spray painting the walls before opening fire on board members. every horrifying moment was caught on tape. how it all began, and the tragic ending in a moment. icy roads, mountains of snow, hundreds of drivers stuck in the bitter cold for hours. the military called in to pull them out. the latest in the rescue efforts. the arctic plunge in the east and the snow that will just not stop. and it's like a scene out of the movie. call it oceans one. the armed robber walks into the casino in vegas and walks out with $1.5 million worth of casino chips. was this the first time? a gunman opening fire at a florida school board meeting. the dramatic -- and that is an understated word to use, standoff, hail of bullets caught on a live video feed. >> started with clay duke armed with a handgun and can of spray paint, got up from the back of

the room where he was sitting and began ranting, he pointed the gun at the superintendent. board members hiding under their desks, and amazingly even though he was shooting right at them, the bullets missed all of them at close range. and in the end, duke took his own life. and we're warning you that the video you're about to see is disturbing. >> he made up his mind and you could tell he was going to die. my concern was how many people was he going to take with him? >> reporter: cameras were rolling, 56-year-old clay duke, first spray painting a "v" on the wall, then pointing a handgun at school board members. >> you can leave and you can leave. six men stay. everyone else leaves. >> reporter: then in a bizarre moment ginger littleton tries to stop duke hitting him with her

purse. >> no. >> reporter: at that point, the superintendent knew things were about to get worse. >> he came up over towards the backside of us and started saying somebody's going to die in here. you know, that i'm upset, i'm mad. you fired my wife. my wife lost her job, my family -- he was just rambling. >> reporter: he tried to reason with duke not knowing the gunman was about to snap. >> just listen to me for a minute. i don't want anybody to get hurt. and i've got a feeling is what you want the cops to come in and kill you because you're mad. you said you're going to die today. but what? this isn't worth it. this is a problem -- please don't. please don't. please. >> unbelievable scene. he was shooting and he missed all of them. he was then shot and wounded by the school board's chief of

security. that's who shot him off camera in the knee. he was not fatally wounded by that shot, but then officers say he turned the gun on himself. >> what is most extraordinary about that video is how calm the school board members were. he was trying to reason with him very calm, another fella on the board right until the time he leveled the gun at them. >> but even then, they did the right thing, all went underneath the desk, and he also -- we're going to be talking to him later, but he said i'm the one who signed the papers, let everybody else go. he was complaining about his wife being let go. she'd worked for the district. a bizarre scene. all of it caught on camera. a lot of questions remain this morning. >> he said when duke first pulled the trigger, he thought he'd been shot. and he said his thoughts went to his kids and that's when he got upset and that's when he discovered he missed. how did he miss? and thankfully the chief of security was there and took him down. >> unbelievable. at 7:10 eastern in just an

hour, we'll be joined live by superintendent william husfelt and ginger littleton. they're going to join us with more on this bizarre and tragic ending to that school board meeting. >> wow, bunch of lucky people there. another huge lake effect snowstorm in upstate new york. up to 15 inches of snow expected by tonight on top of all of that snow already on the ground. and windchills that remain 10 degrees below zero. >> it is just a mess out there and they're still getting pummelled in northeast ohio this morning. 2 feet of snow and counting in some of the areas already hard hit. many schools in the region are already out of snow days for the entire year. and we're at december 15th. >> a longer school year, it won't be finished until july. this cold snap is stretching from one end of the country to the other from canada to key west. winter hats and coats out across

the sunshine state. cities all over florida broke or flirted with record lows yesterday and they will again today. in the meantime, the search continues for cars and people in them. buried in the snow after a brutal and blinding snowstorm left some drivers stuck in some cases for an entire day near the u.s./canada border. cars totally covered. some people ran out of gas and the plows were even unable to get through. more than 300 people spent a frigid night like this. >> the it's one thing to be in a whout yous. but this continued for 12 and 14 hours. >> plows are stuck, fire trucks are stuck, police vehicles are stuck. it's a mess. >> some were rescued on snow mobiles, others airlifted to a warmer place by canadian airlifters on choppers. it was this layer of black ice that made it nearly impossible to drive. >> that was difficult weather,

even for canada. >> yeah. >> usually you break out the snow shoes and do whatever you need to do. that was tough yesterday. rob marciano in ohio yesterday, making his way back to atlanta slowly. he stopped in louisville, kentucky, this morning where it's cracking the double digits. good morning, rob. >> reporter: good morning, guys. this cold snap as you mentioned affecting everyone from the canadian border to temperatures in the below freezing across southern florida. and in the middle, we've got bitterly cold temperatures and a little storm that wants to crank up across the southern plains and tap some moisture from the gulf of mexico. as that happens, you can imagine what's going to go down here later on today and tonight. it's currently 6, or at least that's what it feels like in louisville, kentucky, feels like 5 when you factor in the windchill in cincinnati, minus 6 in indianapolis. but for our purposes over the next 36 to 46 hours, it's what the actual temperature is as this moisture comes in. right now, the real temperature

is 12 degrees in louisville. obviously that's well below freezing and will support frozen precipitation. from memphis through birmingham, this is going to intensify throughout the day. the pink you see on the map there, that is a mixture of rain, sleet, freezing rain, and some snow. and that will be moving into this colder air and begin to fill in throughout the day today. so, here are the watches and warnings today through tomorrow, the pink is the winter storm warning that's posted for much of kentucky, including louisville and lexington. the ohio and tennessee valleys here over the next 36 hours will be under the gun as far as seeing some intense winter weather. and they're not the only ones. we'll see a storm across the four corners in the inner mountain west and continues to be windy across the northeast. the time line is this here in louisville and lexington. snow starts this afternoon, turns to a mixture of sleet and freezing rain overnight. and this time tomorrow, we could see 1 to 2 inches of snow,

crusty snow and ice not only on the grassy surfaces, but on the roadways. you're not going to see a situation where the frozen stuff hits the ground and melts, it's going to be here for quite some time. back to you guys in new york. >> and as we said, some of these towns and cities out of snow days already. this is unreal. >> reporter: it's been quite a start to the winter that hasn't even arrived yet. that's for sure. >> officially, i guess, it's several more days away. thanks, rob. talk about a freak storm. this is a tornado two weeks before christmas in oregon no less. it tore a five-mile path around lunchtime yesterday damaging dozens of buildings, tearing roofs off a few of them and ripping some homes clear off of their foundations. no reports of anyone seriously hurt. it is the first tornado of 2010 in the state and only the fifth they've seen in the past decade. also new this morning, that critical senate vote scheduled today on the tax cut deal that impacts every american.

the deal brokered was debated well into last night. and while it is expected to pass the senate, it's not clear what will happen when the measure reaches the house when opposition to it is far stronger. julian assange is granted bail but still in a london jail for now because a lawyer who represented the swedish prosecutors filed an appeal that keeps him behind bars. the next hearing is scheduled to take place within two days. meanwhile, filmmaker michael moore is somebody who offered $20,000 out of his own money to help bail out assange. he says that if wikileaks did not exist that we would not know about war crimes that took place at the hands of the u.s. government and military. well, here's the story that's bound to get a lot of attention today. a man may have been cured of hiv in germany. researchers there report that back in 2007 the man who also had leukemia had his immune system wiped out with chemotherapy and radiation.

then he received a bone marrow transplant. now three years later, the patient remains hiv free. one aids doctor here in the united states says it's probably a cure, but it does come at a bit of a price. >> they have to wipe out the immune system completely, which many people don't survive to begin with. they say buy logically it may be a cure, but doesn't look like a viable treatment option. a partial artificial sweetener saccharin no longer considered a health risk. the sweetener can be found in popular diet drinks, in chewing gums, diet wash. it was labeled a possible cancer-causing substance in the 1980s. a brazen bandit makes off with $1.5 million of casino chips frchi chips in vegas. was it a repeat performance? a live report from las vegas just ahead.

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13 minutes past the hour right now. police in las vegas this morning searching for a gunman who pulled off a hollywood-style heist at the bellagio hotel on the vegas strip. made off with $1.5 million worth of casino chips. >> police suspect the same man struck a different casino, the sun coast last week. our casey wian is following developments for us live in las vegas. and you don't want to rob a casino, you run in, pull a gun, and run right back out. you don't need all that elaborate planning they did in the movies. >> reporter: yeah, you know, there have been ten casino robberies in las vegas so far this year. and las vegas police say the one that took place at the bellagio

behind me yesterday really takes the cake. and in terms of how brazen and unusual it was. as you said, a man pulled up on a motorcycle to one of the valet parking areas of this high-end casino, and he walked into the craps area, bypassed the cashiers booth where the cash was and took casino chips. here's how police say the robbery went down. >> he then entered the casino and went directly to a craps table where he confronted several patrons with a firearm. he told everyone not to move and took approximately $1.5 million worth of casino chips. the suspect then ran back out of the casino following his original route. jumped on his motorcycle and exited westbound on flamingo at a high rate of speed. >> reporter: as you mentioned a few days ago there was a robbery at the sun coast casino which is off the strip about 20 minutes from here. in that case, the robber walked in also wearing the motorcycle helmet, a different-colored one,

a silver one. but police suspect it was the same robbery suspect. in this robbery previously he actually walked up to the cashier's booth and received $20,000 in cash or some amount, slightly less than $20,000 in cash. now, what's interesting about the robbery yesterday at the bellagio, this $1.5 million in casino chips. some of those chips were very high denomination chips, up to $25,000 on a single chip. and those have security devices, many of them, implanted in them. casinos have security procedures with these chips to make sure that if there's a robbery that these robbers aren't going to be able to cash them in at their casino or another casino. they won't talk about what specific measures are employed in this case. but seem fairly confident he's not going to get away with a lot of cash even though he took $1.5 million worth of chips. >> that's what we were wondering. technically, if you steal the money you make off with the

money. but the chips, you have to go back to the scene of the crime to try to cash them in. >> reporter: right. and that's one of the theorys that investigators are looking at. there's a possibility this guy may have had an accomplice who is a gambler known to these casinos. maybe he passed them off right away before police knew they were on their trail. employees dialed 911 while he was still in the casino. also questioned many of the patrons at that craps table. and one police official told me the information they got was a little bit sketchy because you can imagine the level of sobriety of the patrons at ten minutes to 4:00 in the morning. >> unbelievable. and it's surprising, you would think their security measures are much tighter than what we saw on that videotape. casey wian in las vegas. thank you. how did the robber manage to walk in calmly wearing a motorcycle helmet, commit the crime, and run back out?

