i'm tom foreman. on behalf of everyone at "ac360" and cnn we wish you all of the best and none of the worst in best and none of the worst in 2014. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening, everyone. tonight, bombings rock russia as the world prepares to head there for olympics. also on this ship, surrounded by all that ice, stuck after two rescue failed attempts, you will find probably the happiest castaways tonight, we'll hear from them on the ship. and later, we'll update you on michael schumacher. we'll update you on efforts to save his life after a terrible accident off the track. we begin with the terror attacks that shook russia and sent shocks through the world just six weeks before the winter olympics begin in sochi, upwards of just a million people killed in just a few months. during the second world war. today, volgograd is on the front lines of another war.

and sunday, people there got hit, first at the central train station, that surveillance camera footage, captured in a second. and even at a distance it is horrific. there inside, the video footage showing the explosion seconds before and after. the ekwivt say authorities of 22 pounds of tnt. a suspected female bomber, killing a police officer and a 9-year-old girl. then earlier today, another bombing also in the same city, apparently also a suicide attack. this time on board a trolley bus, at least 14 people killed in that one. no one claiming responsibility for either of the bombings. but in july, a terrorist group, a chechnya separatist group, and the latest now from moscow. what is the latest, diana?

>> reporter: hi, anderson, well, authorities are trying to piece together the body fragments that they collected from both sites to see if they can identify the bombers and match them, perhaps withmy militant databases that they have. they believe the two attacks were related because both contained the shrapnel, it is a fair assumption because of all the terror attacks taking place on the soil there, they have all come from the same region, where a fully-fledged islamist insurgency is being waged. >> can you explain the target there? it's 400 miles away from sochi. why there?

>> it does seem a strange target but one thing that makes it unique is that is it a very major rail hub for this area. so security will be very, very tight as the games approach and targeting regional cities and transportation hubs where people may be copping through especially at the peak holiday season is the way to create maximum fear and panic ahead of the games. >> and what about security? what are russian officials saying about security in advance of and during the olympics? >> well, they're saying that they're not going to change the security measures that they have in place in sochi, that they're tough enough. irrespective of the bombings that they have, and they continue to promise the maximum security at these games. but that is a very big call given the proximity of the northern caucasus region, if you consider the size of russia, that's spitting distance.

particular measures that they're putting in place, they're very cagey about for obvious reasons. but there will be a massive security parameter, fans or tourists will have to come in with passports and there will be rigorous checks. still, it is really further away and around the region, but softer targets like transportation hubs, which people have to be careful about because that is where athletes and visitors will have to travel through, to get to sochi. >> a softer target, indeed. thanks for the reporting. two people who have been on the front lines, former cia office and national security analyst. she worked with the greek government on security for the 2004 olympic games. fran, back-to-back attacks, what do you make of this? >> well, look, the leader of the northern caucuses islamist group

has demonstrating his capability both in the past and now. he called for attacks in 2010 and 2011, bombings in the moscow airport and also on buses. then there was a moratorium during the protests against vladimir putin. and then in july he calls for a resumption of the attacks and trying to disrupt the olympic games. the important factor is the second one, the fact within hours, in volgograd, the city is teeming with security officials that they are able to pull it off is very telling. it is a poke in the eye and ought to undermine people's confidence in russian security forces. >> and if it does turn out to be rebels from the caucuses, you were assigned to that region. you were in the cia. you called it a black hole that

putin will never subdue. explain what you mean by that. >> well, anderson, the russians never got a group in the northern caucasus, they took the area by sure force and flattened the city. they made these people run for it. but there was no sense that they had really truly dominated the north caucuses in terms of knowing what is going on. and there are large groups that are moving around. and fran is right. the fact they could hit two targets in two days suggests it is a major organization which will strike almost assuredly in the olympics. >> and they struck several years ago, that was an incredible -- audacious effort. you were involved in the planning for the athens olympics when the bush family went over there. explain what goes into security around something like that the sochi games? >> yes, the bilateral discussions between the united states and the host country

begin a year, year and a half before. american officials, i have spoken to officials. they have been to sochi and been to the venues and talked to the officials. there is a standard list of things you offer them in terms of assistance if they want it. you can't force it on them. it is a sovereign country, but you offer them things, intelligence cooperation. in athens we had a operation. but in athens we passed information back and forth and helped the greeks resolve threats. after these sort of attacks you would go back and say we have this capability. are you sure we can't help you? well heres the problem, a lot of these bilateral discussions goes on behind the scenes. it's the host country and their various partners. much of it, they won't accept. bob knows as much as anybody, the intelligence relationship here where you really would like there to be a full sharing of information has been scratchy in the best of times. >> well, bob, if the idea of

