response. thank you. happy new year. >> to you as well. >> thank you for watching. "around the world" starts now. get ready for a powerful winter storm, freezing temperatures up to a foot of snow. million of folks impacted. we'll tell you exactly where. called a traitor by some, hero by others. two major newspapers are saying the obama administration should have mercy on the nsa whistle-blower, edward snowden. and rescued at last, after being stranded for tens on a ship in the antarctic, the 22-member crew remain on board. welcome to "around the world." i'm suzanne malveaux. the new mayors of boston and new york face the first big test, how are they going to handle the monster winter storm that's about to hit the communities? we'll find out, of course.

new york could get up to ten inches, boston even more than that. millions more people along the east coast, they are hunkering down for a possible blizzard that could bring life to a standstill. people in the midwest, they are already dealing with a snowstorm. temperatures there, about to tack a steep dive below zero. we've got cnn crews in all of this covering every angle. margaret collins in boston, alexander field. ted rowlands outside chicago. alexandra steel tracking the storm. ted, you are dealing with brutal cold on the way. we've already sei reports and people sending in photos. the snow's arrived there. >> reporter: snowing basically straight since new year's eve day. and we're getting a lot of accumulation. i have my shovel here. we'll show you how much we're getting. so far, this is, i don't know, maybe close to seven, eight

inches. they're expecting over a foot by the time later today. the problem is getting rid of this stuff. crews out 24/7 clearing streets. o'hare, o'hare airport in chicago, having a lot of problems, over 1,000 flight cancellations. nationwide, a lot at o'hare. expecting more throughout the day. luckily, for the folks in the midwe midwest, snow is moving out but it's going to be bitter cold in the next few hours. so, it's going to go from bad to worse, really, because in chicago, you add those temperatures with wind and it's downright miserable but at least the snow's moving on. for the commute and other things it will be easier. but not looking forward to the next few hours. >> i used to live in chicago, i know what the freezing frigid cold is all about. margaret in boston. you know, went to school in boston, folk there's, they know what they're doing. new englanders, they have seen bad weather. they get hit with this all the

time. how are they dealing with this today? are they ready? >> reporter: suzanne, we're getting a big gust of wind right now, the worst of the storm is yet to come. boston's declared asnow emergency. the snow's gotten worse. now worse into the night into the morning. how bad? we have our stick here. it's less than an inch. it's going to get up to a foot. that's as bad as it's going to get. we're expecting temperatures to drop to minus 3 and it's going to be freezing. there are not many people out on the streets. a postman we saw earlier. only people here are shoveling the snow. it's a light snow. there is strong wind. that's a problem for travelers. it's creating a blizzard-like effect. visibility's going to be very tough. do not travel, that's the advice from weather services. it's tough on the roads, also in the air. flights canceled. there have been accidents on the

road with concerns for black ice. one thing we're doing is tracking how many snowplows on the ground in massachusetts. there are 1500 out there, they have capacity to go up to 4,000. so we are just in the very beginning stages of this storm. >> yeah, margaret, we've been watching you all morning and it's amazing that that wind picked up as soon as we went on air there. you got a great hat for all of this, hunker down. we'll get back to you shortly. alexandria in new york, where they're getting ready. a big one for people in the city and of course the new mayor, he's got a major test to see how they're going to get through all of this. >> absolutely. talking about a snowstorm of this size, 8 million people, a lot to think about, a lot of planning to do. a big test for mayor bill de blasio in his second day in office. right now, every step is taken possible to get the city ready. this is the sanitation department right off the west side highway here. you can see one of the trucks filled with salt.

that's one of 365 of the trucks, loaded up, heading out on the roads they want to keep roads dry and safe as the storm approaches. the worst, expected to come in later today into the night and tomorrow morning. a lot of that work is being done now. 1600 new york city garbage trucks outfitted with plows, on the roads as well. as soon as we get 2 inches of snow, that's when plows head out. expecting 5 to 10 inches here. a big job for the plows. long island, more snow and blizzard-like conditions. expecting wind here in new york city. these bitter subzero temperatures. stay indoors, if you can. these guys are getting out there to get ahead of it. >> i expect we'll see mayor out and about to making sure that everything goes well. we get back to you as well. our our alexandria keeping a watch in atlanta. how big this thing? how serious are we talking about in the next 12 hours, 12 to 24

