Transcripts For CNN CNN Newsroom 20101231

we have had reports from our west desk and they make phone calls all over the country that there have been some reports of damage all over st. louis from wind alone. there have been some building collapses in the parts of st. louis, i don't have any details on when, where or how this happened. but we know that as the initial wind went through parts of seattle, it was already damaged. you are probably hearing the sirens in st. louis right now. that's why this big pink box is here. there's a tornado warning for st. louis proper and east st. louis. from st. charles all the way down to fes tis and down toward desoto. this weather is going to move through st. louis in the next 15 or 20 minutes. i need you to stay inside away from windows. make sure the pets and the kids are inside. i don't want one i-report from this storm rvel. for such a big storm moving through such a large metropolitan area, very dangerous situation anywhere around st. louis. if you're within 30 miles of st. louis, stay inside. >> all right, chad, we'll check back with you momentarily on that. as you mentioned that warnings in effect for the next 15 or 20 minutes. very critical. >> once it's gone, and it's over, it's over. but when it's coming right through there, especially with the circulation that i see on the radar, this could get ugly. >> people need to heed that warning and stay inside. look for those small places in the house like the bathroom or the closet. >> basement is always the best place. you always want to go to the lowest level. if you live on the third floor, go find your neighbor on the first floor. the winds are higher the higher you go. the basement is the safest place, even though you think everything's going to fall in on you, it's the safest place to be. new year'ses, you know what that means, people go out and they have a good time. maybe they drink a little bit too much. now thousands of americans will be starting the new year in jail because of drunk driving. thousands more will be hurt in drunk driving accidents and dozens will be killed. so every year police around the country look for new and better ways to keep the roads safe and one idea that's actually catching on is the no refusal checkpoint. that's where police stop everybody for breathalyzer tests and arrest anybody who blows above .08%. that's the nationwide legal limit for alcohol in a driver's bloodstream. drivers can refuse, but in many states, automatic penalties kick in. and now in several states, police have a fall back. if drivers won't give their breath, police take their blood on the spot. armed with a warrant from a judge who is on duty right there at the checkpoint. it's being done or tried in cities and towns from arizona to delaware, with a federal government's blessing. mothers against drunk driving calls it a great deterrent. so no rational person would deny that stopping drunken driving is a noble ambition. but no refusal checkpoints may face a constitutional road block. at the top, we turn to civil rights attorney avery freedman and joining us today from cleveland, happy new year, avery. >> happy new year to you, fredericka. >> we always have the right to remain silent, but when we have to give our blood, if the law says we have to do that, do we have to adhere to that? >> well, the law may say it, the question, and this is a unique part of the new program, they actually will have a -- you know, a guy in robes with the white bullion, i don't know, but he's going to be out there with the police entering warrants requiring that blood be given on the spot and i think that's going to be problematic because, again, we're dealing with a body invasion. yes, there is a court order, fredericka, but the difficulty is that the system presumes the guilt of the suspect, of the defendant, in all of these programs, they may have a judge there on the scene, but you know what? they don't have a defense lawyer on the scene to protect the rights of the suspects. and that's what may create the legal, the constitutional issue presented here. >> so then the suspect who says, i'm not going to take the breathalyzer, i'm not even going to adhere to the blood test, what kind of recourse does that person have even though the judge is right there because their defense will be i don't have an attorney present. is that enough? >> yeah. and the fact is if there's an argument that it is an unreasonable search and seizure in a normal legal proceeding when a judge enters an order, there is a right to an immediate appeal under certain circumstances. well, under the new setup where there's a no refusal policy, who protects the individual who may very well not be guilty and he's presumed to be not guilty, who is protecting the rights of that individual? the idea of what's going on here, fredericka, is unassailable, the idea that we do have a problem with drunk driving, but the bottom line is that it needs to be refined to make sure, not only are the interests of the state protected, but the individual's rights of the presumption of innocence must also be protected and the system does not build that in? >> it continuing to be a striking of the balance between those the privilege to drive and the safety of others who are on the road. >> that's exactly right. you nailed the issue, it is a balancing test. and these experiments of no refusal really recognize the pervasive problem of the abuse of alcohol. but the system hasn't balanced in the rights of the individuals who are entitled to be protected, hopefully no refusal will also build in the rights of those individuals, we're not there yet, but ultimately, i think that's what we're looking for here. >> avery freedman, always good to see you, happy new year. >> same to you fredericka, all the best. >> and we look forward to seeing a lot of you in 2011. our sound effect today is the last word on billy the kid, at least for now. and that word is, well, i'll let you hear it straight from the outgoing governor of new mexico, bill richardson. he spent his last week in office deciding whether to pardon the legendary wild west outlaw for the 1878 murder of a sheriff named william brady. the issue for richardson wasn't guilt or innocence but a promise supposedly made by the governor back in the day to throw out the charges if the kid testified in another case. he did but was tried and convicted anyway. he later broke out of jail killing two deputies in the process. this is governor richardson's decision delivered this morning on network television. >> when billy the kid killed two deputies, two deputies, two law enforcement members escaping from the lincoln county jails, i have to include that in my decision. accordingly, i decided not to pardon billy the kid because a lack of conclusiveness and also the historical am bbiguity as t why governor wallace reniged on his part. >> that was the grandson of pat garrett who killed billy the kid in 1891, but not to the albuquerque lawyer who dredged this up in the first place. new mexico's incoming governor says she has for pressing issues to worry about. the new year just hours away, at least for those of you on the east coast and west too. but with the new year comes a new set of rules and laws. josh levs is coming up next after the break to explain the changes. and it is already by the way 2011 on the other side of the world. this is the annual fireworks show in bangkok thailand. more photos show you from hong kong. these took place over victoria harbor. happy new year everyone around the world. 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[ male announcer ] it's a new year. so, ask your doctor about chantix. and find out how you could save money on your prescription go to chantix.com to learn more and get terms and conditions. all right, an ominous live look at st. louis. you recognize the arch there. that city is in the bull's-eye of a dangerous, deadly storm system that has already swept through parts of arkansas and now into missouri. our chad meyers keeping a close watch of this. you mentioned a warning in effect for the next 15, 20 minutes. has it been extended? what's the situation? >> the storm has really roared through st. louis right now and is just about ready to exit to the city of st. louis and cross the river to east st. louis. i'm going to stop this and show you the latest and the greatest. and this pink box goes all the way into the st. louis and into southern illinois. it's hard to say what this storm has done right now. i'm still looking at all the national weather service data coming in from st. louis proper. but we know that there were multiple tornadoes on the ground west of st. louis and that weather obviously just travelled right on through into st. louis proper. we know that there was -- this weather has charged right into downtown st. louis and past. we will monitor how much damage will occur, we knew it was going to happen, this was a big weather event. >> this has really been an incredible holiday season of some treacherous weather coast to coast. all right, let's talk about some laws that go into effect. just after midnight, this new year, they involve vending machines and your old electronics, just to name a few. and in illinois, the scandals surrounding former governor blagojevich, has even brought a change. josh levs is here to tell us all about it. >> we have so many laws in this country. it's very interesting to look around the country and see what some of these laws are. and the first thing i'm going to talk to you about is campaign finance reform in illinois. it was actually signed into law on the anniversary of the arrest of this man, former governor there, rob blagojevich. groups like unions, political action committees are limited to $10,000. illinois did not have rules like that before. they are now in place. and a new