terrorism is to make a political statement or to make a dramatic statement, obviously targeting something like the sochi games would have a big impact. but even if the target is somewhere else, in russia, in this day and age where there is video, it can have almost the same impact. >> anderson, you're absolutely right. this is a guerilla organization. they know to go where it is soft. hit the soft targets. it could be in minsk, in eastern europe and western europe, even the united states, to demonstrate that putin does not have control of the situation. this is an attack against him. he has based his reputation on building up the security services in the northern caucuses can and they want to demonstrate that he has failed. and that is why people don't know why to start on this. i think, frankly, sochi will be safe during the olympics, they will have a cordon of security around it. the military is going to be there. nobody is going to get in there that they don't know. but it is the rest of russia

that i think we should worry about. >> fran, i appreciate it. and bob as well. thanks. now the fight over a new report on an especially grim moment for this country. september 11th, last year, of course fighters attacked the diplomatic mission in benghazi, libya, the assault killed four americans including the u.s. ambassador, christopher stevens. it quickly became political, many republicans claiming the white house was down playing connections to the attack including the possibility of al qaeda involvement. some called it a cover-up regarding president obama's election chances, now the house hearing only deepened the divide and turned up the temperature. >> the fact is we had four dead americans. was it because of a protest or guys out for a walk one night decided they would kill americans? what difference does it make? it is our job to prevent it from ever happening again, senator. >> well, flash forward tonight. reporting from "the new york

times," david kilpatrick, he cites what he calls direct interviews. the report that turned up no evidence of al-qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault but was instead carried out by local fighters including benghazi military leaders. he writes with terrorist groups, additionally the reporting assigns essential role in the tragedy to the american-made video denigrating islam, anger, he writes, motivated the initial attack. now, the report came out on saturday. it was topic "a" on the sunday talk shows. >> we have gone through some 4,000 different classified cables leading up to the event, talked to people on the ground during the event, done the postmortem -- through the committee investigation >> what do they have wrong? >> that al-qaeda was not involved in this. there was aspiration to conduct

an attack by al qaeda and their affiliates in libya. we know about that. the attacks, the officials talked about the tactical movement on the compound, even -- this was the compound before they went to the annex, all that would directly contradict the the "new york times" says was an investigation -- >> i should point out private individuals in the united states. and democrat adam schiff who serves on the committee agrees with him, regarding al-qaeda but says plenty of others were involved. today a state department spokeswoman says that there was no indication that core al qaeda planned the attack. so david you found no evidence of al qaeda involvement and the anti-islam movie did in fact have something to do with the initial attack. how can you be so sure that al qaeda was not involved?

>> well, first, i'm not out on a limb here. the u.s. intelligence agencies i believe also don't think al-qaeda was involved here. that is the first thing, the second thing is, it's pretty easy to find out who was involved. this is not like somebody secretly planted a car bomb, this is like a mob attack, happening in broad daylight with a large crowd of people watching. so it is not that difficult to find out he was a significant and central player. or to find out that the local al sharia was involved. and they're well known. they are local people with friends and neighbors and histories. we know who was in jail, we know who he was in jail with and all of these things. and he is really not al qaeda. he is an anti-western anti-democratic islamic militant. and if you want to stretch the term, hey, okay, you can call anybody like that al-qaeda. but he is not al-qaeda in the sense that the organization was

involved, like osama bin laden. >> some say your report vindicates those in the administration like susan rice who said the attack was a spontaneous protest in reaction to the video. that is not actually what you found though, correct? >> no, that is not what i found at all. certainly, i'm not trying to -- in that report, the initial statements were clearly misleading. i think a lot of the confusion and misinformation has followed from the initial misstatements. it was not a street protest. it was clearly an attack that began very deliberately and very suddenly. and there was probably certainly some planning when you have a sudden attack like that. there was evidence there was surveillance video that morning. the problem is, the misstatement suggesting a street protest set up this false dichotomy, either it was a street protest or it was an