tom fuentes is joining us now. it's pretty sprourprising you c walk into the casino in a motorcycle helmet. >> that's true, john. i think the expectation on the casino's part is the theft is going to occur either at the counting rooms or somewhere involving where the cash is exchanged. they wouldn't have expected the chips to be taken in that manner. and it is surprising that there wasn't at least security at the front door to keep him from running out the door with chips or cash depending which he would've obtained. >> now, i asked this question, tom, as a motorcycle rider who has on occasion walked into a convenience store or gas station with his helmet on, doesn't really raise any suspicion, but should casino workers have been suspicion that this guy is walking into the casino with a full coverage helmet on, a pair of overalls. should that have raised some

alarm? >> you would think so. but it is las vegas, so i'm sure they'd seen everything under the sun. you know, normally in las vegas, they're used to motorcycle stunts where they jump over buses and do other crazy things and don't walk in and commit robberies. but i think it just was the sheer audacity of it and the sheer surprise. he walks in, he's in that casino, less than two or three minutes, and i think everyone was so stunned that by the time they reacted to it, he was out the door and driving away. >> very similar m.o. to a robbery at the sun coast casino back on december the 9th. have they been alerted? watch out for a guy in a motorcycle helmet in a pair of overalls because he might be out to rob you? >> i think so. and if nothing else you have a chance of a copy cat. they think it might be the same person, but it could be somebody that saw that report on the news and thought, wow, you know, anybody can do it. just like now, you could have copy cats in the days and weeks ahead having watched this one being taken successfully.

but the other robbery involved cash. the person left with almost $20,000 in cash from the sun coast. they've had ten other robberies this year involving cash in las vegas. so for him to take the chips, you don't know if he intended to take the chips or what he's going to do with them next. >> right. question is to whether or not this fella acted alone or maybe there might have been some sort of inside component. if there was a so-called layout man who called and said, they've got a lot of chips there. now's the time to hit it. do they normally carry $1.5 million worth of chips at each table? >> i think that's not surprising. there's a huge amount of cash and chips at play at any given time in las vegas on various -- especially at the large casino hotels, the high-roller type place like the bellagio. i think the amount of money is not necessarily surprising for las vegas. >> what about the idea that he acted alone? do you think he could've just walked in, walked up to any table? or do you think there might have

been somebody inside tipping him off? >> either way. he could be just a lone fool that walked in, walked out with chips that are hard to get rid of. or it could have been a well-planned operation with multiple people. especially someone on the back end who would fence those chips or say, okay, i can gradually reintegrate those chips and give you ten cents on the dollar. >> as you just said, the bigger chips went up to denominations of $25,000 may have some sort of radio frequency tag embedded in them. will he be able to pass those off fairly easily? or might he have a problem? >> no, you'd have a problem with those. we don't know the percentage of chips that were the smaller denomination, $100 and $500 amounts. and every single chip may not have a device in it for tracking. inside people at the hotel would know which ones do and don't. >> we'll see where this goes. thanks for joining us this morning. >> thank you, john. coming up, frosty gets

thrown under the bus, literally. and now a bus driver is paying the price for a snowy street prank. plus, the surprising impact that the recession has had on american families. there are some shocking numbers out there that we want to tell you about. stephanie elam joins us after the break. it's 22 minutes past the hour. join the jaguar platinum celebration ! come celebrate exciting cars that are stunning to look at, exhilarating to drive and worry free to own.

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24 minutes after the hour now. and some of the stories that got us talking in the newsroom this morning. jon bon jovi is a member of the white house council for new solutions. their mission to advise the president of ways to mobilize citizens to solve specific community needs. the rocker says he's honored and looking forward to helping out. >> he mobilizes a lot of citizens who want to come out and see his concerts, right? >> how many tickets did they sell? 1.8 million tickets last year? >> he was a top grosser this year. >> almost $150 million. coming in february, it's man versus computer on "jeopardy."

you remember ken jennings, among those who will face off on the game show against a computer. it'll be part of a series of showdowns between two past champions and an ibm computer named watson. watson has already passed the test given to human contestants trying to get on the show. >> they're not going to have wolf blitzer? wasn't he a champion? >> the button doesn't work. the button. mexico city's new tourist -- >> he's probably watching this on the treadmill throwing things at the tv. mexico's newest tour attraction open for business. the tequila museum celebrates the country's national liquor, the fruit of the agave plant. they will able to see step by step how tequila is made. they can enjoy music and some 400 brands of tequila, hopefully over several sittings. >> i'm surprised they didn't have this before. >> everything takes time.

>> i guess so. well, you know rock salt is so last winter. crews in tennessee are using a mixture of beet juice and brine solution to prevent roads from icing over. they say it does the trick. it's said to be biodegradable, environmentally friendly, and the streets get their share of iron for the day. >> what is it about the beet juice? >> they say potato juice, as well. >> starch, sugar? >> yeah, the sugars. why did the bus driver cross the road? to mow down the snow man. the hit-and-run cost the driver his job after this video was posted on youtube. look at this. and knocked it down. students from the university of illinois placed the snow man on the road to see what would happen. they suspect somebody in that lane might run it down, not a bus driver who crossed a lane to do it. they started a save the bus driver facebook page. >> good luck with that.

still ahead, we'll take a look at how the recession's affected the average family from your paycheck to what you buy. find out what elements were hit the hardest. and we follow a california teen from his high school football field to basic training, our jason carroll with a soldier story just ahead.

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welcome back. we're crossing the half hour right now. time to get you caught up on the top stories. this is amazing video of tragic ending to a school board meeting. bullets flying. police say 56-year-old clay duke spray painted the wall. there you see it at the bay county board meeting in panama city yesterday, then opened fire on the board members. incredibly, none of the school officials were hit with any of the bullets. the entire ordeal was caught on tape. a warning, the video you're about to see is graphic and disturbing. >> this isn't worth it. this is a problem. please don't. please don't. please -- >> i'm going to -- don't you understand? >> duke was shot and wounded by

a school board security officer. police say he then fatally shot himself. it's still not clear what the motive might have been. what you're looking at is another member of the board who came back in after he told her she could leave. tried to swat the gun out of his hand with her purse. in tend, incredibly, no one else -- >> that woman, ginger littleton and the bill husfelt will be joining us live to tell us what they went through. digging out cars buried in snow. north of the border where a brutal storm left more than 300 people stuck in their cars for more than 24 hours. lake effect snow still blasting places like upstate new york and ohio. and bone chilling cold is settling in over more than half the country this morning. police in las vegas are looking for an armed casino bandit who made off with about $1.5 billion worth of gambling chips and a brazen robbery at

the bellagio hotel. you see the surveillance video capturing the gunman wearing a full-face motorcycle helmet bolting from the casino and escaping on a motorcycle. police say the robbery took all of three minutes. they say the suspect may have pulled off a similar heist at another vegas casino last week. well, a new report out this morning revealing the impact that the recession has had on you and your family. our stephanie elam in for christine romans this morning minding your business. >> good morning. this is something a lot of americans say yes, seriously, we know this is what it was like. if you take a look at this report coming from the rockefeller foundation and yale university, they're saying 93% of american families were hit by at least one -- what they call substantial economic shock. from march 2008 through september 2009. so they're saying the shocks were things like drop in wealth or earnings. they're also pointing to the on necessary items, things they couldn't live without, including medical needs, that was on top

of the list. there was a drop in household wealth, meaning their investment took a hit. also home values taking a hit. and said nearly 70% of the households that they surveyed said they were hit with some of these unexpected shocks. meaning medical bills onthat dr. what's also interesting about what they found in the study was taking a look at the middle class here. and they're saying for families, that makes somewhere between $60,000 and $100,000 a year. for those families, they couldn't meet at least one basic need during that period. meaning they couldn't pay for food, couldn't pay for shelter. they said they couldn't pay for their medical care. that is a really huge deal. and then one other thing i think is interesting here. they point out for these families, they're now more vulnerable to other shocks, simply because of the fact this took out their floor, their safety net. there's less to borrow from friends, don't have their cushion there any more. and if you take a look at these families who have gone through

this, nearly half of households say they couldn't go more than two months before dealing with some sort of hardship. and then on top of that, 1 in 5 would suffer hardship in two weeks while only 30% could make it six months. shows you how dire a situation this has been for american families. >> and if you're talking about somebody with a six-figure income saying they couldn't meet a basic need. can you imagine what it's like for the working poor? >> and that's what they wanted to illustrate by this study. look, this has reached very far across all economic levels here in the united states. and on top of that, if it's been this bad for the middle class, just imagine the pain this meant for so many americans out there. >> wow. stunning the results. >> i know, it'll take a long time for people to recover from this recession. have a good day. well, coming up next, a soldier story only on american morning. jason carroll following a high school teen from the high school football field into basic training. making charity fun and

addictive. hear how he's doing it coming right up.

38 minutes after the hour. not too long ago, will maclaine was playing high school football in california dreaming about a career in the nfl. >> certainly must seem like another lifetime because will is now in the military and we followed him all the way from high school gridiron training to basic training. and jason carroll with the soldier story this morning. you've been following will with ups and downs over the past year. it'll be interesting to see how he faired. >> we caught up with him even before basic, way back in high school. it's been a long road for this guy. we've watched will mclean transform himself in the last year, but you have to begin somewhere. i want you to take a look. here's a taste of how it all started. >> you sure you understand? >> yes, drill sergeant. >> congratulations on your enlistment into the military! >> reporter: just 12 hours after taking the oath, will finds

himself half way across the country in missouri. basic training begins now. >> any and all electronic items hold them up in the air. you are not authorized to have the following items, aspirin, vitamin, cigarette papers, cocaine, gambling devices, playing cards, dice, all that crap is gone. mclean. >> what do you think about this recruit? >> he looks to be a bit overweight. and that's going to be a challenge down the road. >> have a seat there. >> you will lay those down flat, do you understand? >> yes, drill sergeant. >> any surprises or anything that -- >> i expected there to be tons o of paperwork, there was, of course. i expected them to yell on the bus. they did. i'm surprised i haven't had to

do push-ups or anything yet. that's always a plus. >> it's coming. >> yes, drill sergeant. >> do not share bunks. one private, one bunk. you understand? >> yes, drill sergeant. >> and let's go, let's go. hurry up. >> day one is almost over. >> let's go. hey, you two right here. >> the prospect of a good night's sleep is at hand. >> let's go! >> well, maybe not. >> what is going on? hey, what are you doing? let's go, let's go. let's go. >> well, those are just a few clips from a one-hour documentary that we put together for you. it's not just will you'll see but also a young mother who is struggling to be a soldier in order to care for her family. and sergeant first class randy shorter, a combat veteran fighting an ever-changing enemy

in afghanistan. we've got three soldiers as you both well know that we've been following for a period of time that we've put together in a one-hour documentary. >> you've got some great stories there. you really do. >> we're excited to find out how it ends for latricia and sergeant shorter. >> followed him over to afghanistan. we've got it all for you. got it ready for you. >> good deal. looking forward to that. "american morning" is going to air a one-hour documentary called "a soldier's story" airs saturday, december 18th at 8:00 p.m. and december, sunday 19th at 8:00 p.m. rob will be along with this morning's travel forecast. it's still bad in many parts of the country due to the wind, snow, and bitter cold. we'll be right back, 42 minutes past the hour. join the jaguar platinum celebration !

