolded in front of an infrared camera. they saw it catch on fire and slam into a field. they used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames and pull the pilot out. he's expected to recover. no word on what caused the crash. here in the cnn news room, i'm rosa flores. thank you for sticking with me, we have a lot to cover and we start with this. dangerous storms could be a grinch for people trying to start their holiday travel. a wintry mix is falling right now in tulsa. crews there are working to clear trees and power lines knocked down by ice. this storm, not a small one and could definitely affect the plans of more than 94 million
3:01 pm
people expected to hit the highways over the next few days. where the ice and snow hasn't started, rain is coming down in buckets with flash flooding being reported in indiana. it's all adding up to one big travel mess. cnns nick valencia has the latest from kansas city. >> reporter: all day in kansas city, temperatures hovering in the 20s. it feels more like it's in the teens. snow flurries have been going on and off all day long. it's created problems for those on the road. interstate 44 in missouri has been a big concern for officials. the slick road conditions causing travelers to take their time on the roadways. it's had an impact throughout the united states. des moines, iowa, we saw cars, accidents there, people taken to the hospital. tulsa, oklahoma, oklahoma city waking up saturday morning to freezing rain and colder conditions than they wanted. back here in kansas city, the
3:02 pm
weather has had an impact on airport travel, a handful of flights canceled at kansas city international airport. it's expected to worsen. an official said they expect more cancellations by airlines later this evening. nick valencia, cnn, kansas city, missouri. >> thank you so much. this wild weather is doing a number on air travel. according to flightaware.com, more than 570 flights have been canceled across the country. the west side shows more than 9,000 flights delayed. the airports with the most cancellations, chicago's o'hare, denver international, dfw in dallas and will rogers in oklahoma city. four men have been arrested in connection with a fatal carjacking at a mall in new jersey. local authorities worked alongside the fbi and u.s. marshalls to track down the men. they are accused of shooting and killing a young attorney while his wife watched in horror.
3:03 pm
the incident occurred six days ago inside a mall parking deck. at a news conference, authorities applauded the public for helping in this case. >> you have the right to be safe and the expectation that you should be safe in this county in the state of new jersey. in particular, you shouldn't have to worry that wherever you go, whether it's downtown newark or the mall that someone would put a gun to your head and take your car. >> the men are charged with murder and could face life in prison if found guilty. astronauts wrapped up a 5 1/2 hour space walk to make emergency repairs at the international space station. it's the first of three scheduled space walks to fix the cooling system. it went quicker than expected. john has details from miami. >> reporter: one of the concerns nasa had going into this space walk was what would happen
3:04 pm
inside the space suit. back in july, european astronaut's space walk lasted 90 minutes, cut way short when he started to experience water building up in his helmet. they got him back inside quickly enough, got his helmet off, but he came close to potential lly drowning in that helmet. nasa identifies things going into this space walk. they had a pad that goes in the back of the helmet. the astronauts during the first space walk saturday were able to put their heads back, check to see if it was dry. no water in the helmets, that was good news. they installed a snorkle, a tube installed inside the space suits themselves so if, for any reason water did build up, the
3:05 pm
astronauts could take breaths of air from the snorkle until they were able to get back into the space station and get their helmets off. but, didn't have any problem with either of the space suits. everything went very, very well on the first of the space walks as far as the safety of the astronauts is concerned. cnn, miami. chris hatfield is very familiar with emergency space walks. this past may, he took this photo from the space station as two of his crew members successfully fixed an ammonia leak. i asked him to share what it's like to float through space. >> and the big difference is, you are not on the world looking up at the universe, you are in the universe. it's under your feet. it's all around you. that perspective of seeing the world going around the sun with you, that's a really new one for humanity. you have to take time, when you are outside on a space walk to honor that and soak that up,