law, vending machines, they're going to have to start showing calories. this is part of the health care reform legislation that you and i have reported on so much. same goes with restaurants. >> now it's not an issue of do i have enough change, now you're going to be influenced, your decision will be influenced by the calorie count? >> by the calorie count. and i'm having a few technical issues on the final day of the year. let's see if i can get to that. you know what's wild? this thing has worked for me every day throughout all of 2010. i'm just going to have to talk to you about these. so next one i'm going to talk about is your fsa. when you go to the pharmacy right now, you're used to being able to use your flexible saving account on over the count you are drugs. and americans save a lot of money -- unless they're prescribed by a doctor, you can no longer use your flexible spending account to pay for those over the counter drugs. another one here is coming out of maryland. if you get pulled over by a police officer, instead of the officer assigning you a trial date, which is what's normal, now what they're going to do is they're going to let you pick a date basically. >> let me check my schedule. >> if you go home, you get in touch with them and you pick a date for when you would have the trial and the reason is, what they're saying is a lot of people wait until the day before their trial to call in and pay the ticket. and that means that the officers are already scheduled to be about a trial, they have to change their schedule. the theory is if you pick your own date, maybe you'll call, maybe you'll pay. if you have an old phone, it will be illegal down there to put this in the tash. they're creating these new systems to collect and dispose of them. but if you stick it in the trash, they can actually come along and tell you that you broke the law. you can take a look there and see which ones strike you and also you can tell us about some of the laws that are affecting you. >> i haven't heard the word walkman, which tells me someone out there has one because they didn't know what to do with it either. you did a great job. all right, we're going to check back with chad myers, we have been telling you about the dangerous storm system that's threatening st. louis in the bull's-eye. >> a tornado on the ground in bellville, you need to be under ground if you k you need to be in a basement at this point. we know the tornado is on the ground. bellville, a very big town just to the south and east of st. louis, in illinois, across the river and the tornado is now across the river into illinois proper. so bellville, please get inside the house, into the smallest room, if you don't have a basement, get inside, stay away from windows, big storm headed to you right now. >> thanks so much, chad, we'll check back with you momentarily. we're going to take a short break now and update you on this severe weather system that's taking place. also a roller coaster year for stocks and your paycheck might have a little extra something once 2011 rolls around. we know that's going to make you happy. that's straight ahead in your money. we're ending 2010 with a tornado on the ground in bellville, missouri just outside of st. louis. chad myers with more on that. >> illinois. >> illinois, sorry. >> across the river into illinois. >> all that same vicinity. >> they know exactly where you're talking about. there's the river there. this would be the missouri side. this is the illinois side. i change over to what's called doppler radar. we talk about it all the time, no one shows it to you. we look for colors together. reds and greens together are never a good thing. that means that winds are going in different directions very close to each other. that means this storm is circulating right there in bellville, illinois. that storm has been on the ground here waterloo, i think it still is. we do know now that there has been damage in st. louis, into the some of the suburbs of st. louis. we have town and country and kirkwood and so many other towns around st. louis, i'm focusing on the city of st. louis, but we're also focusing on the entire metro area. >> we know this has been a very dangerous, nasty, deadly storm system already with three dead as far as we know. all right, up and down then back up again. u.s. stocks have been all over the place this year. so just how will things end up on this final day of 2010? let's go straight to the new york stock exchange. allison kosik is there to straighten all of it out for us. >> it's been a crazy year for investors. but the good news is we're going to finish close to the highs for the year. and just how crazy of a ride has it been for the dow? we got off to a good start. during the year the flash crash started. the dow was down almost 1,000 points for a brief time. followed by a really tough summer where stocks got crushed. but then by the end of august, fed chief ben bernanke was hinting at new stimulus measures that were going to be taken to boost the economy. we're finishing with a strong december. the s&p 500, it's been up 17 of the last 21 sessions just this month. a really nice run. and if you look at the market overall for the year, we're looking at an 11% gain for the dow, more than 17% gain for the nasdaq and the s&p 500 is up 12% for the year. but we have got a long way to go. we had huge losses in the previous two years when the dow tumbled but we are ending up in the plus column this year. >> what are the prospects for y next year? what are the traders thoughts? >> trader are positive about next year. they see investors coming back to stocks which is something we didn't see happen over the summer. also they're saying what's really going to power this market is the fact that those bush era tax cuts are being extended. and it's going to help -- it's going to help out a lot of people putting more money in their pockets, same with those payroll tax cuts. it's going to go ahead and put more money in people's pockets. but the fact of the matter is, there are concerns out there too, oil prices are going higher, there are those european debt concerns that continue lingering, and cities across this country have serious debt problems, that's going to be a big weight on the economy. most of the pros, expect another good year for stocks. in fact one portfolio manager, he thinks the dow could go as high as 14,300, if it does, that would be a new all-time high. keep in mind we're only at 11,792. >> be sure to tune in to your bottom line with christine romans, and your money with ali velshi, starreds 1:00 p.m. eastern, sundays at 3:00. new year's eve, americans gearing up to welcome in 2011. are they feeling more upbeat about the new year? next the stake out with ed henry. dgrt ?gaue matains heyesy.rc g o oh, what a memory that ed henry had while hanging ten there in hawaii and all this while we're just hours away from the start of 2011. are you feeling more hopeful about the coming new year than the one that is almost gone? our senior white house continue ed henry, now with his feet dry after getting them a little wet while surfing there in hawaii, back from that very tough assignment. i say allow wh laloha, but it's aloha not. >> i'm actually going to be -- i was debating about whether to show up in a hawaii wan shirt. and then have a suit in the car or something like that. but i got off the red eye and came straight to work. >> blame it on the time zone change. it is tough. give me an idea, this new year, 2011, do people have reason to feel fairly hopeful about this white house as it ended 2010 with quite a few victories under its belt? >> they did and the president's news conference before he left washington about a week or so ago, he was certainly very upbeat in saying that because of that tax deal that he sealed with republicans, a lot of economists are upbeat about 2011. so you would think maybe there would be a bit more confidence. but i was fascinated by this new cnn opinion research corporation poll that is basically asking people about your own personal life, are you hopeful heading into 2011, 64% are saying they're hopeful, whereas this time in 200930%. so it's increased ever so slightly. so this is why the white house is nervingous going into this new year because they have got a whole new power dynamic on capitol hill with republicans, taking over the house in the middle of this week. john boehner will be sworn in as speaker and number two, we're not far away from the 2012 campaign. they're starting in a few months. they're not going to way 12 months. when a big chunk of the country is not feeling that hopeful and it is less hopeful than they were a year ago, that's worrisome for this white house. >> let's talk about reflecting on 2010. to reflect, you have some great white house photos. share with us. >> we have so many great producers here at cnn, all throughout the network, but particularly in the white house unit. thi they put together a great photo spread. and it's right now at cnn.com/1,600 report. check it out. i was taken by one of our white house producers, that's pretty cool. she also took one when the president went on vacation at bar harbor, maine. a little bit different than what you see here in washington, where it's all work. at the nato summit, a great moment with president obama and president sarkozy, kind of joking around a little bit. we're going to have some of our white house producers on j.k. usa tonight talking about some other photos they took, some big moments from 2010, reflect on the meaning of them and then we're going to take also a look at pete souza, he's posted his favorite photos of the year. we're going to look back, but also a look forward at 2011, a busy year to this president. >> as we say goodbye to 2010, and welcome in the new year, we'll see you again tomorrow. >> i