attack. it was an attack in response to this movie by local militants. >> also you're saying it was basically militia groups in benghazi, of which there were many, large and small. and even the ones who were supposedly pro-western or thankful for the u.s. efforts to oust ka daf -- they, who didn't want to fight against other militia groups. >> yeah, that is right, there is a deep, deep and dangerous ambivalence among a lot of these people, still call ambassador stevens, chris. they would gush about their gratitude to the u.s. and then

in the next breath, you know, i think that it was the cia that killed ambassador stevens, here they are protecting the culprit and in the next breath thanking the u.s. it turns out i believe the u.s. did not really understand the militia world as clearly as it should. and probably was a little bit over-optimistic, over-hopeful in its assessment how quickly it could turn enemies into friends in eastern libya. >> and eli lake is pointing out there is an al-qaeda link, saying the jamal network and the people previously tied to the attacks, is that true? that was not mentioned and that group was not mentioned in your article. and if that group was involved would that point to an al qaeda link? >> i don't believe that group was involved. i think that the reporting in our paper was citing some congressional officials saying they thought this jamal group might have been involved. the officials were setting the report in the wall street journal, and seems to me to have come from egyptian intelligence. and at the end of the day, this jamal may have run a training

camp some place and people who have been to that training catch may have been involved in the attack. it's to my mind a bogus connection and a tenuous connection. >> i want you to have a chance to respond to critics, because you know some people in the new york times would say this was an attempt to exonerate hillary clinton ahead of a possible presidential run. your response? >> i don't think i'm trying to exonerate anyone. if somebody thinks i'm going to put myself through that kind of hassle and discomfort and quite frankly, risk, to exonerate a political candidate, that is crazy. as a second point, if you read my piece, it does not reflect very well on the obama administration. this is not a pro-state

department or a pro-obama administration article. again, i'm not trying to be for them or against them. but to come out and say this is some kind of a partisan whitewash is preposterous. >> i encourage people to read the article, david kirkpatrick, thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> let's talk about it @andersoncooper. coming up next after the commercial break with two failed rescue attempts behind them, the iced-in ship. how are the people on it holding up? we'll talk to three of them. later, robin roberts and her reaction from the white house. so i got the windows nokia tablet. it's, well, impressive. it's got the brightest hd screen, super-fast 4g lte, so my son can play games and movies almost anywhere, and it's got office for school stuff. but the best part? i got the lumia 928 for my daughter for free, with the best low-light smartphone camera this side of the north pole. dad for the win. mm! mm! mm! ♪ honestly, i want to see you be brave ♪

meet some very high spirited people, considering they are on a ship trapped in the ice off antarctica, and two icebreakers have failed to break them free. take a look, the passengers there, the ice thick enough to wander around on. they can walk on it. penguins have been walking up to the ship, sniffing around, checking out their new neighbors.

ing -- 74 people frozen in place since christmas eve. now, you will hear from three people on board, but first, more on the rescue effort itself. ch. now, you will hear from three people on board, but first, more on the rescue effort itself. >> reporter: trapped at sea, nearly five dozen people on this research ship must now be rescued by air. this helicopter will be launched from the deck of the snow dragon, the chinese ice breaker just ten miles away as soon as the weather improves. the conditions now? gusty winds and poor visibility. >> not ideal for helicopter operations, unfortunately. >> reporter: it has been nearly a week since the russian ship was stranded, locked in ice between antarctica and new zealand. three splat ice breakers attempted to rescue them. the closest got within six nautical miles. all three missions failed. the ice is simply too thick. >> unfortunately, they couldn't get through. it is deeply frustrating. >> reporter: in the meantime, the passengers have tried to

make the best of life on board the stranded ship. >> we're going to have some singing on the ice. >> reporter: they have celebrated birthdays. >> it's my birthday today. >> reporter: but now there is very little celebrating going on. experts who know the region say the sustained bad weather now in a nuisance, could become deadly. >> it is extremely unpredictable. so you have no idea what can happen tomorrow. so the ideal thing would be to get them out as quickly as possible. it is the most extreme place on earth. so it is the coldest and most windy place on earth. and it's the driest place on earth. so if you put all of these elements together it could have very dangerous conditions that could easily kill you in a matter of minutes. >> reporter: and it is not just the temperature that has those on board worrying. >> we have about ten days of food. we have several weeks of delicious dehydrated foods for ards. >> joining us tonight, is chris