hours? >> let's get to it. here's currently where the snow is. certainly not seeing as much now, of course we saw the snow in chicago and along new york state, new york state thruway. worst is yet to come tonight into tomorrow. what's happening, the nor'easter's developing, two areas of low pressure will phase together and become quite a strong nor'easter. we have bliz warnings and winds pick up. you can see in boston it's a light, powdery snow, not a lot of moisture content. when winds pick up, that's when blizzard warnings pick up and be in effect. tonight, you can see where the snow is, all of pennsylvania, new york, long island, connecticut. it's a phase of snow, was good for new york. it's going to come in two phases. by morning, on friday, there it is, still. but by the afternoon, all the snow is over but it's the backside, isobars show you how strong the winds are, that's when the wins will be strong.

gusting to 45 miles per hour. totals, 8 to 14 in boston. 6 to 2348 new york city. 8 to 12 along the new york state thruway in al banfully. 4 to 7 in philly. now a bit in washington, d.c. look at all 0 states covered with some watch or warning. the pink delineating winter storm warning. blizzard warnings and why, because of the nature of the snow, along the cape, islands and long island, suzanne, that's when we're going to see incredible winds of all of the snow that has fallen already. brace yourself. thank you. ted, margaret, alexandria, our intrepid reporters out there. it's going to be a big one. new york times and the guardian in great britain are praising edward snowden for leaking the information about the nsa's surveillance program. the times is say he did the program a great service and want

the obama administration to give him a break. it says, when someone reveals government officials routinely and deliberately broken the law that person should not face life in prison at the hands of the same government. president obama should tell his aides to begin finding a way to end mr. snowden's vili indication and give him an incentive to return home. snowden has been living in russia for the last few months to avoid espionage charges. and the times think his should get some form of kleclemency. >> washington is full of people who broke the law by lying to congress, by engaging in illegal spying, by ordering the torture of prisoners. we haven't seen prosecutions of those officials and we haven't seen a lot of hand wringing about the precedent set by not prosecuting those people. let's not get on a high horse and say, oh dear, if we don't prosecute this person we're going to set a bad precedent.

>> we'll talk with our cnn justice reporter correspondent evan perez in washington. "the new york times" powerful paper, editorial as well. clearly the white house is read what they say. they care about what they say. do you think it's going to make a difference in terms how the obama administratione pursues snowden? >> if you asked me this three, four months ago i would say it's not something anybody would think about seriously. it's true, however, that you know, we've had a lot of things change in the last few months. you've had two court decisions, one court, one judge in washington who said that some of the programs, in particular the one that collects data on every single phone call made in the united states, that that could be a violation of the fourth amendment, perhaps unconstitutional. another judge in new york said the opposite. i think this is a debate that's being had right now within the government. it's not something that you're going to see resolved very soon.

people in the justice department trying to prosecute this probably would not be very much in favor. the attorney general, eric holder, told me just that a few weeks ago. however people at nsa would love to see for the leaks to stop. that's where complication lies. >> also want to read this part of the editorial. the shrill brigade of his critics say mr. snowden has done propound damage to intelligence damage of the united states but not has presented disclosures hurt the nation's security. have we heard from the security community? people pushing back on that? >> yes. i think if you talk to the people at the fbi, other intelligence agencies, they will say that they have seen some changes of behavior in terrorist organizations. there are people now communicating different ways to try to avoid some of the surveillance. of course, it's hard to prove any of that. and it's also hard to prove this is a problem for the nsa, it's

hard for them to prove whether these programs have actually stopped any attacks which is something that has been brought up by both judges that have looked at this and by a panel appointed by the president to take a look at these programs. >> do we have a timetable when this will be resolved? >> well, we don't. i mean, we have members of congress who are talking about making some changes to pull back some of the programs. the president says next month he's going to address some of these issues. even the issue of trying to work on any plea deal would be very complicated because snowden has said he's given up some documents to the journalists that he's working with. they would have to be in on perhaps any kind of negotiation because the government would for sure want to make sure those documents come back and stop the leaks from going forward. >> it's a very complicated case. appreciate your insights. more on "around the world," a powerful explosion has gone

off in a beirut neighborhood. the latest, just ahead. fiat buying full control of chrysler. what does this mean for the future of american car companies? plus -- would you do 30 squats for a free subway ride? that's actually what they're doing in russia. phil black decided to give it ai try. >> a popular one, i've noticed, here we go, superman. it's not counting. [ male announcer ] legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses. if you have a business idea, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. start your business today with legalzoom. her long day of pick ups and drop offs begins with arthritis pain... and a choice. take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief.