think obviously everybody wants to be on vacation. because they're having me anchor a couple of shows. we got some good guests, we have got darrell issa, he's going to be our guest at 9:00 sunday morning. we may get some hint from him about what kind of hearings he may be launching, what he might be doing to investigate the obama administration going forward. then we have got exclusive guests. tim kaine, a democratic party chairman. the president's been promising to make the economy and jobs the big focus in the new year. we're going to get a preview from tim kaine. >> look forward to all that. thanks so much, ed. appreciate it. sorry i'm not able to say mahalo. happy new year, enjoy. let's talk about this nasty weather that's sweeping through illinois, arkansas, missouri, chad what's the late zbles some fatalities from overnight, about 6:00 in the morning, in the dark, a tornado hit parts of arkansas. here's st. louis proper and thin all the freeways around st. louis, i-70, 64. but i'm going to go all the way out to a found called fen tong. kirkwood is right there, fenton is right here, from the national weather service, they're going to be sending a heavy rescue task force to fenton and to melville. i know that a storm did roll right across there, south of kirkwood. it was doing everything a tornado would be doing, and also it was wrapped in rain so you couldn't see it. crews are on their ways obviously and as soon as helicopters can get in the sky, all of our affiliates will be watching it for you too. let's talk about new year's. ringing in 2011. and guess what, the famous ball is to drop in new york's times square, thousands, millions descend on that, but what does it take to get it all to happen? we'll update you after this. all right this breaking story we want to tell you about coming out of pearland, texas. we understand a reported bank robbery is underway in that city, according to our affiliate reporting ktrk. two armed men apparently held up a chase bank right there in pearland earlier today. investigators are saying the robbers actually beat up the bank's manager, an unknown number of people are being held against their will, held hostage there, inside the bank. of course when we get anymore information about how the police are responding to this, how the people are doing, of those how many might be held hostage, we'll be able to bring that to you. this bank robbery reportedly underway in pear land, texas at a chase bank and we understand two armed men are holding a number of people hostage, we don't know how many, but a number of people hostage at that chase bank, which if you know the pear land area, it happens to be right in the main street section there in pearland, texas. we're also going to bring you more on the weather that's taking place, some severe weather that's already sweeping through parts of arkansas, missouri, as well as illinois. you've been hearing from chad myers with reported tornadoes on the ground and he was mentioning in certain cities people are being urged to go to their basements or to small enclosed areas the most protected places of our homes or businesses. already the lives of three people have been claimed and a number of injuries report there in that region. meantime all this as we close out 2010 and get ready to ring in 2011. and one of the central places in the world where people like to do that would be times square. you're looking at live pictures right now of new york city, still with a whole lot of snow mounds along the way there in times square, millions of people will be desending on times square, the big apple to get ready for ringing in 2011. and of course one more reason why they come, besides just being with everybody is to watch the ball drop. c nr katie, are you going to be out there in the cold, braving the elements to take advantage of the great sights that this promises to bring? >> i will not be out there because there are no public bathrooms and that is a new for me right there. but it's pretty incredible the process that goes behind the actual ball drop. >> tell me about the technology involved here. >> a billion people will watch the video of the ball dropping. but i want to take you to a timeline. because it started in 1907. the first ball drop was made in iron and wood and it was about 700 pounds. now through the years, we have become a lot more tech savvy and now here in 2010, we have a 12-foot in diameter ball, one that weighs 875 pounds and uses over 32,000 phillips led lights. it's using this l.e.d. technology, which is 88% more ecofriendly. it costs as much to power two ovens as it does to power the ball every single hour. and when you have these l.e.d. lights you can put photographs and images right on the ball. you can put the mona lisa on the ball if you wanted. >> that's beautiful and so when we talk about the ball and the crystals involved, we know for the past couple of years it has involved waterford crystals. same goes for this year? >> yes, over 3,000 waterford crystals and i had the opportunity to talk to phillips north america who's actually in charge of the ball drop. and something very interesting, we're talking about how this started in 1907 and they used a pulley to -- they used hydrau c hydraulics and a number of different electricity, but we talk about 11,000 pounds on the ball. what causes that is those waterford crystals. crystals are very heavy and when you have 3,000 of them, you can imagine why this ball is so incredibly large in size. >> it's ecofriendly and that's something to be excited about too. c net have sliding-the web address is cnet.com. that is so cute, i love that. >> it will mix it up around here. >> every year, very fun. oh, yeah, 2011, bring it on, right? all the best to you, happy new year. >> happy new year. >> all right, have a good time. all right, one more time as we get ready for ringing in 2011, sadly, 2010, the end of 2010 being marked by tragedy now, the remnants of the tornado coming through there, this is -- give me that city one more time? this is sunset hills, missouri, not far out of st. louis where we believe this tornado touched down, you see the remnants there, the damage, you saw debris there in that field. chad myers has been giving you an idea all afternoon long about the warnings in effect, the dangers as a result of the tornadoes already touching down in parts of illinois, missouri and we know also in arkansas earlier, our chad myers is getting ready here at the weather wall. we're going to take a short break, we'll get back to the coverage with chad myers right after this. do health issues limit your mobility? is it difficult to get to the bathroom on your own? do you feel like a bother to others due to your lack of mobility? have you fallen in the past 12 months? if you answered yes to any of these questions, you may qualify for a new power chair at little to no cost to you. hi i'm doug harrison. if you're living with limited mobility, call the scooter store today. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. i promise, no other company will work harder to make you mobile or do more to ensure your total satisfaction. because making you mobile is our mission. we'll work with your doctor, medicare, and your private insurance. so don't wait any longer! call the scooter store today! call for your free mobility consultation and free lighted magnifier right now. deadly tornadoes takes plague. this is serious. >> this is not that far from doubt, this is a 15-minute detroit from downtown. to the southwest of the city of st. louis. we no thknow that fenton was hi. this is probably the same tornado. right up from fenton. multiple damage to businesses, homes destroyed in sunset hills. this is literally right off the truck, right from st. louis, right to us, right to you. it doesn't get anymore fresh than this. obviously the tornado was spin agent this time. i can show you where it was on radar here in just a minute. but these pictures are so incredible. here's st. charles here's downtown st. louis and the river goes down like this. right here, you're going to see the town of fenton show up. there's kirkwood, there's fenton and right where that storm was, as it goes, watch the red come in, right there, right through there, that's where sunset hills would be and that's where the damage occurred. most of this weather now is east of missouri into illinois. but this is what a tornado can do. we knew it was going to be like this, we knew pictures were going to be here, we didn't know what town was going to get hit. but that was a tornado on the ground. we'll get more pictures and more information as the day wears on. >> we have had ice, snow, flooding and now this tornadic activity to end our 2010. >> because there's such a big cold front to the west of this and how muggy and warm it is right here where these people are standing, this is not going to be over. this is going to go on most of the night. there are tornado watches all through the evening. >> and this continues to have the momentum as it moves eastward. >> up toward peoria, maybe even chicago. not this, but certainly chicago is under the gun for something tonight. meantime, as we wrap up the year, we'll take a look at the woman you chose as the 2010 cnn hero of the year, and that's coming up. is it difficult to get to the bathroom on your own? do you feel like a bother to others due to your lack of mobility? have you fallen in the past 12 months? if you answered yes to any of these questions, you may qualify for a new power chair at little to no cost to you. hi i'm doug harrison. if you're living with limited mobility, call the scooter store today. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. i promise, no other company will work harder to make you mobile or do more to ensure your total satisfaction. because making you mobile is our mission. we'll work with your doctor, medicare, and your private insurance. so don't wait any longer! call the scooter store today! call for your free mobility consultation and free lighted magnifier right now. 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"today" is the last day of 2010 and we want to look back at the hero who you the viewers chose at the 2010 cnn hero of the year. she has made it her life's mission to stand against the sexual exploitation of young girls in nepal. she patrols the border between india and nepal where girls are trafficked every day to india's broth brothels. take a look. >> in the west, america, europe, if someone comes and says i want to make your child a prostitute, you would give them one slap or shoot them. but here, families they are tricked all the time. girls are brought from the villages by people who can lure them and tell them that they are getting a nice job. the border between india and nepal is the conduit point of trafficking, once here there is no mistake. it is my strong hope to stop every nepali girl from being trafficked. when we go to the border, exit points, we are intercepting four girls or five girls per day. after the rescue, the girl is taken to nepal. we started this for rape survivors, trafficking survivors, we take everybody. the girls who come back from brothels, they're totally psychologically broken. we give them whatever work they want to do, whatever training they want to do. one day we will really stop the trafficking will end. these are all convicted. one day i was trafficked, but today i am something new in my life. they are any strength. >> her work has rescued and rehabilitated more than 12,000 napali girls. to help her watch the borders between india and nepal, or to nominate your hero, go to cnn.com. to pearland, texas a bank rocky is underway at a chase bank on main street. we understand from your affiliate that two armed men went into that bank and they are now holding people hostage. we don't know how many and we don't know what negotiations are like at this point as well. but right now, an ongoing reported case of an armed robbery taking place there at that chase bank at pearland, texas. and then of course we continue to follow the deadly storms that have moved through arkansas and are now hitting illinois and the st. louis area of missouri. there are reports of tornadoes touching down and we're just getting these reports and these new images in right now of multiple collapsed buildings, lots of strewn debris, homes that are damaged as well. these images coming out of sunset hills, missouri which our chad myers says is only about 15 miles just of st. louis. a tornado is already being blamed for the deaths of at least three people in northwestern arkansas and more could be trapped. authorities say at least five people are now in critical condition. we'll continue to update you on that severe and deadly weather system. so you have watched her for years. for an hour every day. for an h. but starting tomorrow you can get all the oprah time that you want. we take a look at the o.w.n. network as the queen of day time prepares to kick off her new network. all right. oprah is looking to make good on a new year's resolution and start the year off with a big bang. the queen of talk launch own, the new oprah winfrey network tomorrow. there will be plenty of series and shows picked and created by who else? oprah. cnn entertainment correspondent c kareen wynter give us a look. >> reporter: the most ambitious endeavor of her career. a 24-hour television channel dedicated entirely to the vision of oprah winfrey. >> i could take every hero who inspired me. >> the launch of o.w.n. is a huge deal in the television business. >> reporter: this tv expert says he knows what the greatest challenge and strength will be. >> oprah has a huge advantage in launching a network because she is a brand. the danger is that the programming may not live up to the brand. that's the big question mark. >> reporter: here's how oprah plans to answer that question. >> this is a time for new beginnings. >> reporter: in ask oprah's all-stars, a live audience goes one-on-one with dr. phil, suze orman and dr. oz. master class profiles eight world icons. season 25 takes fans behind the scenes of oprah's talk show and big bowl of love invites you into the kitchen of christina ferrera. and for those who love clutter, peter walsh has enough already. >> this is a show that looks at people's stuff but gives them a road map out of this overwhelming amount of clutter in their house. >> by, peter, so many new networks fail. why do you think this one is different? >> people want to be the best they can be. people want heroes. people want inspiration. here at last is a level of programming that brings people that. >> there are a lot of critics out there. and i personally don't understand. why wouldn't you want to have this kind of programming when today all you see now are those shows about how is wives pulling each other's mayor. >> i know it's easy to be cynical or skeptical, but i for one am so excited about what's going to happen when that switch is flipped. >> reporter: the switch gets flipped new year's day when viewers will decide whether they will shine a light on o.w.n. okay, fred, the first official program on o.w.n. airs at noon on new year's day. a two-hour special hosted by oprah called "oprah's guide to o.w.n.." as for the discovery health shows, only two will remain. "deliver me" as well as "mystery diagnosis." this is a huge endeavor for the queen of all things media. huge test. >> it is gigantic. something tells me she's not going to sleep a wink tonight knowing tomorrow is the big curtain-raising. thank you so much. appreciate that. happy new year. coming up, the studies in 2010 that made you say, duh. some of the less grounds breaking discoveries of the year straight ahead. uh-oh. [ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast. [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kao. in today's "odds & ends," the studies that perhaps we could have done without in 2010 because they seem to have an obvious conclusion. these were compiled by livescience.com. how about this one. published in the journal of neuroscience, meth can harm an unborn child. this seems like a no duh. but to be fair, there was new research from the study. it identified particular learning problem meth exposed children could have. another child-related study that seems pretty obvious. bullies pick on the unpopular kids. this came from the journal of child development and found bullies target kids less likely to be defended by their peers. all righty then. and how about this one? smoking a lot of weed is bad for you opinion these according to studies now, marijuana use can mesz up your head according to the society of neuroscience. that was their scientific way of putting it. results show the more weed a person used the greater difficulty they had focusing and i'm willing to bet they were a little bit hungrier as well, say those who know about the product. could this be the biggest waste of a study in 2010? early in 2010, australian researchers said they discovered the most reliable way to lose weight was to eat less, exercise or do both. no kidding, this is a study. there are so many weight loss magic pill promises out there maybe we need a reminder of the basics. but an entire study? rhetorical question. checking now the hour's top stories. severe weather in illinois and the st. louis, missouri, area. right now tornadoes reported on the grounds and reports of serious damage coming in as well. a tornado hit northwestern arkansas earlier today, killing at least three people and critically injuring five others. then on to texas where two armed men are holding people hostage in a bank in the town of pearlland. that according to our affiliate ktrk. they're reported they doesn't know how many are taken hostage. security of course is tight this hour at times square. live pictures right now, site of tonight's new year's eve celebration sls in the big apple. it's estimated that more than a million people will be in the crowd. the ball drop at times square is a tradition that of course dates back to 1907. and we're going to follow these breaking stories for you all this hour and throughout the afternoon. of course we'll be there as the ball drops as well. but first this. it's been one heck of a year for innovations in this country. the world-changing ipad slammed head first into the market. new research indicates that one in every five americans will have a tablet computer within the next three years. you can now control games without any game controllers. lungs are being grown for rats in labs. humans could be next. this year we had the first ever privately produced astronaut-worthy spacecraft blast off into space. we also marked ten years of continue owls living on the international space station. we saw aircraft flying on plant power. we're talking algae biofuels used to power planes and the president of the united states caught checking out some supercool robots. what in the world could 2011 bring? we're devoting a whole hour of "cnn newsroom" to answering that question. i'm chad myers and the top ten innovations of 2011 starts right now. obviously, we'll keep you advised of the weather as well but let's start this show off with media. i'm not talking about the news. i'm talking about how we are going to maneuver our lives online. what are we going to do in 2011? here to walk us through the innovations shelly palmer, host of "live digital with shelly palmer" and from washington mario armstrong, technical analyst, digital lifestyle expert. >> hey, how is it going? >> great. i have a lot of questions for both of you. right to the first one. ipads, all kinds of things new. i don't even know how to use