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it's 44 minutes after the hour. pictures out of athens, greece, this morning. a week long series of protests

going on there. protesting against measures taken in the wake of the imf $110 billion euro bailout that was ordered in order to save greece from economic collapse. members of the unions represented both the private and public sectors have been sort of tussling back and forth with riot police all day. you can see tear gas and setting fires, as well. literally the entire downtown area has come to a stand still. >> they managed to disperse a crowd a few minutes ago. they were gathered -- and there you see, as well, a big, big group of them. they say they're very angry about the wage cuts, changes in labor laws and they're going to continue with the strike. it could affect the state hospitals, airlines, coastal shipping, banks, taxi drivers also calling for a work stoppage today. so a lot of pain being felt in parts of europe because of these austerity measures. >> yeah, they're marching toward the greek parliament there. so if we see some more scuffling between police and the

demonstrators break out, we'll bring it to you as soon as we can. meanwhile, it's 45 minutes past the hour. here at home, we're dealing with wicked weather that's continued all week. rob marciano waking up to bone-chilling temperatures there, as well. hey, rob. >> reporter: good morning, guys. we've moved a little farther south from northeast ohio yesterday. and it's colder. and you know that this cold air mass is intense and doesn't want to go away now we're in the middle part of december, you're not getting a whole lot of help from the sun. the cold air is in place and now you've got some gulf of mexico moisture. louisville, lexington, nashville for a little time will get some freezing rain and icing conditions. and tomorrow morning, certainly going to be dicey and icy here to say the least. let's talk about current temperatures and what it feels like. the windchill feels like it's below freezing in places like in indianapolis, certainly in minneapolis it's below freezing. 4 degrees is a feels like

temperature in cleveland and 6 here in louisville. the actual temperature is, and that's what the precip cares about. it can't feel the windchill. we're talking about will this fall in the form of snow, in the form of rain, freezing rain, you've got to look at the actual temperature, and it's 12 in louisville, 26 in nashville. that's cold enough to support snow or sleet at least to start. and then we're going to see things change through the next 24 hours. here's the moisture across mississippi and a alabama, moving into birmingham and huntsville. very little reports in the way of frozen precip there, but we'll look for this to intensify throughout the day today and i think nashville will see some snow fly here this afternoon, and that will be moving up into kentucky before too long. winter storm warnings in effect for kentucky with 1 to 2 inches of snow and then coating with ice, we expect that tomorrow morning. and that's going to be the issue. and once the storm moves through, i think temperatures will stay below freezing here. and that's not going to melt off terribly quickly. still windy across the

northeast. the overall pattern of cold and windy conditions continues. that's not going to shake loose. really, i don't see the overall pattern, guys, changing until at least christmas. so we'll try to get some snow into those who haven't seen snow at least for the holidays and maybe get rid of it in january. that would be ideal. until then, it's pretty chilly here. that's for sure. >> everybody likes a white christmas. but we do have our limits, rob. >> all right, rob. thanks. >> i understand. >> thanks, rob. this morning's top stories are minutes away. including, it didn't take ocean's eleven, just a real guy and a helmet. how he got out of the casino with $1.5 million in chips. big stars, big giving, ed norton, "fight club," "the incredible hulk," how he's giving back with a major online charity drive. we asked people all over america where the best potatoes come from.

the best potatoes? idaho. idaho! idaho. and how do you know you're getting idaho potatoes? well...uh... uhm... heh.. (sighs) not all potatoes come from idaho. so if you want the best, you have to do one important thing. always look for the grown in idaho seal. i knew that. i knew that. look for the grown in idaho seal. to many people, edward norton is known as "the incredible hulk," or for his role in "fight club." >> but he's also a big believer in using the power of social networking to make giving, donations to charity, go viral. our alina cho is here to explain this as part of our special series, big stars, big giving. >> he's also a huge

philanthropist. >> incredible. he's raised millions over the years. for edward norton, giving back has been a passion. he recently created what he's calling the facebook of philanthropy. a new web platform that could revolutionize the way people give by making giving fun. in his more than 15 years as an actor's actor, what is less known about edward norton is the kind of charitable work he's done off -camera. along the way, is something he's noticed about how charities use the internet that's inspired his latest project. >> we were very frustrated by what we saw out there. everything -- we called it use and drop. it was just a button where you could donate but really nothing more. and we wanted to communicate more than that. >> norton and his friends saw an opportunity to shake up how people give online. and he came up with what he

calls the facebook of philanthropy, called crowdrise, a fund-raising web platform that's also a community. >> this is the platform where you plant the flag and say this is who i am as defined by what do i care about? what am i passionate about? >> within minutes, anyone can create a page, start a fundraiser, and ask for donations from friends, family, and perfect strangers. >> look, you've got a generation of people coming along who are going to form their own new relationship with the idea of supporting the causes that they care about or changing the world. and these people are not going to do it the way that our parents did it. >> reporter: which is why norton was mindful to make crowdrise fun. putting the fun in fundraising by adding a gaming aspect. members can earn points, win

prizes. >> reporter: if you don't give back, no one will like you. >> that is our core philosophy. we're a bunch of dorks. >> reporter: he's also a celebrity who enlisted the help of his famous friends who are creating profiles on crowdrise just like everyone else. like will ferrell who is raising money for cancer survivors. >> you with win a bottle of suntan lotion -- >> it's quite a picture. >> yeah, very sexy. >> his hope is to revolutionize giving, one web page at that time. >> i think we feel like crowdrise could be something that 20 years from now people take for granted because that's just how you do it. if you're going to raise money for something, that's how you do it. >> that wouldn't be a bad thing. >> no. i actually in the beginning we said this is a pipe dream, but now i think it's going to happen. >> and if you want to get involved or start a fundraiser, go to www.crowdrise.com.

for behind the scenes photos or if you want to get involved in making a difference around the world, you can go to cnn.com/impact or cnn.com/amfix. all of the interviews, by the way, from "big stars, big giving" this year will live on impact your world, our partners in the project this year. the interesting thing, i asked ed norton, why do you do it? you've got a busy job already. and he said, you know, beyond feeling a responsibility to give back because i have a voice, it is fun for me. he said some of the most interesting people i've met in the world, some of the most incredible adventures i've had over the years have been through these charitable projects. and so he really does believe in it, but also thinks it's a lot of fun. >> good for him. who's up tomorrow? >> tomorrow is julianne moore, and we sat down in new york a couple of weeks ago. it's interesting, it was something about her childhood and the way she was raised, she was an army brat, she moved

around a lot. and she saw things she felt were inherently unfair. bad schools, children living in poverty. and it was that childhood that inspired her to give back. she's now an ambassador for save the children. and we'll talk about her work tomorrow. >> looking forward to that. two golden globe nominees -- >> three. nicole kidman. >> i know -- >> people need to hang around with you. success follows you around. >> well, you know, i'm just saying. >> thanks, alina. >> it airs christmas eve, 7:00 p.m. eastern and 8:00 p.m. eastern on christmas day. top stories coming your way right after a quick break stay with us. in this simulated s.w.a.t. team takedown, the bad guy's distracted by a psychedelic green light called a dazer laser. >> it's like a flash.

the dazer laser's capable of blocking your vision entirely. >> it isn't meant to replace guns or pepper spray, intended to give law enforcement more options. >> if they can take out the vision, take down the criminals, do it less violently, safer, and more effectively. >> reporter: he says there are plenty of other applications for the device. >> it can be used for air marsha marshals, in applications of the military, in applications that would even be for park rangers, animal control. it can be used for riots, crowd control, security applications. >> the makers say the technology they use is safe and effective from just a few feet away to over a mile away. and they say it doesn't cause any permanent damage to the eye. dazer lasers could be in the hands of our u.s. law enforcement agencies soon. gary tuchman, cnn. because of one word,

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welcome back. it is 7:00 here on this wednesday. december 15th. >> it's not friday. >> oh, goodness. it's certainly not friday. ten more days until christmas, but boy, people in some communities have used up all the snow days because of the weather we have. >> icy roads, mountains of snow, hundreds of drivers stuck in the bitter cold for as much as 24 hours. that's what your x-5 does when it slides off the roadway. the military called in to pull cars out of the snow drifts along the canadian border. this is some of the most shocking video we've seen in some time. a terrifying shooting at a school board meeting in florida.

gunman first going on a rant, then spray painting the walls with a "v" for vendetta before pointing the gunpoint blank at board members. we'll show you how it ended just ahead. this is more like ocean's one, an armed gunman ripping off the bellagio hotel to the tune of $1.5 million in chips. we're live in las vegas just ahead. up first, though, extreme weather snow that simply won't stop. another huge lake-effect storm tearing across the midwest and upstate new york. still snowing right now. up to 15 inches of new snow expected by tonight. and this is on top of all of the snow that fell on the ground in buffalo. the windchill's 10 below zero. and stretching from one end of the country to the other. from the canadian border in the north to the south ofkey west. winter hats and coats out.

cities in florida flirted with record lows yesterday and will again today. and the continues for cars buried in the snow after a snowstorm left some drivers stuck in some cases for 24 hours near the u.s./canada border. some people ran out of gas, even the plows couldn't get through. a lot of people said it was this layer of ice on the ground that made driving near impossible. more than 300 people spent a frigid night out in the elements. >> it's one thing to be in a whiteout. i've been in one before where it's like a ten-second gust of wind that came over. this continued for 12 or 14 hours. >> plows are stuck, fire trucks are stuck, police vehicles are stuck. it's just a mess. >> well, some were rescued on snowmobiles, others had to be airlifted to a warm place by the canadian military on choppers and a transport plane. our rob marciano is live for us in louisville, kentucky, where it's barely cracking double

digits this morning. we've been talking about this stretching from canada down to key west. it seems very, very odd for this time of year. >> reporter: we're certainly off to a fast start. i suppose what's rare about this, kiran, is that we've had two cold snaps like this back-to-back. this is the second week in a row where we've had bitterly cold air masses drop down from canada. and this one colder than the last. and that creates a couple things. obviously kind of gets you worn out as far as staying warm. but it deep freezing the ground. so typically in december when we get our first snowfall or threat of the season, it melts when it hits the ground because the ground's still warm. but this go around, the ground is pretty much frozen. anything that falls now and we're looking at oom system coming through is going to fall and stick to the ground in a frozen form until temperatures warm well up above freezing. well below freezing right now. you can probably see my breath through the camera. it is bitterly cold this morning in nashville where it currently

feels like 7 degrees in louisville. nashville is 22. here in louisville, 7, 5 degrees in cincinnati, the feels like temperature. but the actual air temperature will be the key to determine how this precipitation falls. it's dry right now in louisville. 13 degrees, it's 26 in nashville and 26 in paducah. so we're obviously seeing a dramatic warm-up as you get closer to the gulf of mexico, which is where that moisture is going to be tapped. in mississippi and alabama, there it is. some pinks on the screen indicating it's mixing in the form of some sleet, freezing rain, and snow. but this radar will continue to fill in throughout the day as this storm intensifies and continues to pick up moisture from the gulf of mexico. so winter storm watches, advises, and warnings are posted. the pink area there, that's the worst spot, and that would be most of central kentucky where the precip is expected to begin this afternoon in the form of snow, then go to sleet, and then eventually become freezing rain. so, you know, we might see a