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new bloodshed in beirut. a car bomb exploded in a residential neighborhood. four people have been killed, many others injured. the damage, as you can see, is extensive. this blast happened in an area that is a stronghold of hezbollah, it comes less than a week after a car bomb exploded in the heart of the city, killing half a dozen people. violence has surged in lebanon since hezbollah militants acknowledged helping syria's government in the civil war. secretary of state john

kerry, he has just wrapped up a meeting with benjamin netanyahu, in the middle east to propose a new framework for a middle east peace deal. yer plans to meet with the palestinian president abbas and those is kerry's ninth trip to the region. the proposal is based on five months of extensive consultation with leaders since the peace process resumed this summer. >> the time is soon arriving where leaders are going to have to make difficult decisions. we are close to that time, if not at it, and i think we understand the circumstances within which we are working. i know, i come here with no illusions, i know that there are many who are skeptical of whether or not the two parties can achieve peace. >> what's different here? the united states seems to have moved into a more muscular role

as mediator by presenting its own proposals to the parties, instead of relying on the israelis and the mens to negotiate the decades-old conflict themselves. fiat, which makes these cute little cars here, about to take full ownership of chrysler. that's right. fiat already owned the majority of chrysler. it was brought in as part of the bankruptcy deal four years ago to keep chrysler from going under, right? richard quest joining us new york to talk about the bigger picture here. you've got a foreign company buying full ownership of the classic american brand. what does it mean? >> yes, let's not get too excited at the idea of foreign ownership here, because don't forget, before chrysler went bankrupt, it was owned by daimler-benz of germany. dameler chrysler was around ten years. chrysler has been owned before by a foreign company. all this does, think of this as a massive tidying up operation

because fiat has wanted to get its hands on chrysler and the united autoworkers and its pension fund, which have take ain't large stake, 41% after the bankruptcy, they wanted to get out of the stake. there was a very nasty possibility of the battle over of an ipo, a public offering. >> right. >> what this does is bring it altogether. and finally recognizes that the italian company, fiat, now owns chrysler. >> so, richard, what does this mean in terms of jobs? that's the first question people have. is it going to impact the number of jobs people have? are the cars going to change? are we going to see tangible differences here? >> no, and you shouldn't because fiat has had its sticky fingers all over chrysler since day one in terms of sharing of technology, manufacturing, and future plans. the leader, the ceo of fiat has

been running both companies. look at how the company's done. if you look at chrysler's share and the share of the market and its profitability, chrysler has moved back into profitability in the last couple of years, being extremely profitable over recent years. and that is set to continue. what this will allow is single ownership, clear direction of the way forward. and i mean, look at that, since 2013, sales have been up 18%, and 70% over the past 3 years. now both of these companies, fiat, fiat has to repair itself in europe, and chrysler has to increase its asia presence. and a larger entity will be able to do it. >> yeah. i remember when the obama administration got a lot of criticism for those when they first decided to let fiat make the move but it seems to have paid off now there don't forget there are some of us just about

old enough to remember lee iacocca and the famous line, chrysler sought a bailout decades ago, lead, follow, or get out of the way. chrysler has never been smooth sailing in terms of corporate governance. >> thank you, richard. appreciate it. take a look at this. this is two major rescues. watch this. so this one from the antarctic ice, and then the other from the mediterranean sea. those stories, straight ahead. life could be hectic. as a working mom of two young boys angie's list saves me a lot of time. after reading all the reviews i know i'm making the right choice. online or on the phone, we help you hire right the first time. with honest reviews on over 720 local services. keeping up with these two is more than a full time job,

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of course, we are following the weather story, a big weather story, potential winter storm heading to the northeast. rescued from the frozen bottom of the world. watch this. >> the first of the helicopters to take us home.