tourney, who you just saw in the report, alec and lawrence work for britain's "the guardian" paper. chris is the expedition leader. so chris, stuck for a week, how is everybody holding up? >> we're having a good time, relatively speaking, i suppose. i'm sure we would all rather not be here, but given that we are the group on this ship is incredibly collegiate. and there are a lot of skills and things people are sharing with each other. it is new year's eve, so we're practicing songs. >> there was a yoga class happening yesterday. >> and a spanish language class. just a moment ago. so everyone is keeping busy and we've been doing regular briefings letting everyone know what is happening. it changes every hour. people are getting quite philosophical now. >> we have this tent, now we were sort of exposed on the deck of the ship. now we have a tent to shelter us from the elements. >> so is the tent on the deck of the ship? >> correct, we're on the top

deck here, overlooking the ice. but just a bit more shelter. it is actually raining outside right now. it is quite warm outside. >> i've been watching you guys on television and reading your tweet. you're unbelievably chipper. i don't think i'm ever that chipper and i'm not trapped on a boat surrounded by miles and miles of ice. >> it is a beautiful scene, i mean, you kind of have to take it in. even outside now, it's blowing gale. it's raining and very, very cold. it is actually a beautiful scene, we're surrounded on the horizon with blocks of ice. it is a place at least for me and lawrence, we don't come to often. chris is an antarctic researcher. he is used to this thing a little bit. but we're trying to get every drop out of this. >> and every time you look out your window there are flocks of penguins, and there are not many times in your life you get to see that. >> what is the latest rescue attempt? twice it has not worked out. i understand a helicopter will air lift people off the boat. do you have an idea when it is going to happen? >> that is a good one, look, at

the moment we're not quite sure, the key issue is visibility at the moment. the helicopters like a bit of wind, but the visibility is deteriorating again. and in the forecast for the next 24 hours it is pretty much more of the same. so at the moment we just don't know. the icebreakers just could not get through, at least the chinese and australian ones. there's an outside chance the american ice breaker may be engaged. we don't know that for sure. but if the weather opens up, chances are we will be helicoptered out letting the russian crew break out some time later. but at the moment, we're just preparing for the ice and if it flows. but yeah, we're getting there. i think people are sort of seeing the end in sight and keeping the morale up. so it is new year's eve, all sorts of plans will be happening. >> can you describe the moment when you realized you were stuck? i mean, did the ship just suddenly stop? was it slow? what did it feel like?

>> we rushed back to the vessel at the end in the late afternoon of the 28th. the weather was closing in badly. once we got back on board we could tell. i was up on the bridge at the time. you just looked ahead. we had been in ice before, it is very flat. it is rather lovely. like shattered glass, but when you went up on the bridge this time, this was big chunks of ice, really thick, lots of year's worth of growth. and you just looked, we're in trouble here. this is not going to be easy to get through. the captain was trying to get through. you could just tell it was not going to happen. for the next morning, hoping for the best. it might have opened up. but no. since we found out there was a break out of this really old ice on the other side of the bay where we were working. we were just so unlucky. it has not really happened for

years. we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. >> you guys have mentioned new year's eve several times. what will you do on new year's eve? how do you celebrate that on a stranded ship? >> you celebrate by dancing. i think, and -- >> whiskey? >> and in a couple of hours, we have a researcher on board who is quite good at salsa dancing. he will give everybody a lesson, one of the other passengers on board has written a song. and that will be sung about the ship. we'll get the premiere of that. and then you just find whatever spirits you can, and emotionally, and alcoholic. well, you just enjoy, i suppose. and there is plenty of ice to go around so we won't want all of that stuff. >> and actually, we're going to be broadcasting, we're hoping to do this song that the guys have written about the expedition, and the predicament and sending our love to our family and friends. and people can watch it in realtime on new year's eve. >> to be honest with you, new year's eve are pa say and boring at times.

>> normally you are worrying about what party to go to. >> it is actually very similar to new year's eve in new york. in new york, everybody is worried about can they catch a ride? will their ride get there in time? how will they get to one place or the other? it is a bit like being stuck in ice. >> exactly like being stuck in new york in rain. >> and you don't have to find a taxi either. it's brilliant. >> by the way, if you guys get bored on new year's eve, kathy griffin will be live in times square, you're more than welcome to tune in via satellite if you're able to. and by the way, if she offends you, i am sorry. i apologize to all of our viewers in advance, because she is prone to offend people. listen, on a serious note, i wish you all the best because your spirits are just inspiring. and it looks like relief is in sight and the end is near, we appreciate you talking to us. wish you the best, guys. >> bye-bye. >> and if you do imbibe, do not try to drive the ship.