couple inches of snow on the ground, but the big threat is going to be the freezing rain, and we could see 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch by this time tomorrow across parts of the ohio and tennessee valleys. and that will slick up the roadways and potentially bring down power lines. and louisville gas and electric has staff ready to go and they've overstaffed for this particular storm in the event it happens. and this is the area and the time of year right through january that gets pretty bad ice storms and we've got the ingredients in order right now. 28 degrees in new york city, no picnic there, pretty much the eastern half of the country, guys, continues to be in the grips of this bitter cold. and we don't see the pattern shaking down for another week and a half. just try to stay warm. john, kiran. >> you too, thanks, rob. >> good week to spend inside snuggled by the fire with a nice, warm, cup of hot chock ole

chocolate. a freak storm in oregon, tore a five-mile path around lunchtime yesterday. damaged dozens of buildings, tearing roofs off a few. no reports o of anyone seriously hurt, though, thankfully. it's the first tornado of 2010 in the state, only the fifth in the past decade. well, also new this morning, a critical senate vote scheduled for today on the tax cut deal that impacts everyone. deal brokered by the president and republicans debated well into the night last night and it's expected to pass the senate. but it's not clear what's going to happen when the measure reaches the house where opposition is much stronger. well, the home where former president bill clinton spent the first four years of his life is now officially a historic site. the clinton birthplace foundation purchased the home in arkansas back in 1997. but it wasn't until yesterday that the deed was transferred over to the federal government. an official dedication will take place in the spring of next year. wikileaks founder julian

assange was granted bail, but still in a london jail for now because a lawyer filed an appeal immediately. assange is wanted in sweden on alleged sex crimes. the next hearing is expected to take place within the next two days. also, filmmaker michael moore offering $20,000 out of his own pocket to help bailout assange. here's some interesting news. a man may have been cured of hiv in germany. researchers there report that back in 2007, the man who also had leukemia had his immune system wiped out with chemotherapy and radiation. he then received a bone marrow transplant. and now three years later, the man remains free of hiv. one aids doctor here in the united states said it probably is a cure, but it comes at a bit of a price. the popular artificial sweetener saccharin no longer considered a potential health risk. the government removing it from the epa's list of hazardous substances. it can be found in diet drinks, chewing gum, mouthwash.

it was labeled a potentially cancer-causing substance in the 1980s, but a reevaluation found that not to be the case. >> oops. >> were you laughing at tab? >> no, i would never laugh at tab. >> because most of the new use aspertaine. we have to show you this amazing video when a gunman opened fire taking aim at the superintendent. incredibly, he was not hurt. he's going to be joining us next along with a board member who tried to stop the attacker by trying to hit the gun out of his hand with her pocketbook. and a gunman wearing a motorcycle helmet robs the craps table at the belgio in las vegas. he takes $1.5 million worth of casino chips. how did he get in and out without being stopped? we're live in las vegas just ahead. well, started out as a college prank. frosty then gets mowed down by a city bus and the driver is now paying the price. eight minutes past the hour.

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a horrifying confrontation at a school board meeting in

florida that was streamed live online and captured on tape. we want to warn you the video you're about to see is graphic and very disturbing. clay duke spray painting the wall with this symbol, similar to something from the movie "v for vendetta," he has a gun in his hand, excuses everyone from the room except for six male board members. eventually facing down the school superintendent and firing two shots at him point-blank. incredibly, no one was hit. >> just listen to me for a minute. i don't want anybody to to get hurt. and i have a feeling what you want is for the cops to come in and kill you because you're mad. you said you're going to die today. but why? this isn't worth it. this is a problem. please don't. please don't. please. >> don't you understand? >> the shots that you heard off camera were from a security officer who wounded the gunman.

clay duke then took his own life. bill husfelt is the superintendent and ginger tried to disarm duke using her purse. and we've got that unbelievable video of you trying to knock the gun from his hand. but first of all, bill, i mean you look at this video. it's beyond shocking. what was it like to actually be there? >> it was surreal. we use that word together. i started using it last night and ginger was using it this morning. we're at a board meeting and we're talking about technology and headlights and the next thing we know this guy's got a gun in our face. and so, you know, there's nothing you can do to prepare or think that's coming. >> you talked with him very calmly and very reasonably. we want to play a little of that in just a second. but all through that, was it going through your mind that, oh, my god, we could all die here?

>> he'd already told us that he was going to die. he was prepared to die, and we were going to die, as well. and so we -- we knew -- i mean, you could tell by the look in his eyes that there was going to be some killing going on. and so he made up his mind. right there where you're showing where he shoots at me, i knew he was getting ready to pull that trigger just the way he was acting. >> and how do you react when you see somebody level a gun at you like that knowing that he's going to pull the trigger? >> i just asked him not to shoot. i didn't want him to shoot, and i'm going to tell you this, if i was killed, i knew where i was going to end up. but, you know, there's -- it's a miracle. there's no other excuse for it. god blocked those bullets, but mike jones is a hero. >> that's very true. >> he was the security chief who took him down. and ginger, you were almost a hero and almost a victim at the

same time. we've got this video. you were excused from the room. and here you are sneaking up behind him. take a big whack at his hand with your purse, didn't knock the gun out of his hand. and right at that moment, we hear you cry out. and i can only imagine what was going through your mind at that moment. i'd love you to tell me about it. oh, my god, it didn't work, i'm about to die. >> that's pretty much what was going through my mind. i was concerned about my guys. they were lined up like ducks in a row. he was already basically standing on the same level with them. i knew something bad was going to happen. that was my only option was to see if i could at least hurt him or somehow or other detain until somebody got there to help us. because my guys had three-ring binders and pencils for protection and that was all. >> so again, when you took a swing at him with your handbag there and the gun didn't come out of his hand, obviously

everything was a blur. but what was the thought that raced through your mind at that moment? >> my thought was that plan "a" had failed and i didn't have a plan "b," which was probably not one of the smartest things i ever did. >> he pointed the gun at you. he said something angry to you, but he didn't pull the trigger. you must have felt god intervened right at that moment. >> i -- i did. i don't know why he didn't pull the trigger. my sense -- and i probably disagree somewhat with bill is that he wanted to be killed rather than kill. but as time passed, obviously, it appeared that he was getting more and more ready to do some real damage. and we're so thankful mike jones saved the day, all of their lives because he came in just in the nick of time or there would have been a lot more bloodshed yesterday morning. >> you know, bill, we heard in some of the dialogue back and forth where you said i get the sense that you want the police to come in and kill you, suicide by cop i guess it's called.

but let me play you a little bit of the video where you're trying to reason with the guy and i want to ask you about that. let's play it. >> will you let them go? >> i mean -- >> you're obviously upset at me. so why are they here? listen to me for a minute. i don't want anybody to get hurt. and i've got a feeling is what you want are the cops to come in and kill you because you're mad. because you said you're going to die anyway. >> so mike, i've got to ask you -- at that moment you had to be terrified. how did you maintain that sense of calm in trying to talk to him? >> well, as ginger said, we were defenseless. the only thing we had -- the only thing we could possibly do was buy time and try to talk to him. because he had us. he could've just sat there and picked us off. and i think he had every intent. i think the more you watch it if you notice even after he misses me and he gets shot, he's reaching over looking trying to shoot again.

so he's serious about it. i mean, right here, he's reaching still trying to shoot. so i'm just thankful none of us were hurt. we could be having a lot different kind of day than we're going to have. >> that's true. >> millimeters. that moment where he pulls the trigger and you clutch at your chest. what did you think had happened to you at that moment. >> well, he's as close to me almost as this camera is. and it was pointed right at me. and so, i was trying to turn kind of sideways and put my hand up there and, you know, it's just all reactionary. who knows what you do in a situation like that. but we were all scared and doing a lot of praying. i can tell you that. >> i read one statement you made yesterday. you thought at that moment that he actually had shot you?

>> i did. you know, i heard it, saw him pull the trigger, and so, i hit the ground and i said to myself, if i've been shot, it sure doesn't hurt like i thought it would. and so i could hear right after he took the first shot, i could hear mike coming into the room and more shots being fired. and i -- you know, it's just -- it's -- i'm just so thankful to be able to be here and talk with you. it's not something i want to do. but i am so thankful to be able to do it. >> wow, i'll the tell you, it's the most shocking video that i have seen in a long, long time. and we are certainly glad that you're all here to talk about it. bill husfelt, ginger littleton, thanks for joining us and sharing your story. it's unbelievable. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> god bless the two of them and everyone else who dealt with that. it's a sad day for everybody, certainly the family of the suspect, as well. but it could have ended so much worse. >> but when bill said if i'm

shot, it sure doesn't hurt like i thought it was going to. and he also said that his thoughts went to his family. when he thinks about that, that's what brings his tears to his eyes. >> it must be hard to see the video played out. you make snap decisions in a state of shock and then you see it later and ginger said maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to hit the gun out of his hand, but she was doing what she thought was possibly going to save her life and the life of others at that moment. >> and could've cost her her life, as well. is this any way to treat a snowman? this was a prank at a university, ended up getting the bus driver in a heap of trouble after he crossed the lane to mow down a snowman in the middle of the street. we'll have that and the other top stories coming up. 20 minutes past the hour.

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well, after sifting through the 25 billion tweets, twitter is out with the list of the top trends for 2010. coming in at number ten was paul the octopus. he shot to fame for predicting the results of the world cup matches. justin bieber at number five.

vuvuzela, world cup, and the number one trending topic of the year, the gulf oil spill. >> that's why people can't say enough to americans, why aren't you into more of the world cup soccer? three out of the ten things were all about world cup. >> and poor paul the octopus passed away. ha company in canada encouraged staff to decorate their cubical. here's the winner. how hard do you have to work on this? how much money do you think he spent? he built a shed in the middle of office, had a full-sized tree inside, stockings hung by the chimney with care. yes, there was a chimney. he brought in a wood-burning stove, as well. he certainly deserves to win. >> those creative canadians. why did the bus driver cross the road? to mow down the snowman. the hit-and-run cost the driver his job after this video posted on youtube. students from the university of illinois placed the snowman on

the road to see what would happen -- what it was the city bus driver came along and said, oh, target, crossed the road to do it. that was the fatal error. now the students are feeling guilty. not about frosty, but about the bus driver losing his job. they started a save the bus driver facebook page. but clearly a violation of policy there crossing the road to do that. >> yeah. well, still to come this morning, the countdown is finally on for astronaut katie coleman. do you remember mure? she's about to head to the international space station. a look inside her gruelling training. ltimate surf and turf event. with three seafood-and-steak combinations, all under $20! like succulent lobster and wood-grilled sirloin, or new chardonnay shrimp and sirloin. ends soon at red lobster. or new chardonnay shrimp and sirloin. a $100 cream. flabbergasted when we creamed a $500 cream! for under $30 regenerist micro-sculpting cream hydrates better than 23 of america's most expensive luxury creams.