thanks herb everyone! >> that's the snow eagle landing on the antarctic ice. that happened this morning. it ferried out all 52 passengers of a russian research ship, trapped since christmas eve. matthew chance following all of this from the beginning. one of my favorite stories. i couldn't imagine all of the guys sending videos, they seem so happy, confident, they finally rescued them after many, many failed attempts. but you still have a crew that's on board that ship. tell us, first of all, how do they manage the breakthrough, this rescue operation, and what happens to the crew? >> you're right. it's one of my favorite stories as well across the holiday period. you almost get the impression they're going to sad to see the back of the stranded vessel. but they're off it now, 52 of them. airlifted by the chinese helicopter to a chinese ice breaker a short distance away that couldn't get through the thick ice.

the breakthrough came because there's terrible weather down there over the past couple of days. the helicopter hasn't managed to take off safely. so only when the weather cleared that they were able to do it and ferry the 52 passengers, including scientists and tourists, off that vessel. they've been stuck there since christmas eve on to the ice breaker. they're on another ship heading into open water. you're right, 22 crew members, mainly russians, staying with the ship. they're not leaving it. they don't want to abandon it. they want to wait for a path to be broken through by the ice breakers to get into open water and they could be there for several weeks to come. so for some people on the ship, for 22 people, the adventure continues into the new year. >> all right. matthew, thank you. i'm sure we'll be getting videos from them as well. we also have this story as well, a pressing rescue to tell you about. this in the mediterranean sea

off at italian island. the italian navy, they launched this rescue because they realized that the seas were quite rough, that that boat, only 33 feet long, had no life jackets on board. officials say the passengers were migrants, most african, and they are now being taken to a port in sicily. and this, following the deep freeze, deep snow. we could be in deep trouble. that is right. northeast in the hours ahead, we are watching the weather and watching it closely. how bad is it going to get? up next. [ male announcer ] this is the story of the little room over the pizza place on chestnut street the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia and the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more.

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call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? keep your eye on bottom of the screen. tracking this storm. an update on the blizzard warnings, extreme cold, from the midwest to new england. snow and wind likely to bring life to a standstill. a number of flight cancellations growing, more than 1700. boston under a snow emergency, new york getting ready for a big

blizzard. people in the midwest shoveling snow, preparing for the temperature to drop even more. alexandria steel tracking all of this. >> let's begin with not only is the snow coming, but it's the winds and the precipitously low cold temperatures. so, here's the wind speed, future wind speed this afternoon. notice gusts, 39 boston, 36 in new york. later, we go 46, 50. you can see by 11:00 tonight, boston gusts to 50. the cape and the islands in long island, those will see the strongest gusts tonight into tomorrow. friday morning, 40s, 50s, even into philadelphia and washington and baltimore gusting into the 40s. that's part of the story. that's what will impact airports as well. temperatures, look at boston saturday morning, 3 below. boston has not been below zero since january of 2011. the coldest air we've seen in

years inundated with the snowstorm. as we head through 3:00 this afternoon, late tonight into tomorrow, that's when the biggest cities will be impacted. tonight you can see it covers new jersey, long island, new york, connecticut, massachusetts, overnight tonight. and then in to tomorrow morning, still new jersey. even a dusting in washington, d.c. and baltimore. but by tomorrow afternoon, even by noon, the snow is gone. but that's just the beginning of the trouble. on the backside of the nor'easter, incredibly gusty winds, thus gusts gusting to 40 and 50. that's where the problems will lie. details of the totals, 8 to 14 expected in boston. 6 to 8 in new york. albany, points west, 8 to 12. washington and philadelphia, 4 to 7 for you. so you can see, 22 states impacted with 100 million people. but it's the blizzard warnings, and you can see where they are, on the cape, long island, that's where the very light, fluffy snow, that doesn't have a lot of water within it, will blow with

gusts 45 miles per hour, visibility's to low. the snow falling, the wind and the visibilities. >> get ready. >> get ready. >> we'll be tracking it, every hour, thank you. other stories making news around the world now. former prime minister ariel sharon is in critical condition, after being in a coma for nearly eight years. a spokesman is saying, his organs are failing and close family members are now by his bedside. sharon has long symbolized israel's military might as a former general. he's hated by arabs for his hard line policies which included promoting jewish settlement in captured territory but also known for his peace efforts, agreeing with the late plo leader arafat on a time line to halt israeli-palestinian violence and resume peace talks. the former president of pakistan was supposed to be in court today, but his lawyer tells cnn that musharraf is in