they have been isolated. they think anything is funny. they will actually join us on new year's eve on our broadcast tomorrow night. so hopefully they won't be too drunk, but hopefully they will join us. we wish them the best. for more on the story go to cnn.com. and coming out for the first time, robin roberts, and how she let the world know she was gay. and later, michael schumacher is in critical condition after a skiing accident. we'll have the latest on his prognosis when we continue. condition after a skiing

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hey, welcome back, anchor

robin roberts posted on line a message of gratitude for how far she has come in her battle with medical issues and how she is looking forward to a new year. as part of that message, roberts thanked her girlfriend, publicly acknowledging she is a lesbian. randy kaye as the story. >> reporter: she broke the news on facebook sunday afternoon, buried in a message of thanks, reflecting on her recovery from a bone marrow transplant. roberts writes, i am grateful for my family, my long-time girlfriend, amber. and friends as we prepare to celebrate a glorious new year together. and with that, the popular host of good morning america came out. the amber who roberts was referring to is this woman, amber lane. these are photos of the two of them vacationing in hawaii. amber is from the san francisco bay area and works as licensed

massage therapist. people magazine reports roberts and amber were introduced by mutual friends and have been together for ten years. that may be so. but until now, robin roberts never revealed publicly she had a girlfriend. the daily mail newspaper quoted amber lane's mother as saying, we are very, very happy for them. her dad and the whole family are very family and totally supportive. for robin roberts, this is a remarkable moment, even though sharing with her viewers and television family is nothing new. over the years they have watched her struggle against two life-threatening illnesses, first, breast cancer, then more recently a serious blood and bone marrow disorder known as mds. but through it all, she has kept her partner out of the spotlight. even on the day she returned to work on "good morning america". >> hi, it is robin roberts, i have been waiting 174 days to

say this, good morning, america. >> that is official now, welcome back, robin. >> faith, family and friends have brought me to this moment and i am so full of gratitude. >> as recently as july of this year as the espy awards, where robert received the arthur ashe award, she did not publicly announce her girlfriend. when robert's name was announced she hugged her sister. before heading to the podium. and remember this history making interview from may 2012 when president obama declared his support for same-sex marriage. >> it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think that same-sex marriage couples should be able to get married. >> it was robin roberts who scored that interview. but during it never once let on she was in a lesbian relationship. still, first lady michelle obama was one of the first to take to twitter in support of robin

coming out, tweeting i am so happy for you and amber, you continue to make us proud. and ellen degeneres was quoted as saying, good morning america, congratulations, robin roberts. hip hop designer russell simmons tweeted, sending good thoughts to robin roberts #love is love. and rosie o'donnell tweeted this, only love to robin roberts with the #courage. as robin roberts told fans, i encourage you to reflect what you're grateful for. sometimes that means putting a face and name to those you love most. randi kaye, cnn, new york. up next, retired racing legend michael schumacher after a skiing accident in the french an ps. we'll have the latest from his doctors next. and also we'll get the latest from the cnn weather

center on the new year's eve weather when we continue. just by talking to a helmet. it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up. 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.

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legendary formula 1 driver michael schumacher is in critical condition tonight after a skiing accident in the french apples. and doctors are fighting to save his life. his wife and two children were at his bedside. schumacher turns 45 on friday, and had a career that spanned more than two remarkable decades. he was known as a ruthless, fearless driver, and after retiring he took his need for speed on the slopes. amanda davis has the latest. >> reporter: after so many

battles on the racetrack, seven-time formula 1 champion michael schumacher is now fighting for his life in hospital having suffered severe brain injuries. >> translator: the situation is critical. it's judged as critical, yes. >> the 44-year-old fell and hit his head on a rock while skiing on unmarked slopes in the french alps resorts of meribel on sunday morning. he was taken to the hospital, and after an operation, doctors are working to relieve pressure on his brain, keeping him in a medically induced coma. and lowering his body temperature. >> translator: he's in an artificial coma. he is suffering from hypothermia to reduce brain pressure. we need to reduce the rise in the brain pressure. >> reporter: the german was a regular on the annual ferrari ski team, and owns a house in the alps, he was an accomplished skier.