3:06 pm
too. >> we switch gears to this. the victims of pan am flight 103 were honored today on both sides of the atlantic. december 21st marks the 25th anniversary of the 747 explosion over lockerbie scotland. family, friends and loved ones gathered to remember those lost. all 259 people on board were killed. 11 more died on the ground. here in the united states, a service was held at arlington national cemetery. 35 of the victims were students at syracuse university, libyans indicted for murder in the bombing. only one was convicted. still ahead, you may have heard the southern illinois basketball coach who dressed down his losing team this week. >> my wife -- my wife can score more than two buckets on 11 shots because i know my wife
3:07 pm
will at least shot fake one time. >> just ahead, coach barry hinson will join us live. also coming up, imagine clinging for your life in the open sea for 15 hours. your life depending upon a beer cooler. we'll explain coming up next. [ male announcer ] this store knows how to handle a saturday crowd. ♪ [ male announcer ] the parking lot helps
3:08 pm
by letting us know who's coming. the carts keep everyone on the right track. the power tools introduce themselves. all the bits and bulbs keep themselves stocked. and the doors even handle the checkout so we can work on that thing that's stuck in the thing. [ female announcer ] today, cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everyone goes home happy. it's not the "fumbling around with rotating categories" card. it's not the "getting blindsided by limits" card. it's the no-game-playing, no-earning-limit-having, deep-bomb-throwing, give-me-the-ball-and-i'll-take- it-to-the-house, cash back card. this is the quicksilver cash card from capital one. unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, everywhere, every single day. so let me ask you... what's in your wallet? [ male announcer ] if we could see energy... what would we see?
3:09 pm
♪ the billions of gallons of fuel that get us to work. ♪ we'd see all the electricity flowing through the devices that connect us and teach us. ♪ we'd see that almost 100% of medical plastics are made from oil and natural gas. ♪ and an industry that supports almost 10 million american jobs. life takes energy. and no one applies more technology to produce american energy and refine it more efficiently than exxonmobil. because using energy responsibly has never been more important. energy lives here. ♪
3:10 pm
there's tough love, then there's barry hinson, the southern illinois basketball coach became famous for all the wrong reasons this week when he went off during a news conference after the team's latest loss.
3:11 pm
>> i got a bunch of momma's boys right now. we have one assist and seven turnovers. they must think it's a tax credit. it's unbelievable. let's talk about the big guys. 2 for 11. how can you go 2 for 11? my wife -- my wife can score more than two buckets on 11 shots because i know my wife will at least shot fake one time. it's like house training a puppy dog. you know what? when the dog does something wrong, bad dog. >> ouch. he was on the receiving end of criticism who felt he crossed the line. he joins me now from carbondale, illinois. coach, your team just finished a game, how did you do? >> hi, rosa. well, we did good.
3:12 pm
our kids played extremely well. we had a win tonight. a lot of people are happy. i couldn't be happier for our players. >> i bet they are excited. >> do you think, going back to the rant sent a message to the team that otherwise wouldn't have gotten delivered? >> i think it's a fine line. sometimes you have to make a decision. i wish i could tell you i was that intelligent the other night and i calculated it. it wasn't calculated. i thought our fans and specifically our players responded about as well as you could and, you know, we win tonight. is it because of that? i can't say that. you have to ask the players. but i do know this, it helped us focus on the things we talked about since tuesday, the things that we felt like we had deficits in as far as our basketball was related and as far as our effort. hopefully it did. i don't want to use this game to validate the rant.