the hospital now on doctor's orders. reportedly is being treated for chest pains. the trial is going to resume on monday. musharraf, he is accuseded of treason for suspending pakistan's constitution and imposing rule, that back in 2007. he says he was trying to stabilize the country. musharraf could face the death penalty. south sudan's president has declared a state of emergency in this country where the spiraling violence is causing a humanitarian crisis. at the same time, there are peace talks about to happen between the warring factions. u.n. peacekeepers are trying to protect 200,000 civilians forced from their homes because of all of this violence. they are now living in these makeshift camps. you see how tough it is for them. arwa damon is joining us from juba south sudan. tell us what people are going

through now. >> reporter: it's an unimaginably difficult situation, suzanne, for so many here, especially because right before this crisis broke out, by all accounts, things seemed to be going well. businesses were coming in, wanting to invest here. people thought the worst was behind them. and then this violence just exploded, surprisingly across the entire country. you're talking about the refugees inside the u.n. camp. there are around 70,000 that are sheltering at various u.n. compounds throughout the entire country. but the issue is that there are 200,000 internally displaced people, at least. and therefore, most of them have not actually been able to reach these various u.n. installations, that is a grave concern because tens of thousands of people have been living out in the bush, trying to stay safe. but the u.n. and other international ngos are saying that they are facing food shortages, a lack of clean water, and of course, there is

great concern about their medical state, especially the children, diarrhea inside the u.n. camps prevalent, and that can kill a child, diarrhea and dehydration can kill a baby. great concerns about this growing humanitarian crisis. >> you're on the ground, talking to people there inside of the country. do they believe that peace is possible? do they believe in these talks that are happening? do they think this can turn around? >> reporter: well, they don't really have a choice but to believe, that's what they're telling us, because if they don't, if they accept this notion that south sudan has effectively failed itself, failed its own population, then it would make life utterly unimaginable. people are hoping that this situation is going to return to a certain degree of normalcy. a lot is riding on the outcome of the peace talks, a lot is riding on the various position that president kiir and his

former vice president and rebel leader decide to take up. a lot of people are really trying to come to grips with the violence, trying to make sense of it, because just so many here, it really just doesn't make sense for the country to have to go through this after all that it has been through at this stage. >> thank you so much. please keep united states posted as well. we have seen a lot of predictions for 2014, but it really is ones that the economists that got us talking. editors have a number of different predictions. they think that extinct animals, for instance, like the deer on the left, will be brought back to life. talking more about that and others, up next. hi, i'm terry and i have diabetic nerve pain.

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don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. the economists looked inside its crystal ball, come up with a long and fascinating list for global predicts for the year, some surprising as well. take a look at this. china, it will be the world's top economy. it will own brand names that you love. and we will even be celebrating china's holidays in the united states. tom easton, the american finance editor here to talk about all of these things. i've been obsessed over this magazine and this prediction for quite some time. let's go through all of the

stuff. talk about china first. you say that china's economy's going to be number one, big change that we're going to see. how quickly is that going to happen? >> we try look forward and by doing that next year when you hear from us, maybe you've forgotten what we predict, even if we're wrong, we can make predictions going forward for another year. we don't set a time on the china piece. we have three, four china pieces and one piece says it will rule the world but we have two others say it's falling apart. we can't be wrong on this one. our piece that says china will rule the world has a lot of colorized to it. the olympics will time itself to the chinese audience rather than ours, you'll be up at 3:00 and 4:00 rather than the afternoon. prime time will be redesigned. people who want to find a rich husband or wife will go to china to marry somebody. chinese people will buy energy america. this is written by a british journalists and they love to write incendiary things to alarm

americans about the future of the world. >> a report that a chinese tycoon interested in buying the new york times, he's offered $1 billion. "new york times" say it's not for sale but china does own a lot of u.s. brands. what do we expect for 2014? >> so they own things like volvo, a swedish brand and linovo bought ibm. millions of things created all the time. google kale out of nowhere, and aapple came out of nowhere. it's a nice thing to think about. they will probably buy name brand thing, we'll be alarmed. i would like to buy the new york times, too, my chances are likely as a chinese billionaire. but they've tried to make their news service a global service but there's a lot of money there, a lot. >> we've got to move ahead. talking about pot, weed, the whole thing here, colorado