doctors say the fact he was wearing a helmet went a long way. >> translator: i think given the violence of the shock, his helmet did partly protect him. this kind of accident without a helmet would not have reached the stage. >> reporter: schumacher reached heights that others hadn't during his career as a formula 1 driver, winning more titles, races and pole positions than any before him. he returned from a serious back and neck injury from a motorbike injury, suffering neck injuries, to race in a mercedes. others paid tribute saying we all know the depth of michael's fighting spirit and send him all our strength and support in this latest battle. we sincerely hope he will make a full recovery and will be with us again soon. schumacher's family is at his bedside at the hospital and have released a statement thanking the medical team and those around the world for their

messages of support. doctors say it is too early to give a prognosis. and right now they're working on an hour by hour basis. amanda davis, cnn, london. >> just horrible, let's get caught up on some of the other stories, randi kaye will be back. >> a california judge extended a temp rir restraining order. the hospital can remove the 13-year-old from life support until january 7th. you may recall she suffered complications afters on the ill --s on the ill surgery. and a facility in new york will take her, according to the family, and a doctor that will travel with her. and a colorado teen who shot and killed a classmate at his high school earlier this month, before killing himself, he got into the high school through a door that should been locked. the gunman legally bought a shotgun after passing a

background check and spent a week stocking up on ammunition. and the dow jones reporting the record closing high of the year, soaring 25 points to close at $16,504. and the shark expert said the creature that photo-bombed this photo right here is a dolphin, not a shark. the woman that took the photo on manhattan beach on friday. that is her son and three friends playing in the surf, anderson. and this woman apparently thought it was a shark, but this expert says no go. >> yeah, i talked to shark experts, they say most of us that swam in the ocean have had an encounter with the sharks. we just don't realize it. the sharks have seen us and move on. >> i hope they always do. all right, up next, could feel like 50 degrees in some places. we have the freezing new new year's froeft. tomorrow night, i'll be sweating. i never know what kathy griffin is going to do or say. we'll preview what is going to be another -- well, hopefully not too crazy night ahead. >> all right, i should be more humble about this.

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if you are going to be outside for new year's eve, bundle up. the end of 2013 is bringing a deep freeze to part of the united states and it looks like it won't take long for the first snowstorm to hit. meteorologist samantha moore has more on the latest. all right, so new year's eve tomorrow night a lot of people will go out and celebrate, what will it look like? >> it will be mighty chilly indeed. and i know you're prepared for it anderson, as the cold air spills in across much of the country. so specifically in times square we're talking temperatures right around freezing throughout much of the evening. but when the winds blow out of the west at 15, we'll have the wind chill factor down to around 22 degrees.

so you know, very chilly, especially when you're outside for an extended period of time. atlanta will be great here, dropping the peach in centennial park, we're talking temperatures in the low 40s, upper 30s and no rain for a change. this is the first time in a long time there was a dry stretch here in atlanta ending the year in 2013. so 16 and a half inches ahead. chicago seeing the snow come down throughout the evening, the wind chill factor getting down as low as 5 measly degrees. denver, not bad by denver standards. should be in the mid-30s, upper 20s, when you're out in it dress warmly and layer up. and one spot that is not too chilly here is in los angeles where we're seeing temperatures in the 50s by the time they are celebrating the new year and getting ready to bring in 2014. so very cold air is settling in out of canada, a lot of arctic air, some of the coldest air we've seen in a long time. so high temperatures only in the 30s here, anderson.

so incredibly cold. >> we'll be out for three and a half hours tomorrow night, kathy griffin, i realized i don't have a winter coat. i will have to buy one tomorrow. >> what? >> yeah, i know, it is ridiculous. and the northeast is going to be hit by a winter snowstorm. >> and we have a couple of different scenarios to talk about, this is the european, which has performed well this year. strengthening very quickly, that's what it shows, that we're going to see this low parallel the coast, hugging the coast. and that means we're going to end up seeing the snow moving far inland. and we'll talk lots of snow, with folks having to get out and really shovel things. and the other scenario, the gfs which keeps it off the coast here which means we'll end up seeing less snow, and less wind and less impact on the airport. so anderson, this could have a tremendous impact on many travellers heading home after a long holiday. >> all right, samantha, appreciate the update as the year draws to a close. feeling a sense of excitement, mixed with fear and pending disaster and perhaps