3:13 pm
i just want our kids to understand what we are trying to do and we don't accept mediocrity. we don't accept average. we don't accept lukewarm. if i have to do something different to shock them to get them in the mode to where we understand that, we'll do what we can. i didn't use profanity. i didn't grab anybody. it's just my way. you know, i'm from the south and most the time, i go to where you are from, new york, i have to have an interpreter. around here, we use analogies. sometimes they are wrong but to make it simple, i think it's easier to learn that way. >> coach, i have to ask you, the rant was pretty harsh. do you take some responsibility for your team's performance? >> i take all the responsibility, rosa, every stinking bit out of it. we won our third ball game. the media didn't get to hear the shows prior to that, the coaches
3:14 pm
shows prior to that where i'm saying if your head coach was smarter, we would have won the game or the head coach shouldn't have scheduled this game or i did poor here. we don't get to play those clips. i deserve the criticism i received for singling out an individual. i deserve that. they can chas tice me all they want and deservedly so. i have to be more mature as a 52-year-old. i have to know you can't single out a man when everything we say and do when the camera is rolling, it's going to be there the rest of our lives. i took offense to that. i was apologetic to the young man and our team. i felt bad for it. >> what about the fans? how are fans reacting? >> well, i think you have to ask them. i'm not going to speak for people on how they react to my rant. i think you have to ask other people that.
3:15 pm
certainly here, you know, it's been very positive. i cannot tell you how many e-mails i received from all over the world about we'd love for you to coach our son. love for you to coach our daughter. they didn't know what sport i was coaching or what gender. rosa, i hope the message that i'm trying to convey not only during the rant, but every single day. you know, we have right now in our country, a sense of entitlement. we are enabling our children. it's killing our society. i believe that. we have to get out of that mode. i have a -- you know, i have a good buddy of mine that gave me a great quote years ago. i think this is so true today. parents are no longer comfortable making their children uncomfortable. it's okay to tell somebody that made a mistake. it's okay to criticize,
3:16 pm
specifically if they know you really love them. i know you are talking tough love today. everybody can't win a trophy. i'm sorry, it doesn't work that way. but, everybody can do their best. i think if we take that approach more and more, we are creating what i consider a soft society that we can't -- a boss can't walk into your office and criticize you and walk out and say, you know what? my boss is right. i need to do better. i need to do this instead of pointing the finger. we try to do that. the other night, i pointed the finger and i stand by what we did. we have a group of young men that i felt like weren't meeting, not only their level or expectations, but certainly my expectations and i never met a player yet, that my expectations aren't higher for him than what they are for himself. i'm not going to apologize, ever, for trying to get the best out of anybody. >> coach, i have to ask you
3:17 pm
about your wife because you mentioned her during the press conference. did she feel comfortable with you mentioning her? >> she's used to it. we have been married 33 years. she's used to it. i will say this, she was very upset that i singled out marcus. she got on to me. she's my best critic. you know what guys? listen to what i'm saying. let's do a president bush, read my lips. i made a mistake, i'm sorry and i'll try not to do it again. my wife also says they need to insert a speed bump between my mind and my mouth. we're trying to find a way to get that done. >> all right coach, thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> rosa, thank you so much. happy holidays to everybody. >> the coach got heat for being so critical of his team. are we too touchy as a society,
3:18 pm
too sensitive, perhaps? has the world gone too soft? does any of that have to do with what got the "duck dynasty" dad suspended? that's up next. thanks for inspiring me. thanks for showing me my potential. for teaching me not to take life so seriously. thanks for loving me and being my best friend. don't forget to thank those who helped you take charge of your future and got you where you are today. the boss of your life. the chief life officer. ♪ but with less energy, moodiness, and a low sex drive,y first. i saw my doctor. a blood test showed it was low testosterone, not age. we talked about axiron. the only underarm low t treatment that can restore t levels to normal in about 2 weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women especially those who are or who may become pregnant
3:19 pm
and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these symptoms to your doctor. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping; and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting and increase in psa. ask your doctor about axiron.