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♪ 27 minutes after the hour. cnn exclusive now. american astronaut katie coleman now counting down the hours until her journey to the international space station. >> it's been a long year. and we've had an all-access pass to coleman's gruelling training for the mission. i know you've been following her for her year-long journey, periodically checking in with us. you must be as excited as her family at this point. >> yeah, you know, it really is true. and it is amazing. about seven hours from now, cady and her two crew mates will be lifting off in russia on a soyuz rocket. and we really did have unprecedented access that nasa gave us. and, of course, it would not have been possible had cady not agreed to allow us to go along for this ride.

and i talked to her just before last time i interviewed her. i said, what are you going to be thinking when you go up those stairs to the rocket? and she said i'm just going to be nervous and i don't want to break anything when i'm getting inside the capsule. it's a little bit like how cady is. and here's a sample of who she is. >> reporter: cady coleman, mother, wife, astronaut. later this week, space station resident. >> i think just being up there and realizing that uh i really live here is something you just can't really grasp until you get up there. >> reporter: what you do grasp very quickly, the kind of person she is. for instance, a gesture of support for women with breast cancer. >> i have a roll of pink ribbon rolled up and squished in a zip lock bag. i think it's a special way to think about folks struggling with that down here on earth. >> listen to what she believes is important. >> one of the things we can do up there is actually just be a

presence that some, you know, little girl, little boy looks up and thinks, you know, she looks like a real person. maybe i could do that job. >> reporter: cady has done this job before flying twice on space shuttle missions, but never this. she'll fly on a russian rocket to the international space station and live there for the next six months conducting science and medical experiments. bone loss, blood pressure studies. >> sustaining through that, knowing that this is what cady wants to do. this is what she lives her life to do. >> i'm so ready. would it be so terrible to go again? >> reporter: better get through this one first, cady. she and her crew mates have been awaiting their ride. now until they fly, it's about ceremony and photo ops.

press conferences. >> so a little tiger just like this one is already onboard the station. so this one i will give to my son before i launch. >> reporter: and paying tribute, laying red carnations at the grave of the first human in space. something called a fit check too where the crew and their space suits are stuffed into the capsule to as the name implies, to make sure they fit. the next time they're inside will be in the launch pad. 2:09 p.m. eastern time liftoff, and that'll really just be the beginning of the journey for cady and her crew mates. and next week, i'm going to have an opportunity to talk with her from space. it'll be her first interview she does with us from the international space station. i'm pretty excited about that. i'm not sure she's going to be so excited. i keep finding her and bugging her. >> well, i think -- why don't

you hitch a ride and go visit her in person, john? >> i think all three of us should, that would be terrific. >> i don't know about being away for six months, though. do they offer any kind of commuter shuttles every now and then? >> no, don't forget, the only ride in town after is going to be the russian soyuz because shuttle's going away next year. i think we'd be stuck for the full six months. >> unless you can get richard branson to pick you up. >> there you go. >> any possibility of a delay? >> no, and you know, the difference with the russian rockets with the space shuttle, they pretty much fly in just about anything. so very, very little chance that there'll be any delay this afternoon. tomorrow, of course, we'll bring you that live. and cady and the italian astronaut actually taped a short message before they lifted off. so i'm going to bring you that tomorrow. >> you thought of everything. >> yes, they did. top stories in digging out

cars, where a brutal snowstorm left more than 300 people trapped in cases for 24 hours. here's what it looks like right now. lake effect snow still blasting places like upstate new york and ohio, bone-chilling cold is also settling in more than half the country this morning. developing this morning, greece rocked by a massive strike and violent protest. the crowds in athens are angry over changes to labor laws and pay cuts. related to the bailout they received from the imf. today's strike shutting down mass transit, affecting banks, airlines, and hospitals. school board members lucky to be alive after a very disturbing school board meeting. this video captured clay duke spray painting the wall, then after talking back and forth for a while, he opened fire on the board members. incredibly, none of the school officials were hurt. the entire ordeal caught on that

camera and even streamed on the internet. warning, though, the video you're about to see is very graphic. >> this isn't worth it. this is a problem. please don't. please don't. please. >> i'm going to -- don't you understand? >> he was eventually brought down by the school board's security officer mike jones who the school board members are hailing a hero. police are then saying he fatally shot himself. it's still not clear, though, what his motive was. >> and you can see ginger littleton trueing to knock the gun out of his hand with her purse. julian assange staying in a london jail, at least for now, because an attorney representing swedish prosecutors filed an appeal. assange is wanted in sweden on alleged sex crimes. the next hearing's expected to take place within the next couple of days. meanwhile, filmmaker michael moore offered $20,000 out of his own pocket to help bailout

assange saying assange is under attack because he had the courage to expose american war crimes. well, this morning, a fixture on the las vegas strip, the bellagio is down, technically, about $1.5 million in chips. the casino was robbed early yesterday by a gunman wearing that motorcycle helmet. >> cameras caught him bolting to his get away vehicle. casey wian live in las vegas. any leads on who this fella is this morning, casey? >> reporter: well, one of the leads that authorities have is the fact that this guy when he walked into the casino went directly to the craps table and bypassed a nearby cage where there was cash available. so police believe he was clearly going into the casino with the intent to take these chips and not take cash. here's how it all unfolded. late yesterday night, about ten minutes to 4:00 yesterday morning, he pulled up on a motorcycle at one of the valet parking entrances of the bellagio hotel, immediately left

his motorcycle outside, walked into the casino, went up to the craps table, pointed a gun at the patrons said nobody move and took $1.5 million worth of chips. some of those chips ranging in value from $100 chips to $250,000 chips. he immediately left the building the same way he came into the casino, got on his motorcycle, headed west on one the east/west arteries here in las vegas, out toward the 15 freeway and then disappeared into the night. now, what police say is that no one tried to stop him as he left the casino, but casino employees called 911 while he was still in the building. no patrons were hurt during this robbery. and right now, this robber remains at large. john, kiran? >> you said $250,000 chips. did you mean $25,000, or do they have them that big? >> reporter: no, they have them that big. no, i'm sorry, you're right, $25,000 chips, i think is the

correct number. and what's interesting about that is that the large chips have security devices. some of the casinos -- the bellagio won't tell us what security devices they specifically employ. but many of the casinos do have transmitters in these chips and have other security measures to make sure that someone can't steal these high-value chips and cash them in later. one of the theorys that police are looking at is that maybe this robber may have had an accomplice, someone who may have been more easily able to cash these chips in. but they're saying it's going to be very, very difficult for him to get any significant amount of cash from these chips. >> they think he might have pulled off another heist at another casino in the last week or so? >> reporter: absolutely. last thursday there's a casino called the sun coast off the strip about 20 minutes from here. in that case, another motorcycle rider, this time dressed differently. he had a silver helmet on, but he also pulled up to the casino

on a motorcycle, walked in with a gun, but took $20,000 in cash from the cage. so his target was a little bit different. but they do believe based on the description and the m.o. that it's the same guy. >> right. casey, it seems amazing, casino are renowned for their security. that he could make off with that much without anybody stopping him. >> reporter: yeah, it really does. but unlike the movies, the casino security guards and casino employees didn't want to confront an armed man, apparently. and so they let him walk out and called 911. let the police handle the situation. imagine if they had pulled a gun on him and a shootout ensued inside the casino, that could have been a really ugly situation. so that's clearly why they didn't try to stop him. >> wouldn't be good. casey, thanks. well, an alarm clock nothing compared to a drill sergeant's wake-up call. get up, get dressed, get out. the recruits as they get off the

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coming up on 41 minutes after the hour. not too long ago, will mclean was dreaming about a career in the nfl. >> yeah, that must seem like that lifetime ago now because he is in the military and nobody's playing any games. jason carroll with the soldier's story this morning. we followed will and his poor mom and dad, his mom was crying when he decided to go to the recruiting station and enlist. >> both of you guys have been along for this ride and it's been a very long process for everyone involved in all of this. we've watched will mclean transform himself into a soldier the past year. in order to do that, you have to begin somewhere. here's a taste of how it all

started for will. >> i william mclean jr. -- >> do you understand? >> yes, drill sergeant. >> congratulations on your enlistment to the military! >> reporter: just 12 hours after taking the oath, will finds himself half way across the country at ft. leonardwood, missouri. basic training begins now. >> any and all electronic items, take them out and put them in the air. you're not allowed to have playing cards, dice, all that crap is gone! mclean! >> what do you think about this recruit? >> he looks to be a bit overweight here. he looks to be in non-physical condition and that's going to be a challenge down the road. >> extra large regular. extra large regular, have a seat. >> and you will lay those

dollars dodolla collars down flat, do you un? >> yes, sir. >> i expected there to be tons of paperwork, there was, of course. i expected them to come yelling on the bus, they did. the only thing i'm surprised i haven't had to do push-ups or anything yet so that's always a plus. >> well, it's coming. >> yes, drill sergeant! >> do not share bunks. one private, one bunk. you understand? >> yes, drill sergeant. >> let's go. >> reporter: day one is almost over. >> let's go. hey, you two right here. >> the prospect of a good night's sleep is at hand. well, maybe not. >> what is going on? >> what are you doing? >> let's go, let's go. let's go. >> those are just a few clips from a documentary we put together for you. and it's not just will that you will see in our one-hour

documentary, but also patricia rose, a young mother struggling to become a soldier to care for her family. and randy shorter, a combat veteran fighting an ever changing enemy in afghanistan. we followed them there as both of you well know. all of this being put together for a one-hour documentary we hope to bring you. >> you spent an amazing amount of time with these folks. were you really glad you got a chance to say thanks very much. >> no, by actually miss them. each and every one of them. >> no, i don't mean that. were you glad you weren't there going through the drills yourself? >> oh, absolutely. we were talking during the break, you know, how real it seems when you're in there that very first night going through all that. you have to admire all of them for what they do. >> every single person basically is putting their own life on the line to fight to defend our freedom. and it's amazing. you know, from the very day you sign up at the recruiting station, this is real. >> it is very real. and it's fascinating to watch

their transformation and to bring people who -- i don't come from a military family. and for me, this goal was to bring people like myself closer to the military experience to give people an idea of who these men and women are. >> you spent a lot of time with them in a number of different places. got a real appreciation for the job they do. >> an incredible experience. >> they are all our heroes. >> absolutely. each and every one. >> good deal, jason. our one-hour documentary tracks military recruits every step of the way. soldier story airs saturday, december 18th at 8:00 p.m. and sunday, december 19th, at 8:00 p.m. eastern. jason, thanks so much. freezing rain, sleet, snow, ice, it's going to get rough across the country today. no one really is spared unless you live in dallas. i think it's nice there. that's about it. rob marciano braving the elements outside, as well.