them. i'm a little bit. i'm 47 and i feel like i'm 77 because i literally don't know what i'm going to do about this. let's talk about this. let's talk about desktops and laptops. let's talk about cell phones and all the new things. shelly, you first, what comes down hardware first. >> there's a new study out there that tells us there are 4 billion cell phones, a billion pcs and that basically a third of the people on the planet will be totally connected by tonight at midnight. and so you should get with the program. think about having an ipad or a tablet or maybe a smartphone. it wouldn't hurt you. >> shelly, believe it or not, i couldn't hear much of what you just said, so i'm going to -- the battery just died on my ear piece, but that's okay. i'm going to talk one more thing and can get back to you if i missed something. something i don't understand at all. mario, you can pick this up. apple tv, google tv. what is it? why do i care? is it going to save me money? tell me about it. >> there are a couple of things happening with this whole movement of getting content from your computer on to your television. and for years many techies and advocates have been doing this already but it hasn't really been simple for it to be mainstream. this is why it's a big deal. because many people go online to get video content, movies and other video stuff that they're looking for. but to get that on the television in the house is a lot of complex things that need to happen. if you don't have the right computing hardware. apple tv, boxes like this one that i have that i brought with me, these are settop boxes that you can connect to your tv systems that also connect to your home network enabling you to view internet content on your television. i think it's here to stay. i think it's a trends that won't go away. whether or not the cable companies are going to just sit back and watch us use netflix and others. >> you're right, it's going to stay but it's early days. people who think they're just going to cut their cable cord are in for kind of a little surprise. google had a bit of a setback with google tv. it asked manufacturers not to demonstrate not to demonstrate google tv at the upcoming ces show because they don't have it right yet. it's true, this is an absolute trend. people are going to be connecting their televisions to the internet. it's a great way to experience content but it's early days. >> shelly, okay, i watch tv on my internet all the time. it's this big. it's two inch by two inches. how am i going to get that on a 47-inch plasma? >> it's not a problem. actually, there's a new standard not to get too technical. it's been around for a while. almost everybody who is serious about internet television is encoding in that and it looks great over internet on your television but it's early days. it's just going to take a while but it's coming and nothing is going to stop the train. nothing. >> here's a quickie. for all of the folks who would like to watch internet television, internet on my tv. if your television was an lcd you have already pretty much have the capability in place. just buy a vga cable that connects to the computer or laptop to the back of the television and you could start experiencing what that experience is actually like. >> gentlemen, thank you very much. >> he's absolutely right. you've always had the ability to take your computer and plug it into the television. boxes like the one from linksus. it's going to get easier yesterday because at ces next week all we're going to see is connected televisions. every one can hook up to the internet. >> and tablets will be big. happy new year's, guys. >> that's what i'm concerned about because i can't figure out how to use that finger to go across there. all right, men, talk to you in the new year. of course you can't talk about media without talking about social media networks. that's next after this break. but here are the first and top ten trends of twitter for 2010. the gulf oil spill obviously. the world cup. inception , a movie i didn't understand at all. haiti earthquake, the vuvuzela. the apple ipad. the google android. justin bieber. harry potter and the deathly hallows. and pulpo paul. after the break, status updates on facebook. our live presentation of innovations continues in a moment. first here's fred with new year's celebrations from around the world. >> happy new year at midnight tonight for those of us on the east coast but already it's 2011 in so many places on the other side of the world. this is the annual fireworks show in bangkok, thailand. beautiful there. more fireworks to show you from hong kong. these took place over victoria harbor. you can't miss with this city. how gorgeous. happy new year, everyone. 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[ male announcer ] it's a new year. so, ask your doctor about chantix. and find out how you could save money on your prescription go to chantix.com to learn more and get terms and conditions. this breaking story and then we'll get back to chad myers with the innovation special. one we're following right now, the severe weather system that is passing through the st. louis, missouri, area, as you see the radar right here. already we know and we're seeing the images as you see right there, images of the damage taking place in sunset hills just outside of st. louis by about 15 minutes by chad's estimation. and we're also seeing images coming out of the illinois area where we know that belleville also experienced tornadic activity there. and all of this after three reported dead in arkansas when this very same system moved through, causing the deaths and the injuries of so many. also we continue to watch what's taking place south of there in pearlland, texas, where we understand a purported bank robbery is under way. two armed men went into a chase bank there on main street in pearland, texas. apparently a number of people are being held hostage. we don't know how many. we'll continue to update you on the ongoing situations, breaking stories this afternoon. back to chad myers. it's one heck of a year for social networking. i even tried facebook for a while. it was the focus of a blockbuster movie, "the social network." >> i think you know that. it's on your blog. >> are you all right? >> i need you. >> i'm here for you. >> no i need the algorithm we used ranking chess players. >> are you okay? >> we're ranking girls. >> you mean other students? >> yeah. >> do you think this is a good idea? >> i need the algorithm. i need the algorithm. >> give each a base rating 1400 and at any time has a rating r "b." >> when any two are matched up there's an expectation which will win -- >> yes, and those are expressed this way. >> smarter than me. facebook ceo and founder mark zuckerberg was actually named "time" magazine's person of the year. he's joining people like bill gates, george bush, bill clinton, ted turner, ronald reagan, charles lindbergh, jimmy carter, martin luther king jr., queen elizabeth ii and jfk. social media is changing the world. what's next? let's talk about this social media with stacy collier, our staff writer for cnnmoney.com. i want to get to something that facebook put out for its official strategy for 2011. this is stunning. we are looking for hackers. we're looking for men and women who want to drink red bull and mountain dew and stay up all night and turn an idea into an ugly looking prototype and see what people think about. we are looking for people who are impatient, who like to write code and crank things out and think social is going to change the world. so hackers, welcome. tell me about facebook. how is it going to change for 2011? >> well, it's definitely the hackereth yos. it's all fueled by red bull. one of the things they're after is facebook's scarcest resource is the talent to turn out the product. they want to find the smartest programmers they can get their hands on. next week they kick off the hacker cup. they have programming challenges and invite programmers all over the world to participate. they'll fly the winners out to their headquarters to do it live. >> did they tell you what they're looking for, how they're going to change facebook? actually, it works now. >> works pretty well but this year they've been aggressively rolling out a whole wave of product updates. now that they're up to 550 million members they need to refine how the site works and feels. we saw them launching messaging system, places, group system. what is coming in the coming year is location. location and continuing to blast out your social network wherever you are both on the web and offline when you're out traveling in the world. >> yeah. where are you? do you want to put your location on? >> exactly. >> i don't like that at all but that's okay. let's talk about twitter. i thought twitter was gone and now all of a sudden twitter is literally back. >> yeah. they've had a real breakout year. here's a fun statistic. 