3:20 pm
at one point, it looked like nothing could stop "duck dynasty." it's before phil robertson gave his opinion on homosexuality to
3:21 pm
gq magazine. cnn explains what he said that put the show in jeopardy. ♪ >> reporter: with their a & e show pulling 14 million viewers a week with an empire of dvds, duck calls and a christmas album, it's no surprise gq magazine wanted to profile the crew at home in louisiana. >> phil. >> he's happy. >> reporter: the patriarch of the family is raising eyebrows with his comments. it seems like to me a vagina would be more -- it's not right. >> a & e needs to condemn his statements. >> wilson cruise and other gay
3:22 pm
rights advocates are striking back hard. suggesting he's ignorant, big gotted or both. >> the world is changing, the country is changing and the state where he lives is changing. he needs to get in line. >> makes you wonder how we got roped into this. >> i don't know. >> reporter: others say hold on. he was quoting church positions on sin, not just homosexuality. he told gq, the adulterers, the male prostitutes, the greedy, swindlers, they won't inherit the kingdom of god. >> i think that suggesting that people who hold to what every branch of the christian faith held to is bigoted or hateful. >> whether this will harm the "duck dynasty" dynasty is not
3:23 pm
clear. the robertson's speak openly about their conservative values. >> phil, be nicer when you toss them back. >> reporter: and there is this. 44% of all americans like phil robertson still think homosexuality is morally wrong. >> it wasn't only evangelicals defending robertson. free speech advocates joined in the fight saying like it or not, he had a right to say what he said and shouldn't be punished for it. do they have a point? are they too sensitive? can't we agree to disagree and just leave it at that? here to talk about this and a lot more, michael, editor and chief of global grind.com and ben ferguson, host of the ben ferguson show. thank you for joining me. michael, let me start with you. was this the right move? how long should phil robertson
3:24 pm
stay out of the show? >> it's the right thing. certainly he has a right to say what he wants. he didn't say it was a sin, he compared it to bestiality. he later said homosexuals were evil and murderers. he has the right to say what he wants but we have the right to say what we want, too. if we don't appreciate it and respect it we can get him off the show. itis what we did. >> ben, what is your take? >> first of all, if you read the article, he did not compare homosexuality to bestiality. he listed 11 different sins that he said were in the same all over category of a sinful nature in this world. i think it's funny to me the only people that came out of the 11 sins listed, including greed, men sleeping with multiple different women, having sex before marriage, examples like that, the only group that has come out and even claimed their lifestyle was claimed to
3:25 pm
bestiality, which he did not do is the gay, lesbian community. they are trying to get a notch on their belt by destroying a reality show that teaches morals and values compared to other reality tv shows out there. it's a hit job on someone who spoke his mind. he's not eloquent in the way he said it. i wouldn't have said it that way, it's blunt. the bible is not a pc book that is going to make everyone feel good. there are rights and wrongs. it's what he was talking about including 11 other sins. >> i spoke with barry hinson, the basketball coach who slammed his players, went on a rant calling them, among other things momma's boys. is that going too far or, again, are we too touchy? ben, you first. >> we are way, way too touchy. now days, you see the number one thing that fortune 500 companies
3:26 pm
complain about when hiring ivy league kids, the brilliant kids, they say the first time they reprimand them at work or tell them they did something wrong, they crumble. it's the problem with so many kids. we are coddling them too much. i remember looking over, i played tennis in college. i was 13 years old. a coach looked at me. he lost it, slammed his racket down. he said i don't know what to do with you. he said ben, you are fat. if i hit the ball anyway away from you, you are terrible. you are the worst tennis player i have ever seen. you have to commit, lose weight and i will get on the treadmill with you, but you are fat. now, i lost almost 90 pounds because of that reality check. if a coach said that today, he would be fired. luckily, when he said it, he was a hero. thank goodness, i got a college scholarship out of the deal because someone did not coddle me, told me the truth and helped me get better and lose weight.
3:27 pm
to me, that was probably one of the greatest moments of my childhood, have been someone rooting for me in a blunt way. you can't do it today and it's sad. >> ben, your comment about only the gay community is in an uproar over what phil robertson said, i'm not gay and i am in unuproar. i'm an advocate for those being hated against. let me say one last thing, in terms of being soft, this country went from being tolerant to slavery to having no tolerance during the '80s, '90s and 2000s. no more will we allow people to say whatever they want. young people like me are saying we don't want to hear that language. we don't want those people on television. >> can i ask you a question?