making it legal. >> yeah. optimistic. >> washington state, to follow. then uruguay, is this a new wave? >> we think this is huge. for instance, predicting by christmas, 2014, you will be able to buy in new zealand synthetic drugs, one called pow and another blueberry crush. last year the legislatures in new zealand passed new laws concerning drugs and doing safety testing. there should be more stuff legal. you can have six plants in your home if you're a cooperative. you can have 99. in colombia, you can create the raw material for cocaine. we think that narcotic legalization is going to become far more popular in the year ahead. >> one that was confusing here, the very notion that you can bring back extinct species and so some producers are thinking,

what, jurassic park? a picture of this deer in the magazine and some people say, what, t-rex next? what's the science behind this? how is it possible. >> a spanish goat. it died tragically when a tree fell on top of it. it was the last of its species. its basic problem it avoided being killed in the past by leaping from boulder to boulder but liked to be proud when it got away from things and stand up straight at the end and it made it prey for hunters. they took dna from the last one and packed it into another goat and actually there is a child born that died soon thereafter. but they're optimistic that they can bring this goat back. for all of the people in the world that miss this goat, it will return. it raises the idea of dodo birds and woolley mammoths of things we've missed terribly. if we screw everything up, we can still re-create it in a lab and have a second chance. >> kind of amazing if you think

about it that way. more on a serious note. 65 countries at risk or high risk of social unrest. why is that? >> you know, it's almost half of the world is at risk on social unrest. let me say, among those countries, china, which is, you know, busy buying american, and western european countries, including spain and portugal. you know the financial crisis took a huge toll, a lot of governments are having a lot of problems and different places. america actually does not rate on our list as the most sanguine of all countries, it's low risk but not low risk like den mark. as we work our way through these financial problems and also, there are a lot of big political questions on how governments should be run and it's resulted in half of the world being you know in some sort of intellectual ferment. you're going to see protests all over the place. >> i'll put this up at once

here. pick out best one because we're running out of time here. these are more predictions that robots will become more a part of daily life, that you're going to see grand prix for electric cars, more tunnels connecting the world, and economy seats getting tighter on the planes. i don't know if they can get tighter on the planes. >> hardly a surprise, right. >> that's not a surprise. >> it will get worse, right? >> africa's going to continue to grow economically, which is a good thing, and the -- asians are having fewer children overseas. pick one of them that is -- >> tunnels, tunnels. we are creating 600 -- last year created 650 miles worth of tunnels, create larger numbers going forward. austria's connecting with italy. there's actually talk of china and korea linking with japan. this would be technologically and politically inconceivable decades ago. we're all fighting with each

other, we are creating new connections in more interesting ways and it's a product of really evolving technology and how to put a hole in the ground. london's got a ton going on. who knows? maybe manhattan will get one to new jersey. the port authority was created a hundred years ago to do that and never did. >> tom, lots more to talk about. lots more to think about, see whether or not it comes to fruition for 2014? brutalized in life. in death this homeless, drug addicted transgender woman embraced by the pope's church. many say it is an example of the emphasis on mercy under pope francis.

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are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. make the most of every moment. ask your dermatologist about humira, today. clearer skin is possible. the pope's church holds funeral services for a homeless transgender, drug addicted woman, never done before at least not at the mother church of the jesuit order to which the pope belongs this shows how the pope's emphasis of mercy is reshaping the church. >> reporter: this woman described as a gentle soul. and a devout catholic. well-known to charity workers, andrea gave this interview to local media, just days before

she was brutally beaten to death. they have yet to find her killer. four years ago, transgendered and homeless, andrea left colombia for italy, looking for a society that would accept her for who she was, a man who felt like a woman. >> she has been treated by life like the cigarette butt that she was picking up from the streets because she didn't have the money. >> reporter: in rome, it was no different. in fact, it was worse. she was abused on a regular basis. on july 29th, here at rome's main railway station where andrea lived with other homeless people, her body was found beaten and stabbed. the very same day, on a plane ride from brazil to the vatican, pope francis uttered the five words that have come to define his papacy -- who am i to judge? his response to a question about gays and the catholic church.

and so on december 27th, what was previously unthinkable, happened. andrea was honored here with a catholic funeral in a prestigious jesuit church in rome. >> i was surprised. we haven't been -- it's as if the catholic church say, we see you the way you feel you are. >> reporter: months after her death new york one from her family has come forward to claim her body. even so, government officials activists, even the mayor of rome, gathered to pay tribute to andrea. >> the priest talking about her, using "she" is a symbolic gesture of what happened today. >> what does that say?