well, this is about as good as it gets on the east coast weather wise. it is sunny, 48 degrees only, a little bit later, it's going to be sunny and only going up to a high of 65. one of the warmest spots, though, in the country. >> and dallas, i guess, and phoenix are cracking the 70s. but beautiful sunshine there in florida for us this morning. rob marciano is a little further north of there, making his way back from ohio to atlanta. and rob, the scene where you are, just slightly different than we saw in miami a second ago. >> reporter: yeah, a little bit chilly. it's chilly and outside of miami, temperatures in the 30s and lower 40s and probably setting some records. that sunshine this time of year, it's not quite as strong in december and the nights are longer and you can see your breath in the morning, and especially when you've got a cold-air mass over you, it's cold. sun coming up in louisville, kentucky, where there's a little bit of snow on the ground left over, couple of inches, blue sky

overhead for now. but with the cold air and a storm approaching, we've got some issues. let's look at the current temperatures across the country. eastern half still under underneath this wicked arctic air mass. tampa, 34, boston, 19, back through minneapolis, chicago, for everybody who is below average right now, you've got to go back to dallas and maybe through the desert southwest really to see anything significant as far as warming enjoys. 18 in cleveland, 5 in cincinnati, 13 in louisville. all of those temperatures will support frozen precipitation if it heads this way. here's where it is on the radar scope. moisture from the gulf of mexico and reports of glazed roadways in starksville, mississippi. also, some action across parts of northern mississippi and affects of this storm and freezing rain advisory issued by the birmingham national weather service in alabama but just north of there, it's where we

expect most of the action to occur later on tonight, today and tonight in louisville and lexington tonight and tomorrow morning. could see not only just a glazing of the roadways but potentially some power lines down because of trees coated in ice. 7 into dallas. 75 in phoenix. coming to you live from the home of the louisville slugger. kentucky fridayed chicken. mint juleps. >> kentucky derby. you could go on. >> none of them warm you up. >> the mint julep might. top stories minutes away and including what women want, especially the 20-something known as the millelials and why we should care. there's a new study what they see for the futures and how they're shaping the world. big stars, big giving. actor ed norton, "fight club" is raising the bar for giving back with a major online charity drive. also, the rock n roll hall of fame's class of 2011.

did bon jovi make the cut? who got in and who got a snub plus "time's" person of the year coming up.

more high school seniors choosing pot over cigarettes. if you can believe. that's a study by the federal government today and kids. >> dr. sanjay gupta joins us with the details. you don't want kids doing either one. this is startling. >> i had to read the study a couple of times because these are quite staggering numbers and based on a pretty large survey, 46,000 students, high school students around the country. it is a survey so that's going to have certain limitations but the numbers as you said are pretty stunning. more high school seniors using marijuana versus cigarettes. 21% of high school seniors using marijuana versus 19% of seniors using cigarettes. remarkable. look at the numbers across the grade. 21% of 12th graders as mentioned. 6% of seniors say they're smoking marijuana on a daily

basis. may be the most alarming number and the numbers gone up steadily over time. cigarette use sort of coming down for a period of time and plateaued over the last few years. they looked at a bunch of other drugs, as well. ecstasy, for example, another drug. they have also seen a gradual use in the high school students. >> what's the reason that the numbers are going up. >> i looked pretty carefully. a couple of things. first of all, a lot of debate recently in the public about the legalization of marijuana. and i think the message that some high school students are getting, well, look. if it's potentially going to be used for medicinal purposes, how dangerous can could it be? it's perceived risk. the risk goes down and usage typically goes up. another thing is cigarette prices did seem to go up and in the population that's most pe e

sensitive of prices and diminish the use based on cost are kids or students in this case. they don't want to pay the extra money and cigarette use came down for a period of time and hard to know exactly. the perceived risk thing rngs there's different factors to influs that. >> the other startling thing is availability. where are sixth graders getting marijuana so easily? >> right, right. older students in the same school or people in the community? it's hard to believe, you know, remember, kiran we talked about kids getting sins from the medicine cabinets and that's gone up, as well. but this sort of rise most sharply in marijuana use i think surprising. again, i want to point out. this is a survey so these are students actually filling things in and always going to have limitations as far as a study goes but comparing year to year to year you see a trend going on. >> all right. dr. sanjay gupta, thank you. >> top tories after the break. stay with us. ♪ express yourself

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the 15th brings with it terrible weather across the country. good morning to you. i'm john roberts. >> i'm kiran chetry. also "time" magazine announces the person of the year. they picked the founder of facebook, mark zuckerberg and we'll talk about that with a writer in a couple of minutes but meanwhile video just simply terrifying. a shooting at a school board meeting in florida. a gunman ranting and then spray painting on the walls before engaging in a discussion with the school board members and then opening fire. every horrifying moment caught on tape. and we're going to show you how it all ended just ahead. >> a scene out of "oceans 11" but more like "oceans 1." an armed runner run in and runs out with casino chips in the pockets. how did he pull it off and was this the first time he struck? certainly been a good year for mark zuckerberg with facebook approaching 6700

million users. a younger billionaire ever. mark zucker beck named "time" magazine's person of the year for 2010. breaking down why he had such an impact on society this year. up first, a gunman at a florida school board meeting. dramatic standoff ending in a hail of bullets caught on a live internet feed. >> clay duke rose from the back of the room he sat during the meeting and then started to ranting, sent most of the people out of the room and pointed the gun at the superintendent and opened fire. board members hitting the ground, hiding under their desks. no one was hurt. the bullets missed every one of them, even at close range. in the end, duke took his own life. we have to warn you the video is disturbing. >> he made up his mind. you could tell. he was going to die. my -- my concern was how many people was he going to take with him?

>> cameras were rolling, recording every chilling moment. 56-year-old clay duke, first spray painted a v on the wall. then, pulling out a handgun on bay county school board members. >> you may leave. you may leave. you can leave. six men stay. everyone else leaves. >> then in a bizarre moment, school board member ginger littleton tries to stop duke. hitting him with her purse. >> no! >> at that point, school superintendent william husfelt knew things were about to get worse. >> he came over to the backside of of us saying somebody's going to die in here. i'm upset. i'm mad. you fired my wife. my wife lost her job. my family -- he was just rambling. >> he tried to reason with duke, not knowing the gunman was about to snap. >> listen. just listen to me for a minute. i don't want anybody to get hurt. i've got a feeling that what you

want is the cops coming in to kill you because you're mad because you said you're going to die here today. but why? if this is -- this is not worth it. this is a problem. please don't. please don't. please. >> i'm going to kill you. don't you understand? i'm going to -- and that's how it end odd duke was mike jones, the security guard and the school board's chief of security in there calling him a hero this morning for preventing potentially more deaths. >> school board chairman, he was saying please don't, please don't. we talked to him in the last hour and said when he leveled the gun at him, he said, well, if i'm going to die at least i know where i'm going because -- he's a very religious man, church goer. he said when the gun -- when the shot was fired, he sort of defensively went like this and he fell on the ground and he said, wow, if i eve been shot,

it doesn't hurt like i thought it was going to. >> they said it was the grace of god he literally shot them point-blank range and missed. the security guard came in, hit him in the knee. he took his own life. transported to the hospital and pronounced dead. you talked to ginger. she tried to smack the gun out of the purse. you don't have time to think about it. she said maybe -- i didn't have a backup plan and maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to do. >> after she tries to knock the gun out of the hand and realizes he's still got the gun, she screams the scream that you can only imagine someone who knows they're about to die would scream. it's just -- the whole thing is unbelievable. >> he spared her, as well. anyway, the video is harrowing and there's obviously still an investigation. they say they don't know his motive yet. extreme weather. search continues for cars buried in snow after the brutal, blinding snowstorm left some drivers stuck for 24 hours.

take a look at the size of the snow drifts. cars just about totally covered. more than 300 people spent a frigid night like this. some rescued by snowmobiles or a warm place by the canadian military by choppers and transport plane. here's what it looks like right now. a blanket of bitter cold over two thirds of the country. you see ice, you see the chilly, chilly temperatures and advisories in effect in some areas because of all of the cold and the chill. forecasters say that kentucky and tennessee are right in the bull's eye today for another early winter weather as well as frigid temperatures. >> this cold snap is stretching most of it entire hemisphere. from the north pole all the way down to key west, florida. winter hats and coats in the sunshine state. they broke or flirted with record-tying lows yesterday and will again today. >> even dogs in miami needed sweaters. rob marciano in the bull's eye

live in louisville, kentucky, this morning. a rarity for this time of year. >> reporter: yeah. to get it two weeks in a row, more rare. this area, no stranger to ice storms and tiply later in the year. maybe the heart of january but already on the ground we have got snow that remains here because, obviously, temperatures well below freezing with the windchills in the single numbers and some cases below 0 and don't expect much of a warm-up and expect moisture coming this way and already heading into places like alabama and mississippi. 46 in new orleans. meanwhile, 26 in nashville and 26 in atlanta but just a little bit further to the north in kentucky and ohio, teens and single digits and that's where the delineation is going to be between frozen precip and rain. right now, frozen precip in northern mississippi and parts of alabama, shelby, alabama. reporting some glazing of the roadways because of freezing rain. birmingham and montgomery into the teens this morning.

record-setting low temperatures. even to there's not a lot of prec precip, enough to do damage with temperatures this low and we expect more precip and heading to the north and colder air today. and we'll start as snow in places like nashville, lexington and louisville and turn to sleet tonight and then freezing rain tomorrow. how much freezing rain? or coating of ice do we expect to see tomorrow morning? maybe as much as a half an inch of that in some spots. that will certainly glaze the roadways, at least the secondary roadways. horrifying commute and potentially coat some tree limbs with -- taking down some power lines and louisiana or louisville gas and electric has overstaffed their positions in anticipation of this storm. once it moves through, temps will not warm up. whatever happens tomorrow here will stick around. temperatures in new york today not even above freezing. everybody remains in this arctic air mass and not much of a pattern shift, guys, for a

couple of weeks. back the you in new york. >> well, at least a white christmas. there's the upside. thanks so much. president obama rolling out the welcome mat for big business hosting 20 ceos at white house this morning. >> stephanie elam is here to talk about that. minding your business. businesses talking about jobs and asking them where are they? >> there's a lot of things on the plate and as we know president obama and big business, they haven't exactly been best of friends but they're showing that this is a move to sort of thaw that relationship out. things are better. they'll talk about a few things. kickstarting the economy, seeing about getting hiring moving again and trade and also discuss clean energy and you'll see deficit and the tax code among the things to talk about today but if you take a look at who's going to be there, wide ranging group. one bank. look at the companies there. ubs. one bank. google, of course, because they deal with everybody's everything. general electric, u.p.s. and pepsico will be there and

american express, motorola and a couple of interesting one that is are on there besides the intels and the comcasts. companies like next era energy, a clean energy company, something that president obama is talking about and a company may not know but they're a silicon valley venture firm and they will be there, as well. beautiful part of the country. >> you ought to know. >> it's an interesting group of people bringing together to talk about what is going on in the economy and for president obama to get a bit of feedback about things they're doing with the tax code in particular which business obviously is feeling good about. >> we know the ceo of oracle is not enamored of the president's economic plan. >> right. they speak their minds. >> thanks very much. jon bon jovi is planning to meet with the president, the newest member of the team appointed to the new white house counsel for community solutions. hey, if you hold a concert once

or twice a month, who could be fighting, right? their mission to advise the president on ways to mobilize citizens to try to solve specific community needs. he says he is honored and looking forward to helping out. busy guy. >> he sure is. huge grossing tour last year so they're in the money, no question about that. facebook ceo mark zuckerburg just named "time" magazine's person of the year. also, move over gen-x. make room for the young adults between 18 and 29 years old. they were born in the '80s. they can't find jobs and getting married later in life, they don't vote and not worried. we'll talk about why they matter and why you should care. coming up. we asked people all over america where the best potatoes come from.