3:28 pm
>> sure. >> have you attacked a tv show that mocks people that believe in the bible and are christians? have you come out against them? i bet you probably didn't because you agree with that bigotry. on this one, there's a red flag. these shows attack people all the time and no one gets offended. >> this gentleman was let go and suspended by a & e. it's a free market economy issue. >> i agree with that. >> if we do not want this kind of television, we can tell a & e to take it off. >> let me ask both of you about crisis communication. do you think that this is a & e simply coming out and doing something, perhaps, just a slap on the hand, just to say that they have done something?
3:29 pm
ben? >> sure. absolutely. this is pr 101. you see an outrage and say oh, well, we got involved. we have suspended him. at the end of the day, i think the family is going to say, you want to play hardball, we'll walk away and someone else will put the show on the air. they have other offers. they are not going to be bullied by it. he said look, i listed a lot of sins. i am a christian. skipture is offensive to some people because they don't like what it says. they are going to end up being fine but a & e are going to have backlash until they put them back on. >> a high school student in atlanta was suspended for hugging a teacher. you probably remember this. are we moving toward a world where we can't hug each other? something as simple as a hug? >> i think we have moved into a
3:30 pm
more passionate generous world. if i look on the eve of christmas, the birth of jesus kr christ, we talk about values. not calling homosexuals evil or comparing them to bestiality -- >> he didn't do that. >> as desmond tutu says, i do not want to believe in a god that is homophobic. he does not hate homosexuals. >> he does not hate them. he hates sin. the bible is very clear. love the sinner, hate the sin. you are acting as if the only thing in the bible that the bible focused on is a gay verse or some anti-gay stance. he's antidrinking heavily. he's against infidelity and sex before marriage. >> he said black people were -- he said black people were happy during the era. this man has hatred in his
3:31 pm
heart. give that up. >> sir, you mentioned the bible. i was responding to what scripture says. >> you are backing him. >> it's going to offend people who do not believe in it. it's okay. it's what scripture does. you want to change the scripture. you have never read the bible. you have never read the bible, then. >> desmond tutu didn't, either. >> let's move on to this other question. earlier in this newscast, we talked about a top pr executive fired for an insensitive tweet about aids in africa. in hours, she lost her job. is this a form of zero tolerance in society? what happened to forgiveness in this day and age? ben? >> she worked in a pr firm. yeah, i would want someone to fire someone that said that. obviously, if you can't pc yourself in your own tweets when you work in pr, why would i want
3:32 pm
to hire you to help with my business plan. so, i think this is one of those where, you know what? in the professional world, you do something like this, you tweet something like this and get fired, you should expect it when it's this ridiculous, especially talking about aids. i think it was just a rude, crass, awful tweet to send out. you know what? deserve what you get. >> michael, your thoughts. >> interesting you say that. phil robertson deserves what he got. >> thank you so much for this great conversation. michael and ben, thank you so much. still ahead in the cnn news room, target says no personal information was affected by the security breach that hit as many as 40 million shoppers. it seems like at least one major bank isn't taking any chances. that may affect how you use your debit card over the next few days. that's next.
3:33 pm
look at this. trapped for 15 hours. clinging to a beer cooler. what happened? we'll explain.
3:34 pm
3:35 pm
amazing pictures coming into us from australia. two fishermen lucky to be alive after their boat sank. they spent the night holding on to a cooler off new south wales.
3:36 pm
then this dramatic helicopter rescue. both men spent the night in the hospital but both are now safe at home. rescuers say they are lucky to be alive. target is offering customer as 10% discount at all their stores this weekend. the offer comes a day after the company confirmed 40 million customers had their credit and debit card information stolen. there are reports that some of the stolen cards are already for sale on black markets around the world. target says no personal information was impacted. the security breach has been fixed. but, if no personal information was stolen, then what information can be taken in this kind of breach? we explain. >> we have all heard about the target hack. 40 million customers affected, very widespread and we don't know how it happened.