>> that everybody is equal. >> reporter: erin mclaughlin, cnn, rome. nigella lawson speak out on u.s. television for the first time since that trial revealed that she used cocaine. lawson was not on trial, but her two former assistants actually were, they were acquitted of defrauding her and her art dealer ex-husband. but during the trial, lawson said that she was maliciously vilified by the defense when they chose to put her drug use on trial. now she admitted taking cocaine several times but not regularly, towards the end of her stormy ten-year marriage. >> you went through a lot and the focus turned sharply on you at times. this was a criminal lawsuit against them but at times did you feel like you were on trial? >> i did. but it's, you know, it's one of the niceties of the english legal system you're not allowed any counsel if you're a witness.

maybe it will change. maybe that's good. >> what were those moments like on the witness stand for you? >> i can't really remember exactly because you're so focused on answering the questions to the best of your ability that actually you don't have an awareness of yourself. maybe that's a good thing, to have not any private life but distortions of your private life put on display is mortifying. but you know, there are people going through a lot worse and to dwell on any of it would be self-pity, and i don't like to do that. >> lawson has been nicknamed the domestic goddess, appeared as a judge on the abc cooking show "the taste." rob ford wants four more years as toronto's mayor but will toronto want for more years of him? at the clerk's office first thing filing re-election papers. he told reporters he was the

best mayor they ever had. the election is set for october 27th. so, would you rather pay for a ride on the metro or do this? a bunch of leg squats. that's the choice people have in moscow now. we'll check and see how our own reporter did, up next.

here is the challenge, 30 rubles or 30 squats? that's a dollar by the way. a fun experiment meant to get people excited about the winter olympics in russia. people riding moscow's metro asked to do squats s instead of pay for the ride, if they could do it. phil black tried. >> reporter: beneath the freezing streets of moscow the city's underground train system, the metro. it was a source of great pride to the soviet union, some of its stations and platforms are spectacular. this is a recent attempt to bill national pride with the metro. these people are buying tickets with the winter olympics coming to the city of sochi next february, the government wants people to get excited and get moving. instead of accepting 30 rubles for a ride, about one dollar, this machine allows people to pay with 30 squats. we saw lots of enthusiasm.

some big age differences, and interesting techniques. sometimes there was even a lineup. but the numbers were still small. only one squatting machine, for the whole metro system which moves as many as 9 million people a day. the regular ticket booths were getting more traffic. i asked this woman, why you lazy? apparently that's a rude question in russia, she denied it and accepted the challenge. i held her handbag, she squeezed out a confident 30. apparently you can't call other people lazy without having a go yourself. okay. it's a bitterly cold moscow day. what could possibly go wrong? a popular, i've noticed, here we

go, superman. it's not counting. there's also the squatting chicken. i've seen that a bit. that's popular. dancing cossic company easy, or so i thought. 59, 60. one more time. annoyingly, he was right. >> 29. >> you need to do it over again. >> reporter: everyone else happier with the experience, they told us they'd like to see more of the machines and think it's a great way to build olympic spirit. phil black, cnn, moscow. >> all right. try again, phil. twins actually can be born on different days but how often are they born in different years? that's amazing. this actually happened near toronto. gab ella came into the world at 11:52 december 31st.

but her twin sister, sophia, waited for 2014. she arrived about 30 seconds after midnight on january 1st. the girls will actually have their very own birthdays and birth years. that's pretty cool. thanks for watching "around the world." "cnn newsroom" starts right now. have a good afternoon. right now, blizzard conditions and below zero windchillsing looking at live pictures from chicago, cleveland, pittsburgh. watching the radar, watching the roads and the flights as this massive storm marches across the united states. right now, marijuana suppliers in colorado worried they won't be able to keep up with demand. turnout at pot shops so heavy they have to turn customers away. new questions about the future of the democratic party. why bill de blasio's rise may