95 million tweets a day running through tweeter up from an average of 3 million last year. this has been a breakout year for them. >> i did almost 19 tweets this year. i tried to -- >> and that probably puts you as one of the more active users. >> stacy, that he can you very much. we have to get to breaking news with fredericka whitfield. >> this taking place in pearland, texas. i mentioned earlier there was a report of an armed robbery taking place in a bank, in a chase bank. look at the images right here. the standoff taking place outside as authorities descend on this chase bank, a main street there in pearland, texas. it's about 16 miles southeast of houston, texas. on the line with me now to give me a better idea about whether there are hostage indeed, how many they may be, lieutenant lopez. thanks for being with us. pearland police department. how many hostages do you believe are in this situation? >> at this point we're not exactly sure how many are inside the bank. we do believe there are civilian and some bank employees still inside. >> and that bank manager, i read earlier from some reporting from our affiliate, may have been injured. is that your understanding? >> yes, we understand that the bank manager was physically assaulted by the suspects. >> how were you alerted about what was taking place? did someone ring an alarm? was a phone call made? how did you know this was happening? >> at about 11:00 this morning we received a 911 call from a passerby who saw the suspects entering the bank. weren't clear how many he had seen go in but they were wearing masks and did move quickly, which is what prompted our 911 call. we did have a -- >> i'm sorry, go ahead. >> we did have an officer in the area and was able to respond within minutes of the original call. and from what i was told there was possibly an exchange of gunfire. i don't know who exactly was firing and i don't -- our officer was not injured. i'm not sure if the suspects were injured. >> okay. and so early reporting that two armed robbers went into this bank. is that the count that you've received? do you have any confirmation of how many suspected robbers there are? >> we believe there are still two inside the bank. >> and what's the condition of the bank manager who was assaulted? >> at this point, i have not been advised of his exact condition, nor have i been given his location? >> what kind of communication might be taking place with the suspected robbers? can you tell us anything about that? >> we have s.w.a.t. negotiators that have been communicating with the suspects and we're trying to peacefully resolve this situation. >> i imagine you've closed off a certain perimeter around this bank. give me an idea how far and wide that radius may be. >> we closed off businesses in the immediate area. we are trying to keep civilians from the scene. we're also trying to keep our -- the police response as confidential as we can. we're trying to avoid the suspects being alerted to how and when the police will -- if at all -- respond to the situation. >> lieutenant onesimo lopez of pearland police department, thank you for the information. reporter marian bennett with kprc who is reporting from houston. mary ann, what more can you tell us based on the information we've also received from the lieutenant. >> reporter: i know you've heard quite a bit of facts from the lieutenant but i can tell you we are standing on the other side of the bank. we're surrounded in a parking lot by people who believe they have either friends or family members who are inside that bank. you can imagine they're obviously waiting for word, very worried about the fate of their loved ones and their friends. one woman i spoke to, she's too distraught but said she thinks her sister ran inside the bank earlier to withdraw some money and she hasn't heard from her sense since. we haven't been able to confirm her sister is inside but from our vantage point this is the gathering point for people who obviously want to stand and watch what's going on but more importantly people who believe they have family or friends inside the bank either working as tellers or could have been customers and now they're just waiting for fate -- just to find out their fates. i also want to let you nknow tht i spoke with one woman who called our station. we know her so we know she's reliable. her brother she told us is the manager of the bank. she says that her brother told her that these armed suspects walked in, just sort of burnst into the bank. he believes there are three of them. he heard them shouting and demanding money from the teller. at one point the suspects walked into his office and ordered him to open the vault. he told them that he did not have the combination and that he would have to go to another area of the bank in order to get more information. at that point, he says, according to his sister that we spoke with, that the suspects started beating him up and as the officers arrived and started surrounding this chase bank in pearland, the suspects asked for a back exit of the bank. he believes before he was transported to the hospital -- he really thinks most if not all of the suspects ran out of the bank but doesn't really know because obviously he was beaten up pretty badly and rushed to the hospital. he's going to have to have several stitches put into his forehead and other places on his face. but he did tell his sister who conveyed to us that it was chaotic, people were frightened, there was a lot of screaming. we also talked to witnesses who say that they heard gunshots. from our vantage point we have not been able to confirm anybody was actually shot. but we know it was chaotic, a very frightening, very tense inside that bank. so now we're waiting to find out exactly how many armed suspects could still be inside, how many potential hostages are inside and also what their condition is at this point. >> mary ann, that's an extraordinary account of events. you're saying this manager because of a conversation you had with someone who says that's his brother -- the manager who is reportedly assaulted there in the bank, that he believes that there are three armed robbers in that bank or at least came into that bank, demanded money, asked him to open the vault. he was unable to do that. he was assaulted. at what point was he allowed to leave to go to the hospital? >> he says -- and this is again i'm talking to his sister who had a brief conversation with him at the hospital -- that he was able to get out himself. she did not know exactly how her brother was able to get out of bank, but she does know that he is injured. he's going to survive but he's going to have to have a number of stitches. but he was able to get out of the bank. she does not know how. but what she does tell me is that her brother conveyed to her that when police started arriving, the armed suspects started panicking, as you can imagine, asked for a back exit and that he thought two of the three got out, if not all three. again, we haven't confirmed these numbers. we haven't been able to. that that's what he believes happened. but he also says he remembers hearing gunshots and people screaming. so we're still waiting to hear how many people are inside. but at least he was able to get out. he's at the hospital. >> and about the time of day when this purported robbery began, was this a particularly busy time at this bank there in pearland, which is about 16 miles outside of houston? i realize a lot of people getting ready for the holiday, maybe making withdrawals for their new year's celebrations. but any indication how busy this bank may have been at the time of this purported robbery? >> reporter: it's hard for us to know exactly how busy it was inside the bank. as you said, it's the holidays. people drop in to wrauf money for money for the holidays but also keep in mind it's a very busy area. you have the shoe store nearby. there's also a walmart across the street and a strip center, a mcdonald's. that's a place a lot of people would run in if they needed some money. and if they banked at chase they would run in. we really doesn't know how many are inside. and the sister of the manager that i spoke with was not able to give me that information. >> very helpful information. mary ann benton with kprc out of houston. this purported bank robbery under way. it's an active scene at this chase bank there in pearland, texas, just about 16 miles outside of houston. we heard from the police as well. they're unclear how many suspected robbers may be in. you heard from the one reporter that said anywhere from two, maybe three. unclear whether they're all still inside. also unclear how many people who are being held against their will there inside that chase bank. more on this and of course the weather system that continues to sweep through missouri, illinois and arkansas. all of that coming up after this. want to get you straight to sunset hills, new jersey. this is the mayor talking right now. >> reporter: anything else in sunset hills? we see the damage right along here. any other areas we cannot go to? >> i got a call that a couple of homes on the top of the hill had the bing multi-pane windows blown out. no injuries there as i know of. i've had people telling me there is damage at johnny mack's which is the last business in sunset hills but i have not -- i have no confirmation of that. >> reporter: and you certainly have a lot of damage in this stretch here. >> it's incredible, absolutely incredible. cars overturned, trucks overturned. it's kind of hard to believe that such a thing could happen to our city. >> reporter: what will the city's response be? what are you able to do? >> well, at this particular point in time, we're just trying to get the situation under control. control the crowds, protect the properties. we're sealing off the stores and the retail operations so that no one can attempt to -- when i say looting in sunset hills, it just doesn't make sense but we want to keep them out of the other properties until we get them under control. >> reporter: all the municipal buildings okay? >> without power. the police station is up because it has its own generator. as luck would have it, we're replacing the generator at city hall, so it doesn't have power. >> reporter: but otherwise -- and no reports of serious injuries. we're just hearing minor injuries. >> no serious injuries whatsoever and thank god no fatalities. >> reporter: where were you during the storm. >> as terrible as this sounds i was looking out the back window of my house at it. but unfortunately or fortunately i live so far away we didn't have anything happen. >> reporter: no damage at your home? >> no damage. >> reporter: that's a blessing. i guess you