the best potatoes? idaho. idaho! idaho. and how do you know you're getting idaho potatoes? well...uh... uhm... heh.. (sighs) not all potatoes come from idaho. so if you want the best, you have to do one important thing. always look for the grown in idaho seal. i knew that. i knew that. look for the grown in idaho seal. one in ten people on the planet is now on facebook. the man behind the empire 26-year-old mark zuckerburg just named "time" magazine's person of the year. thanks for being here. >> it's a pleasure. >> i like what you wrote at the

beginning. a person of the year for connecting more than half a billion people, mapping the social relations among them and creating a new system of exchanging information that's indispensable and sometimes a little scary. why pick him and what impact has facebook had in. >> well, i mean, it is astounding just the scale of this, first of all. more than half a billion people, about 1 in 12 people on the planet. almost half of americans have facebook accounts and not just the scale but the depth to which facebook has affected people's lives. i mean, people run their lives through facebook. that's how they see their friends and their relations, piput the pictures, personal and global. >> it is a revolution. what about, you know, the fill an tlopic side of him? he's really kind of starting to get into that. but, you know, promises to give away fortunes, things like that. put him in the running, as sfwhel. >> well, it didn't hurt that

he's, you know sort of good and wonderful person when you get to know him. he's only 26. most people in the careers do not start disposing of their wealth and charitable way until much later in their lives and he figured why wait? >> when you have as much money as he does. easy to do. >> there's a lot of unconventional aspects of mark zuckerberg. even in the book written about them that then spawned the movie "the social network." the accidental billionaires. he wanted to connect with the college buddies. is much of facebook's success accidental? >> you know, i wouldn't agree with that tag accidental. zuckerberg, he's a smart guy and a vision, as well. very early on i think he had a sense of the kind of change he wanted to make in the world. and i think he hoped that facebook would get as big as it did. he didn't know that it would but he hoped it would. that was his vision. >> did you talk with him for

this article at length? >> uh-huh. >> what was your sense of him? >> he's a very, very charming man. he's not the person in the movie. he's a very warm individual. i felt the person in the movie was very angry. and very cold. mark isn't like that. he's a very calm person. he's unusual. in his social manner is unusual but he's a friendly -- >> in what way? >> well, he speaks. it's like he's exchanging information. that is what he is. he is giving you data and you're giving him back data so there's not a lot of small talk with mark but he's a friendly, warm person. he's not somebody who is alienated the way the character in the movie was. >> and, you know, a lot of people did take issue with the way that the por tral was and interesting that he -- did he seem surprised as how hammered facebook has been and mark zuckerberg himself for the privacy issues that facebook has dealt with and how did he say that changed him? >> well, as brilliant as he is

and as visionary as he is, that i would say it's a bit of a blind spot for him and did take him by surprise. i don't think he fully understood and this may have to do with youth. i don't think he fully understood that people like to compartmentalize their lives and keep some parts secret, some within the family, some in the workplace and some for everybody. that's not something he may just be old enough to experience. he is not married, doesn't have children. >> put it all out will? >> giving that information and sharing it with businesses an advertisers is what had people upset and felt it was a breach of trust. >> you know, the rule on facebook is supposed to be able to determine, to control where your information goes. and i think technically you have always been able to do that but sometimes facebook made it harder than it should have been. >> you have said a few times you see him as a visionary. where do you see his vision going? what's the view of the world? >> facebook is closing in on 600

million members. they'll probably hit a billion in 2012. you know, this could become not just, you know, a global network for connecting a significant portion of humanity but also a way of organizing our lives. you imagine, for example, your tv. turn on your tv. you can see what your friends are watching. what shows they're interested in. you know? this could go in other media besides the web. >> wow. too much information for me. >> yeah. >> good on him for doing it. >> that's why you characterize him as a little bit scary. we encourage people to check out the profile, mark zuckerberg named person of the year if i "time." thank you, lev. tired and empty buzzwords get you nowhere. the five most overused resume cliches to avoid next. a flirt alert. do you want to be a master pickup artist? we have the best lines on the web. the ladies say they work. >> oh my god. oh no. so who wants to learn ab?

me, me, me!

alice cooper. morning talker time now. two guys you might not expect to be on the same bill are headed to the rock n roll hall of fame. they include alice cooper along with sweet caroline, neil diamond. there are a couple of glaring snubs like bon jovi, beastie boys and, of course, my boys, my

boys, rush. snubbed again. >> ah. >> rush snubbed again. boo, big boo for you guys 0 through the. >> not fair. so arbitrary. >> they were in the canadian hall of fame. >> they are. they wear it like a badge of honor. constantly snubbed. >> suzanne lou chi of rock. coming up in february, man versus computer on jeopardy. ken jennings among those to face off on the game show against a computer. computer named watson. artificial intelligence, all put together. can he beat the human contestants? passed the first test and had to take the first, you know, introductory round test to the actual human contestants to make it and watson passed, shocking. >> that is kind of shocking. no, it's not. what's the best pickup line online? dating website badu.come did a survey. they analyzed 200,000 flirtations in 11 languages. and it turns out the phrase "you

have beautiful lips" really scores. if your object of subject -- >> come on. >> portuguese try you have nice ears. they went for that one. dutch and portuguese, they like the ear thing. >> all right. to each his own. wondering how to make your resume stand out, don't write you're a problem solving, team player with a proven track record. those are the terms and phrases according to linkedin is overused, cliche. avoid extensive experience, innovative, motivated, results-oriented and dynamic. >> there you go. stay away from those. what do you replace them with? >> i guess -- >> get it done. >> i know how to get the job done. the desk makes the north pole look like a christmas shanty town. a company up in canada, where else, rush, snubbed, held a contest to encourage staff to decorate the cubicles.

a winner built a shed with a full-sized tree inside and stockings and, yes, there is a chimney. >> we brought in our wood stove. pots and pans and stockings. a few candles, you know, santa claus over there. behind gleg. hiding away. doesn't like the cam rachlt i guess that's about it. merry christmas to you. >> sounds like he's from newfoundland and i thought he heard rush should have been in the hall of fame but maybe not. isn't that fascinating? >> spent a lot of time. talk about -- he could have put that on his resume. i get involved in the office contests. >> anybody to construct a cabin out of an office cubicle, brilliant. brilliant. he calls it the facebook of philanthropy. a website for you to give back. alina cho sits down with the hollywood star in "big stars big giving" next.

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to many ed norton is for the role in "fight club." >> but the two-time oscar nominee is a dlooefr in tbelievr of social networking. alina cho is here part of the r series "big stars big giving." >> it is ed norton's passion and

calling it the facebook of if philanthropy and could revolutionize the way people give by making giving fun. in his more than 15 years as an actor's actor, what is less known about edward norton is the kind of charitable work he's done off camera. along the way, it was something he noticed about how charities often use the internet that's inspired his latest project. >> we were very frustrated by what we saw out there, everything was like use and drop. a button where you could donate and really like nothing more and we wanted to communicate more than that. >> reporter: norton and his friends saw an opportunity to share shake up how people give online and he came up with what he calls the facebook of if philanthropy called crowd rise, a platform that's also a community. >> this is the platform where

you plant a flag and say, this is who i am as defined by what do i care about in what am i passionate about? what causes do i support? >> reporter: within minutes, anyone can create a page, start a fund-raiser and ask for donations. from friends, family and perfect strangers. >> look. you eve got a generation of people coming along whose -- who r going to form their own new relationship with the idea of supporting the causes that they care about or changing the world, you know, and these people are not going to do it the way that our parents did it. >> reporter: which is why norton was mindful to also make crowd rise fun, putting the fun in fund raising by adding a gaming aspect. members can earn points, even win prizes. if you don't give back, no one will like you. >> that is our core philosophy. we are a bunch of dorks. >> reporter: he is a celebrity who's enlisted the help of his famous friends who are creating

profiles on crowd rise just like everyone else, like will farrell raising money for cancer survivors. >> you can win a bottle of his sun tan lotion for a donation to the site. >> reporter: quite a picture. >> good one. very sexy. very sexy. >> reporter: his hope is to revolutionary giving, one web page at a time. >> i think we really feel like crowd rise could be something that 20 years from now people take for granted because that's just how you do it. raising money for something, that's how you do it. >> reporter: not a bad thing, huh? >> no. and i think, you know, i actually in the beginning we said this like it was a pipe dream but now i think it is going to happen. >> well, we certainly hope it happens. to find out more about crowd rise or start a fund-raiser yourself, tis the season after all. go to crowdrise.com for behind the scenes photos from the shoot at cnn.com/amfix and for more on

how you can make a difference, cnn.com/impact. >> if it's not, you know, just spirit of giving, the sun tan lotion puts you over the edge. >> i can hook that up for you. >> i watched the other guys with will on the other day. will and mark wahlberg. kind of funny. >> yeah. >> who are you profiling tomorrow? >> julianne moore. we sat down in new york a couple of weeks ago and she told me about her childhood and how it was the fact that she lived as an army brat moving around place to place and different schools and saw things as a child she thought were unfair, bad schools, children living in poverty and all you know is black and white and good and bad and wanted to do something about it later on in life. she's an artist ambassador for save the children and we'll talk about that tomorrow. >> you have run into nice folks this week. >> i have. you know, these stars are walking the walk, talking the

talk. doing great things and they care about it. that was really the benchmark for us, finding people that were committed and cared and been very lucky. nice, too. >> interesting to watch. >> thank you. >> by the way, don't miss the one-hour special airing christmas eve at 7:00 eastern and christmas day at 8:00 p.m. eastern. some breaking news right now. live pictures in washington, d.c. where a suspicious package is shut down the pentagon metro station. a department of defense official tells our barbara starr that the package is on the platform and that there is some sort of flashing light on it. again, it's too early to tell exactly what it is. the official that spoke with barbara emphasized first reports coming from the scene. can very likely turn out to be nothing but they have shut down the metro station there while they investigate further. also developing this morning, greece rocked by a massive strike. the crowds in athens are angry

over changes to labor laws and pay cuts. the measures they received earlier this year. 100 billion euros. affecting banks, airlines and hospitals. police in love love searching for an armed casino bandit that made off with 1.5 million worth of gambling chips after a brazen robbery at the bellagio casino and resort. they captured the gunman with a full face helmet and then escaped on the bike. police say the robbery took all of three minutes and say the suspect may have been the same one that pulled off a similar heist at another vegas casino last week. not as el quantity as "oceans eleven" but effective. digging out cars buried in snow. ontario, north of the border, a snowstorm left more than 300 people stuck in the cars for than 24 hours and in canada's

pretty unusual. here's what it looks like. lake-effect snow blasting places like upstate new york and ohio and bone-chilling cold settling in over more than half of the country this morning. well, it was a terrifying afternoon at a school board meeting in pan that city, florida. a gunman, 56-year-old clay duke, opened fire from point-blank range on school officials yesterday, incredibly none of the actual school board members were hit. >> yeah. duke had been sitting in the back of the room. he rose up from the audience, ranting, spray painting the wall. before warding off a female school board member's attempt to disarm and then talking with the school board, trying to kind of talk him off the ceiling, he opened fire. here's how it all went down. >> you may leave. you may leave. the women can leave. six men stay. everyone else leaves. >> hear what? >> school board is --