3:37 pm
security researchers are saying they hacked the software behind the card readers. target says the issue has been resolved. we have another hack that shows major retailers are at risk. >> i'm connected to the phone wirelessly. in realtime, i'm taling credit card data. i log in, make a selection and do a credit card swipe. i have your credit card data here. >> these stockings are the first things to go. >> when grinch-like hackers literally steal christmas. they are not grinches, they are security with trustway. they find flaws in technology to protect users or in this case, shoppers. >> click pay. nothing. you are paid, you get your receipt and move on. >> by pass the register and swipe it. >> this is an ipod or iphone.
3:38 pm
it will work with an ipad. you go into a big box retailer, make a purchase, the employer is here to help you. hand them the card, they run it through. >> that's where shoppers are at risk. >> once the credit card transactions run through, we can steal them before they are encrypted. >> the problem isn't in the card swiper, it's in the software they use to process payments. in some cases, it doesn't hide or encrypt the information that makes it easy bait for hackers. they ma nil late the device. credit card numbers swiped or typed in. >> aztecnology advances at a very rapid pace, security is slow to catch up. >> they recommend retailers stress test security and encourage ethical hacking. essentially break in the system before it's deployed. it's up to retailers and banks
3:39 pm
to ensure you are protected, consumers should be on the lookout. >> if the attendant is entering your credit card number with their fingers rather than a swipe, there's no way the credit card is encrypted. >> they recommend customers keep tabs on their transactions especially during the busiest shopping time of the year. how long does it take to get hundreds of thousands of people's credit card information? >> you can get it as quickly as the clerk or clerks, if you were to compromise multiple point of sales can swipe credit cards. >> exactly what it would have looked like if the grinch went high-tech. eye opening. be ware of manually entering your pin number. especially now, can't emphasize this enough, be individual lent, check your bank statements for irregular activity.
3:40 pm
in the wake of the target security breach, chase bank is putting limits on 2 million of its customers. chase sent letters to customers identified by target as at risk for debit and credit fraud. the bank is limited daily atm withdrawals to $100 and debit card purchases to $300. chase says it will send all as-risk customers new debit cards over the coming weeks. we have already seen crazy winter weather. today, it's officially the first day of winter. what's behind the wild temperature swings and monster ice storms so early? we'll take a look, just ahead. [ male announcer ] this december, experience the gift of unsurpassed craftsmanship and some of the best offers of the year at the lexus december to remember sales event. this is the pursuit of perfection. just by talking to a helmet. it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up.
3:41 pm
it found out the doctor we needed was at st. anne's. wiggle your toes. [ driver ] and it got his okay on treatment from miles away. it even pulled strings with the stoplights. my ambulance talks with smoke alarms and pilots and stadiums. but, of course, it's a good listener too. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everything works like never before. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. i use my citi thankyou card to get 2x the points at the coffee shop.at the office, which will help me get to a beach in miami and they'll be stuck at the cube farm.
3:42 pm
the citi thankyou preferred card. now earn 2x the points dining out, with no annual fee. go to citi.com/thankyoucards
3:43 pm
you wouldn't have known it was winter on the east coast if you didn't look at the calendar. the temperature hit 61 degrees in new york city today. you didn't have to go very far to see temperatures in the 70s. but, in parts of the mid south, the warm temperatures sparked severe thunderstorms in parts of arkansas and tennessee. don't get used to the warmth, though. a big winter storm is marching across the country. cnn meteorologist jennifer gray shows us, it could bring travel troubles. >> we have had a rough day weather wise today. severe storms, ice, snow. thunderstorm warnings, tornado warnings across the south.