have a long day assessing this and staying on top of it? >> it will take a while to get cleaned up. >> reporter: anything the city needs from its residents today? >> i'm going to say this and they may not appreciate it. but the best thing the residents of sunset hills could do is stay out of the way of the people who know what they're doing. >> reporter: that's good advice. thank you for joining us, mayor. good luck to your city. >> you are listening to mayor william nolan of sunset hills just outside of st. louis, missouri. take a look at the damage. even he says it's extraordinary. seeing the cars and trucks overturned there. many buildings also damaged but he says no serious injuries reported and thankfully no reports of fatalities but take a look. this was a pretty serious storm that came through. chad myers with us now. certainly look like the indicators of a tornado? >> absolutely. no question looking at it on doppler radar it was spinning and also spin near fenton and heard there was heavy equipment being sent to fenton. so we have no pictures yet but we do know there is damage there from the same store as it moved from southwest to northeast just south of kirkwood. literally just south of the city of st. louis itself before that tornadoes did lift. now the weather is now basically sliding into illinois and also southern missouri. maybe toward the bootheel. but this is going to go for a lot of the night. these watches you see there, those big red watches until 7:00 tonight. this is not over right now just because it's over through a certain city. illinois, you need to be taking cover if if you see these coming forward and the bootheel of indiana. and could be weather into alabama and georgia. even south of this a new tornado watch along the gulf of mexico from about new orleans back on over to -- dave is zooming out for me. you'll see the red box there just south of montgomery. that's to the southwest. not including of course atlanta but pensacola and the like and right smack dab over mobile, alabama, with weather possible there tonight. >> a sweeping system we'll continue to watch. much more straight ahead. what do you say we get the look we want, the softness we need, and an unbeatable lifetime stain warranty for whatever life throws at it. then let's save big on the installation. ♪ we're lowering the cost of going barefoot. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get exclusive martha stewart living and platinum plus installed in your whole house for only 37 bucks. gaue grmatains heyesy.rc g it has been a stellar year for the nasa program and the space program in general. let's push forward and see what's coming up next year 2011. here to talk us through this big innovations down the pike former astronaut leroy chow. breaking news kind of getting in the way condensing our show a little bit but let's talk about this and the space station. where do we go in 20 len with the space station? >> operations continue to be robust. you had three subtle missions in 2010 that brought up two new modules. two possibly three more shuttle missions in 2011 bringing another critical experience -- >> what did you just say? say that again. >> we're going to have two space shuttle missions, possibly three in 2011 -- >> you're breaking news here on my show because i thought the space shuttle was done. tell me about this. you're burying the lead. tell me. >> no. we have two space shuttle missions, one in february and one scheduled currently for april. and they're going to bring up a logistics module that the be mounted permanently on the station as well as critical spare s. to keep the station supplied in case of failures that are going to be expected down the road. now, in addition to that, congress may approve a third shuttle mission that would fly sometime in the summer. the complication on that is nasa is currently running -- the whole government is running under continuous resolution. it's uncertain right now whether that will be funded. >> let's say eventually the shuttle is going to go away. how do we get up there? >> right now the plan is to fly with the russians. we've been flying rotation sls on the russian soyuz. my mission that's how i got up and back. i was a co-captain. reliable transportation vehicle that's been around. the exciting part of the new space policy rolled out in 2010 is it calls for nasa to help seed and stimulate commercial companies to develop the capability to basically turn over to commercial companies transportation of astronauts from the ground to the international space station. >> mr. chiao, also nasa has focused on science a lot. how is that going to change? >> there are exciting missions coming up in 2011. probably the biggest most exc e exciting is the mars laboratory. a new rover launched toward the end of the year that will travel to mars. five times heavier than the rovers on mars right now and has equipment on board to test soil and rock sample for signs of microbial life. that's one to watch closely. >> thank you for your time. we're kinds of condensing this show. but i'm looking forward to 2011 and the nasa program. i'm sure you are too. when it comes to cancer, finding it early is crucial. how do we do that? there's something new. a super early detection medicine innovation possible. talk about that right after the break. is it difficult to get to the bathroom on your own? do you feel like a bother to others due to your lack of mobility? have you fallen in the past 12 months? if you answered yes to any of these questions, you may qualify for a new power chair at little to no cost to you. hi i'm doug harrison. if you're living with limited mobility, call the scooter store today. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. i promise, no other company will work harder to make you mobile or do more to ensure your total satisfaction. because making you mobile is our mission. we'll work with your doctor, medicare, and your private insurance. so don't wait any longer! call the scooter store today! call for your free mobility consultation and free lighted magnifier right now. now back to our special presentation of the incompetento vegass of 2011. our next category medicine. i love this google body browser. did you know it was a body browser? you can go through the body just like you can go through a map. but instead of navigating streets you navigate through the body. cleveland clinic is out with the top ten medical innovations of this coming year. topping the list a scan for alzheimer's disease. did you know the only way to diagnose it is through an autopsy? another big one experimental weight loss. for people that don't want to do all this they can do scarless surgery. it's called transoral gastro plasty and expected in the next year. the best way to treat cancer is catch it earlier. there's going to be a new blood test for something new and here to tell us about it is melissa from the university of southern california. tell me about this. i'm so excited that we're going to be able to take a fingerprick and tell us the chans we have cancer. >> at the university of southern california we're developing a new cancer test that uses your own body's host defense system to let us detect cancer earlier. we're very excited. it's really going to change the way we diagnose, manage and treat cancer in the future. >> is this good? will it check for breast cancer, lung cancer and all those things? >> right. so right now we think of cancer as a disease that has lung cancer, breast cancer, melanoma. and looking at it as a disparate set of diseases requires a different test for every type of cancer. we don't have those right now. by looking at it as the way the immune system interacts with it we can think of cancer as one disease which makes it much easier to diagnose and treat. we've discovered a set of biomarkers that lets us look at how our body interacts with the defenses and we're able to make one universal test that should help reduce cost, make it a simple way and done at any hospital. >> what are you testing for? is this like a by-product of the cancer itself or what? >> it's actually a population of immune cells that's in your body. it arises in the setting of cancer. it's not found in healthy individuals. and a number of these cells increase. the more cancer has spread, the bigger your cancer is. and conversely, if treatment is successful or you're in remission, then the number of cells in your body decreases. >> can they detect my cancer stem cells? i've heard a lot about this lately, cancer stem cells. >> right. so cancer stem cells, people are doing some wonderful work on it and it seems to be sort of the key as how cancer spreads and starts. we're not actually looking at the cancer, which is what's so innovative about this approach. your body's immune system is altered any time the cancer continues to grow in the body. so we're looking at a population of suppressive immune cells that get in the way of the body itself clearing the cancer. this is the population we're detecting. >> how soon? this year? >> yes, this year. so at the university of southern california we're going to be starting a pilot study in head and neck cancer patients in january and hope to do melanoma and lung cancer next. >> thank you so much. i'm excited about that. i know there's a lot going on in cancer. probably the people born now won't have to deal with cancer. it will be cured or won't have to deal with it for the rest of their lives. still on the breaking news of the tornadoes in missouri, illinois and arkansas and of course the bank hostage situation in texas. 