>> ah! >> no. ginger, no. >> this isn't worth it. this is a problem. >> please don't. please don't. please. >> i'm going to kill you. don't you understand? i'm -- >> it's amazing. again, as we said, shot near point-blank range and missed and the superintendent said by the grace of god he missed because he had thought he was shot. earlier, the superintendent spoke to us as well as the board member that tried to disarm duke with her handbag. ginger littleton. she described what it was like when the gunman pulled out the weapon. >> it was surreal. we've used that word together. i started using it last night and ginger was using it this morning. it was just like we're at a board meeting and talking about technology and headlights and the next thing we know he has a gun in our face. >> i was concerned about my guys. they were lined up like ducks in a row.

he was already basically standing on the same level with them. i knew something bad was going to happen. that was my only option was to see if i could at least divert him or somehow or other detain until somebody got there to help us because my guys had three-ring binders and pencils for protection and that's all. >> mike jones, the chief security officer there acted very quickly, shot duke in the knee. he went down. you can see it here. watch. watch what happens here. shot me knee right there and down he goes. he turned the gun on himself. one fatal shot to the head. >> and again, the police were trying to determine the motive about why he did this and went there. >> they said he was ranting about his wife fired and the superintendent said no idea what he was talking about but thankfully, thankfully, thankfully no one else in the room hurt. could have been so much different. >> take a long time for them to get over there. it will be tough. the millennial generation is

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20-somethings or the millennials as they've been sometimes cast are the entitled generation but millennial was the person of the year, mark zuckerberg. but who exactly are the millennials, especially the young women? joining me is kie ra. thanks to both of you for being with us this morning. so it's hard to broad brush stroke an entire generation. we used to laugh saying why do they call us generation-x? what are the traits you found that string together the women that many of them born after 1980 or in and around 1908? what sets them apart, lindsay?

>> can't characterize them all the same way but demographically really large and diverse. technology comes naturally to them and one in three is a person of color and most diverse generation and coming the women which is what we really study the women of this generation have had more access to opportunity than any generation of women ever before and that's what we found really fascinating. >> it is. when you did this documentary "shape what's to come" you focused on them and started to worry are we headed down a dangerous path? vilified. entitled, helicopter parented. they're a lost generation. but at the same time, they're the future leaders. what did you find that surprised you setting out to study the millennial women? >> with young women or younger generations not as motivated or inspired but they blew me away. determination, focus, their passion and really this idea that they had a calling to make

a difference to change the world. and there was never a question, there was never a big ego about it. what they had to do. >> this is always interesting, lindsay, you asked them in the study of what their goals and priorities are and see a clear shift. 96%, nearly all of those that you asked being independent is the most important life goal and that comes second to being a mother which is very interesting, getting married, 50%, this used to be more tied, obviously. you felt you were a mother after you got married and then wealth. i mean, less than half had that as a top concern. what does this tell you? >> so didn't mean they didn't want to be married or have kids or amass wealth but they want to do it in their own time. independence means to shape my future and not necessarily hit milestones by a certain age. do things in the way i want to do them and if i want to change the world, i'll do that, too. that confidence was really inspiring as well as the independence. >> that's also something that

they have been knocked for, that, you know, when we look at young people in the workforce and in the workplace they're more likely to feel entitled and speaking in generalities but older generations you didn't ask for a raise and sort of listened to your supervisor and authority was always right. this is not a generation that ascribes to any of those rules. >> yeah. and i think what's interesting, also, kind of what lindsay was saying of getting married thing which is not now as much of a priority but katie spots with a great story getting letters asking her to get married. by strangers just because of the amazing things she does. so i thought that showed something so wonderful that, you know, this really strong, powerful, very young woman is sce seen in that way. >> you bring up an interesting point, lindsay. growing up with men that don't necessarily have the same rigid gender roles we saw in past generations and so i think it is interesting that when i asked,

you know, some of our 20-something production assistants and producers here, they didn't necessarily feel the pressure of us 30-somethings about needing to decide or trying to be a super mom, to juggle it all saying i will have a partner, he'll help me 50-50. wh i don't know what you 30-somethings are stressing about. >> everybody's different whether you're male or female and i love that the members of this generation are wanting to work together and not feeling like the genders have to be separate and two different paths. >> certainly inheriting a lot of problems. huge debt, deficit, more power to them and linking up more on the tuddy to our website. thank you both for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> john? >> thanks. just in to cnn, the pentagon giving the all clear after a suspicious package shut down the pentagon metro station. department of defense official told our barbara starr it was on the platform. there was some sort of flashing light on it but everything appears to be just fine. freezing rain, sleet and

snow, beginning to look a lot like christmas. rob marciano braving the elements outside and has the icy details for us. join the jaguar platinum celebration !

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your business booming? booming is a new employee named ruben. snow bound detroit this moshing where it's sunny and 15 chilly degrees later on today. the sunshine will continue and only going to be 25. real cold there today in michigan. >> pretty much across the rest of the country unless you're lucky enough to be in miami, dallas. >> miami's cold.

>> but miami's going to be 65. down right blazing. >> oh! right now in the low 40s. >> getting sunshine today. rob marciano's live for us in louisville, kentucky, ain't any warmer in many other parts of the country. hi, rob. >> reporter: good morning, guys, yeah, no. feels like the core of the cold air that refuses to go away. second week in a row, we have the surge of arctic air mass from canada. we talked about the snow and the blizzards across the midwest. the great lakes getting lake-effect snow. with the cold air in place across this part of the country, the tennessee-ohio valleys, mid-south, you know, you just wait for moisture of the gulf of mexico and you have an ice problem and that's what's going to happen, already happening in places to my south and that will happen here later on today. speaking of to my south, the ohio river just to my left. a little bit towards the south and west, we have got some clouds. see the blue sky and the gray stratus clouds working in at mid

levels. leading edge of the moisture of gulf of mexico coming in here in the form of snow, sleet and freezing rain tonight. first, dealing with temperature that is are below freezing and already getting frozen precip. 11 in louisville, yeah, feels like it. you bet. 26 in nashville. 4 in cincinnati. to the south where the moisture is coming in, mississippi and alabama, reports of icing inner have nan, alabama. birmingham, 32. freezing rain advisory just issued there so everywhere north of i-20 under did gun here including places in mississippi like tupelo. here's a radar showing some of that moisture beginning to fill in on the radar scope and expect it more intense today. pink is the wintry, messy mix. dangerous travel north of i-20 in alabama and mississippi. dangerous travel today or this afternoon and tonight in nashville. and then exceptionally dangerous tomorrow morning here in louisville and then down the road in lexington. problem is once the icing

happens and we could get up to half an inch, it remains below freezing tomorrow afternoon. not only a morning commute but afternoon and evening problems, too. so looks like the problems from this arctic air blast don't seem to want to go away from the lake-effect snow and blizzards to down right frigid temperatures and now an ice storm on the hands. back over to you. >> all right. rob, thanks so much. still ahead, look better? you can hit your snooze button. hasn't worked for us, has in it. >> what's a snooze button? >> i guess maybe you're supposed to continue to stay asleep even in the middle of the night. maybe that's the trick. 15 minutes past the hour. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some people just know how to build things well.

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listen to this, you guys. mcdonald's said a hacker broke into the database and stole customer e-mails and phone information. i'm no health freak here but if mcdonald's has your e-mail and your phone number, you're eating way too much mcdonald's. that's ridiculous. >> that's a problem for me driving through the drive through. hi, kiran. how are you? >> do they know what you want? >> yes. >> that's the real cue. >> i take the kids once a week and they really like it. so -- >> how often do you take you? >> just every now and then. very rare. very rare. i only drink saccharin when i'm there, right? the popular artificial sweetener, the government removing it from the list of hazardous substances. it is in popular diet sodas and chewing gums.

a re-evaluation found it's not hassardous. >> told it's potentially dangerous and then today, never mind. >> you remember back in the day they said it could cause cancer in mice and others said they had to take such large amounts it was impossible in humans. >> i can't figure it out. dangerous one day. not the next week. forget it. more high school seniors now choosing pot over cigarettes. that's one very disturbing find in a new report released by the federal government on kids today and drugs and after years of declines, the feds say the use of ecstasy on the rise again even as young in the eighth grade. >> unbelievable. it's more than just an expression, swedish scientists say there's such a thing as getting the beauty sleep. >> something we just don't know about here. >> they found it without with two sets of photos of 23 men and women. one after eight hours and one after 31 hours. could have just taken pictures

of us after election night. the sleep deprived ones rated as less healthy, more tired and ugli uglier. >> that's harsh. >> the people concluded are the a.m. staff writers. beautiful regardless of how much sleep they get. >> i wish we could get a picture of jim mcginnis the new executive producer who was looking -- first day getting up at 2:00 in the morning. looked punchy this morning. >> fun, fun, fun. >> still there in the background. doing all right. he's still awake. he says i'm going to pay for that. up next, a hit and run crash caught on tape but the victim is a snowman. jeanne moos is all over this like a bus on a snowman. rst breath of air, then protects it on the long journey to their feeding grounds. one of the most important things you can do is help the next generation.

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well, it's one thing if a bus driver loses the i don't know for hitting a pedestrian. that would be very bad. but what if the man he hits is made out of snow? >> he's still in trouble. jeanne moos tells us what happens when frosty gets thrown under the bus. >> reporter: a hit and run on a snowman and cost the bus driver his job. ♪ frosty the snowman but this story has no fairytale ending. it happened in illinois on a video posted to youtube. you see a car go into the bus's

lane and then the bus crosses over and takes him out. >> oh my gosh! >> reporter: dude went out of his way into the opposing lane to kill the snowman said critics while defenders called it clearing the road of an obstacle. hail to the bus driver. but when the mass transit district saw the video, the unidentified bus driver lost his job. resigned apparently facing suspension. most would agree that there are more responsible ways of dealing with an obstruction in the road such as calling our control center, calling 911, et cetera, than driving westbound in an eastbound lane of traffic. funny they should mention 911. the other day, a woman in england was chastised for calling the english version of 911 to report her snowman stolen. >> your snowman's been stolen? >> yeah. >> what do you mean, a snowman actually made out of snow or an ornament? >> no. he's made out of