3:44 pm
moderate risk lies in this swath from eastern louisiana to northern mississippi to tennessee. nashville, memphis, you are included in that. up into kentucky. we have talked about the severe weather. we have ice that we are dealing with as well. anywhere from right around oklahoma city up to an inch of possible ice up to half inch right outside springfield and kansas city. we are xwoung going to see that stretch up to the north around the great lakes, quarter inch to half inch ice accumulation. then up state new york, vermont, new hampshire, we are seeing those ice accumulations as well. anywhere from a quarter inch up to an inch. snowfall totals stretch from four to seven inches to five to seven inches around green bay and des moines. be on the lookout for that. we are going to have travel trouble today, tonight and into tomorrow. showers and storms we'll track through atlanta when you are
3:45 pm
waking up tomorrow. so, we have had so much to deal with. we have had at least five to six winter storms already and winter officially started today. so, what's behind all of this? we brought in an expert to see if there's a science behind winter. there's no doubt about it, winter is not only officially here, it's been here for weeks. >> the curb a little bit. you have to drive maybe 10 miles an hour at the most. >> plenty of salt. the back roads are starting to stick. itis coming down good now. >> i'm going to stay in for this. >> reporter: at least six winter storms hit the u.s. coast-to-coast impacting tens of millions of people. what's the science behind all this extreme weather? >> in terms of the storms we have seen in october, november and december, as i often tell people, the atmosphere doesn't have an on/off switch that knows when winter begins.
3:46 pm
>> reporter: he's the president of the meet logical society. he says there's one reason for the wild weather, the jet stream. >> the jet stream patterns, we get strong dips in the jet stream patterns. in the dips, there could be cold air. in the hills, warm air. so, generally, the jet stream pattern is the governing forcing function of our weather in the wintertime. >> reporter: case and point, denver, colorado. in ten days they went from negative temperatures to a balmy 70 degrees. a time of year when it should be hovering around 40. we are talking about 30 degrees above normal. in the big "d," an ice storm earlier this month took dallas from 79 degrees to freezing in three days. in philadelphia, december 8th winter storm dropped more snow in one day than the city received all year last year. >> it illustrates there's going
3:47 pm
to be variability this season because we don't have a strong leaning toward one side of the other in terms of the scale. we will see an occasional storm. we have seen above normal activity this time of the season. it's interesting we see the chance for tornadoes this weekend here in the united states. indeed, this has been a year of extremes. >> jennifer gray, cnn, atlanta. >> thank you. still ahead, a 10-year-old girl has a plan she wants to be a chef. she loves cooking and she's getting very good at it. but, hear this, she's got a major hurdle to fulfilling her goal. eating. her story is up next. ♪ through 12 blizzards blowing ♪ 6 snowballs flying ♪ 5 packages addressed by toddlers ♪ ♪ that's a q ♪ 4 lightning bolts ♪ 3 creepy gnomes ♪ 2 angry geese ♪ and a giant blow-up snowman ♪ that kind of freaks me out [ beep ] [ female announcer ] no one delivers the holidays like the u.s. postal service.
3:48 pm
priority mail flat rate is more reliable than ever. and with improved tracking up to 11 scans, you can even watch us get it there. and look for our limited edition holiday stamps.
3:49 pm
3:50 pm
we want to introduce you to a 10-year-old with a passion and a plan. she's captivated by cooking and wants to be a chef and open her own restaurant. there's a major hurdle. she can't eat or taste what she prepares. we have the story.