career-ending disaster. tomorrow night, for the seventh year in a row, i'll brave the cold and take the heat from kathy griffin. we are once again co-hosting cnn's new year's eve coverage. here is a little preview of the scintillating banter that you might expect. >> i have something to talk to you about. >> o'really? >> i think you know what i'm referring to. >> i don't know what you're referring to. >> i think you do, ryan seacrest and i have been trying to face time you and i never thought i would say this. i am now team seacrest instead of team cooper. >> why did you possibly team up with ryan seacrest? he has been your nemesis for years. >> that is right, cooper, you mess with me, i bring out the big guns. i actually have an e-mail between ryan seacrest, myself and anderson cooper. it is as follows, ryan secrest, good to see you, kathy, let's

figure out dinner with coop, how should we loop everyone in? kathy says. it is awful to see you, and i give out your e-mail, i don't have carson daily's i wish i did. he's the most solid of the bunch. sorry, i didn't think you'd see that part. ryan says, dinner accomplished. are you guys up for dinner before the shows? then, i hope all of cnn can see this. hey, i'm not sure i'm going to be able to do dinner. i get back on the 30th but i have to be on the air that night until 11:00, looking forward to seeing you, that is a blowoff. ryan seacrest is sobbing, he is in times square, spiking his hair, getting a mani-pedi, reaching out, just wants a hug. i don't know if you can count on me this year. i may just march over to ryan and spoon. >> are you looking forward to new year's eve?

i'm looking forward to being teamed with you again, slash, dreading it a little bit. >> okay, the slash is really not necessary because they're very different things. usually a slash means things that are grouped together. of course you're looking forward to being with me, i mean, i'm looking forward to being with you. >> kathy griffin, we start at 9:00 tomorrow night, for some reason they're starting us at 9:00 tomorrow night. we'll be on for three and a half hours. brace yourself. coming up, again, i just apologize in advance, whatever happens i just apologize in advance, a blanket apology. coming up, number one, the countdown of the top five ridiculist of the year. can you guess what it will be? find out next. protect financial. to help communities recover and rebuild. for companies going from garage to global. on the ground, in the air, even into space. we repaid every dollar america lent us.

and gave america back a profit. we're here to keep our promises. to help you realize a better tomorrow. from the families of aig, happy holidays.

all right, we have been counting down the top ridiculist of 2013 based on your votes on line, tonight, your choice for

number one. time now for the ridiculist, and tonight i want to introduce you to the song stylings of a band called man-man. they just released a new album. there is one song on the new record in particular called "end boss." take a listen and i'll be with you in a minute. ♪ ♪ ♪ so you're getting the lyrics here, a wolf is sneaking up on a sleeping baby at night. but you may think this is just typical indy rock imagery, but you're wrong. the song is not about any wolf it is like so much of the art

around us, it is inspired by wolf blitzer. oh, yes, we with hear some more, can we? ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hang on, did wolf blitzer just drink vodka and eat the baby? it sounds like wolf ate the baby in the barrio and ate a churro as well. we asked the front man for the real story, he said the basic story was about a wolf that eats a baby. but that seems a bit passe, so he thought it would be more interesting to reimagine the wolf being wolf blitzer sneaking into houses and devouring children.

sneaking through the windows, shooting pool in a barrio bar while dreaming and drinking lemon flavored vodka still gets to me. i don't know if you noticed, in that picture there, the lead singer of man man is wearing a custom-made tunic made of wolf blitzer heads. how do i get that? that was my first question. as ryan notes, it turned out gorgeous. wolf looks very handsome and devilish, and might i say hungry? ladies and gentlemen, if i was in charlotte, north carolina tonight, i would go to the chop shop to see man man on tour, two, i would steal that tunic during a sound check. three, we finally have an answer to a question that a young balloon boy posed many years ago as he waited for his interview with wolf blitzer. >> say hi to wolf. >> hi. >> hi, guys. >> who the hell is wolf? >> i'll tell you who he is, an enigma, a muse, and as a vodka

swilling baby eater, amazing. that does it for us. i'll see you tomorrow night at 9:00 eastern for live new year's eve conch. up next, i'm anderson cooper. welcome to special report, extraordinary people. >> and i'm robin meade. extraordinary might be in the eye of the beholder. to some it might mean someone fantastically athletic or someone uber talented. what about every day folks who simply have to be courageous in the circumstance they find themselves in, or selfless or inspirational. looking back on this year 2013, who do you feel is truly extraordinary? >> that's what we're going to look at in the next hour. you're going to meet some every day people who really did extraordinary things. people like antoinette tuff. in a year that mass gun shootings made news, this schoolteacher changed the story. she had power ofe.