3:51 pm
>> reporter: 10-year-old chelsea loves preparing dinner with her parents. her dream is to become a chef and open her own diner when she grows up. she can't eat food. >> i know my stomach doesn't work. well, i can't eat real food. i have to have i.v. fluids. >> reporter: she needs them to survive come from a backpack she has to wear 16 hours a day. do you feel it's unfair you can't eat and other kids can? >> not usually, but sometimes yeah, i get fed up with it. >> reporter: she's been sick since birth suffering from a disease. she was diagnosed with obstruction and suffered irreversible intestinal failure a year ago. she's had 30 surgeries and went into septic shock. her parents recall she barely survived. >> last year was the worst where
3:52 pm
she went into -- >> last october. >> yeah, on halloween, she went into shock and woke up in the morning and couldn't use half her body. >> reporter: she tries to fit in with her peers. when we came by, it was elves day. the next challenge, her doctors say she needs a small bowl transplant to replace part of her transplant that failed. >> because of the seriousness of it, we have referred her for a possible transplant. >> reporter: she's waiting for a donor. they will never give up fighting for her life. their community in oxford, connecticut is pitching in. they have a giving tree. they started a website for donations to help with medical bills. >> she has a tube in her stomach, a tube in her intestine, a tube in your nose.
3:53 pm
she's -- it would be nice to have a day where she's eating food pain free and not through a tube. >> reporter: at the dinner table, she can only have one popsicle. it's all her stomach can take. she's thinking about the menu for her future diner. what kind of food do you need to serve? >> you don't need to be a millionaire to eat there every night. but you feel like a millionaire when you eat there. >> reporter: cnn, oxford, connecticut. >> the children's organ transplant is helping them raise funds. log on to cotaforchelsea.com. you know how hard you workday in and day out? you probably remember how hard you worked if you had to buy a bunch of presents recently.
3:54 pm
what if you could make $100,000 a year and do virtually nothing? one man went to jail for doing just that. that story, up next.
3:55 pm
3:56 pm
a former federal employee is going to prison for a scheme to get out of work and rip off taxpayers. chris lawrence has the story.
3:57 pm
>> reporter: john walked out of court wednesday a man who took being lazy to legendary heights. now he's heading to jail after swindling the government out of nearly $1 million. >> how does this occur in modern day society with managers trying to make ends meet. >> reporter: he was a specialist at the environmental protech agency making $164,000 a year. he rarely came to work and filed thousands of dollars in fake travel claims. his bosses didn't question his absence because he said he was working for the cia. for ten years, epa officials believed he was at cia headquarters or a secret mission overseas. he claimed he had to go to pakistan to help a fellow agent in trouble. he was actually here, hanging out at his home in the d.c. suburbs or hiding in plain sight
3:58 pm
at his vacation home in scenic, cape cod. in 2008 he didn't show up for six months. nobody batted an eye. >> what are you doing for the cia. the managers should be asking for some kind of proof. >> no one checked his story, even after he took five trips to california and billed the government $57,000 claiming the flights were for quote, personal reasons. >> now, he will serve nearly three years in prison. he's agreed to pay $900,000 in restitution and forfeit $500,000 in salary. they have upgraded their safeguard to do more thorough checks on employee's travel. a powerful winter storm is creating dangerous conditions on the road as tens of millions of
3:59 pm
people head home for the holidays. tulsa, oklahoma is experiencing major icing issues. crews cleaning up downed trees and power lines. if you are flying, get ready to wait. 6,000 flights delayed across the country and it could get worse with ice and heavy rains. five hours and 28 minutes. that's how long two american astronauts spent working outside the international space station today. they successfully completed the first in a series of space walks to replace a malfunctioning module. it keeps equipment cool. they plan to go outside again on monday to replace the bump and might have to return on christmas day to wrap up the job. chase bank is putting new limits on 2 million of its customers in the wake of a massive security breach at target. chase sent letters to customers identified as at-risk for debit
4:00 pm
and credit fraud. they are limiting atm withdrawals to $100 a day and debit card purchases to $300. i'm rosa flor es here in atlanta. thank you for sticking around with me. the special, "wine to water" begins right now. ready to swim? >> yeah. >> to me, water simply represents life. you cannot have life without water. >> you are good. water, hands down is the absolute greatest resource this planet has to offer.