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[ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. just like you. go national. go like a pro. welcome back. back to chad myers in a moment. you're looking at pictures right now the chase bank in pearland, texas. why? because of an ongoing reported hostage situation as a result of a purported armed robbery as well. we understand according to authorities and our affiliate reporting kprc that one person, possibly a woman has been released and also being talked to now by authorities there as they try to figure out just how many other people may be in this bank and being held against their will. early reports indicated anywhere between two and maybe even three armed robbers came into the bank during a fairly busy time as people were getting ready for the holiday season. walked into this chase bank and according to eyewitness accounts even the manager there of the bank was reportedly assaulted. we heard that from a pearland police lieutenant who told us that that person was assaulted but still unclear how many people in all may be held there in this chase bank. it's an ongoing situation. a reported armed robbery. a reported hostage situation as well that is active. again, one more time, one woman, a female -- we don't know about her position, whether she was a patron or worked there, she's reportedly been released and talking to authorities now. much more on this situation in pearland, texas, about 15 miles outside of houston when we get the information. i'm fredericka whitfield. back to chad myers after this. i'm fredericka whitfield. back to the top innovations of 2011 right after a quick check of the latest developments in our top stories right now. serious storm damage is being reported in illinois in the st. louis area right now as a dangerous system sweeps across the central part of the country. we've gotten reports of tornadoes on the ground. earlier today a suspected tornadoes hit northwestern arkansas killing three people and 12 people were hurt, five of them critically. breaking news in texas. two armed men are holding an undetermined number of hostages at a bank in pearland. police say the robbers assaulted the bank's manager. a woman left the bank just minutes ago according to sources and we'll keep you updated as more information becomes available on this situation just outside of houston. at times square, site of tonight's snurs celebrations in new york, the big apple. live picture right now as an estimated up to 1 million people will be in the crowd. already thousands have turned out. the ball drop at times square is a tradition that dates back to 1907. happy new year, everyone. innovations with chad myers is coming right back after this. >> innovations took another leap forward this year and i do mean leap. we're talking about a whole new set of things. a new way to play. when they said we're going to do the 2010 games and gaming of 2011, i went, gaming? gambling? what are you doing gaming? what kind of new gambling games are we going to have? but no, blair mcintyre joins me from augmented environments. at georgia tech only a few miles from here. maybe you are gaming. what are these boys doing over here? >> so what we've been doing over the last few years is looking at how you can move games off the table, off the console in the physical world. in this case they're playing a game that's superimposed on the money on the table using the images on the money to figure out where the camera is and putting graphics out there in the world with you. >> i'm confused. i'm looking at a dollar bill on that camera and not seeing the same on that thing. what is that. >> >> these are android phones. these are t-mobile g-2s. as you see on the screen he has a western scene with the cardboard cutouts. they're looking at each other and shooting each other. sort of a western shoot-out played on the money in the world. >> i thought my poker on my blackberry is big. this is new. this is a big change of head-to-head. i know we can do it online. you can do this like on a plane. you might be able to have good fun. >> we're interested in how to create the same social gaming experiences as with kinect or wii when you're mobile away from your consoles and computer. here by having the games superimposed on something in the world, money in this case -- you can imagine on a game board like augmented reality board game -- by having that, they can actually see how each other is moving. feel like they're playing in this physical world together. >> what do you think of this kinect thing? i know this goes kind of off the subject. is this going to be big? >> i think it could be. the thing that excited people about the wii was you get up and move but when you look at people playing wii they're laying back twiddling the controller. >> you haven't seen my 6-year-old playing bowling. >> with kinect you have to get up. if you've seen people playing the dancing games or sports games you can't sit down but move. i think people enjoy these experiences where part of the experience is watching the other people play. you're kind of performing now. it's fun. the big challenge with the kinect is going to be getting the sort of wii crowd to sort of think about the xbox and moving on to a different console. >> you can't do that with the wii. that's all different. you have to get a whole new box and i just bought the wii for christmas. that was a big thing for a 6-year-old. irrelevant. where do we go from here? what's the next logical step? >> i think we're just going to see more and more of this physical gaming in the world. people want to be playing games with other people in the world much like we used to play board games and card games. so eventually we won't be looking at games through your phone on dollar bills. we'll be looking at games in the world around us, right? why not play a game where i'm shooting at things or playing some sort of social game out in the street or in the sports field. >> i love this little thing you're doing over here. not sure how they're doing it. do you get to keep the money? >> if you win the game of course you get to keep it. >> about to get some lunch right now. >> thanks for the four mile trip you had to make although there's a big parade for the chick-fil-a bowl. probably took 25 minutes to go four miles. innovations coming up, the economy and economic policy. what about the secret to our future success? our next guest is sure to tell us what's going to go on and why in a minute. uh-oh. 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[ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kao. back to our live cnn special about the top 2011 innovations. arguably 2010 was the ipad. i haven't figured out how to use it. revolutionized the tablet industry completely. according to a harris interactive survey the number is expected to jump to 20%, so a lot more people buying this by 2014. there may be some kind of buying opportunity in there somewhere. that means one in five will have a tablet in the next three years. let's talk about the demographics of this. what are you doing? who's using this? you're browsing the internet, reading e-mails, reading something off the internet. social networking, movies, gaming. whatever. how is this all going to change the way we do things? and this whole survey is going to actually tell how tablet users are now part of social network applications. the ipad was an innovation headliner in 2010. what's to come in 2011? if anybody knows it's gary shapiro. he wrote the book on innovation literally. the president and ceo of the consumer electronics association, author of "the comeback: how innovation will restore the american dream." he comes to us from detroit, my old stomping grounds. used to live there. let's talk about what's going on, what's big in the conference coming up, what's next? >> next thursday, the consumer electronics show opens up in las vegas and it is going to be amazing. i think more products will be introduced there than every show prior. we're estimating 20,000 new products will be shown by 2800 companies and attract over 125,000 people to las vegas from around the world. i'm sorry? >> is that overload? >> no, it's not. we were up to 150,000 a few years ago. we decided to step back on the pedal a little bit. but no one can see the entire show. you can't walk the miles of exhibit space. you focus on what you want to see. if you want to see tablets there will be aitd new tablets introduced by a bunch of companies. certainly the ipad is good but there will be other products as well. we'll also see a lot of apple-related products. the companies showing apple products has doubled from our show last january. >> what's next? we know about the pad already. what's next? >> well, obviously, smartphones are very, very hot. we see a lot of growth and innovation there. the whole computing market is very strong. television will increasingly be connected to the home and internet capable. basically, the whole theme will be you're connected to the internet no matter where you are, including the car. we're going to see a lot of innovation from the car. we have the head of ford speaking as well as the head of audi. general motors will be there. there will be a whole bunch of electric vehicles shown as well. it's not only entertainment. it's information and also safety. so that's what you'll see -- >> you want broadband for everyone, don't you? >> i'm shifting to the united states now, not just the world. in terms of our economy, we rely upon innovation. part of that equation is everyone has to be able to receive broadband. wired, wirelessly and competitive. that's important. but that's all part of a bigger theme. innovation is what we are about as a country. that's what the comeback is about, the book being released. it's all about innovation and how that's going to save our american dream because right now we're struggling. we're the slow growth country in the world. others are getting ahead of us and we have to get back to our roots which is attracting the best and the brightest, focusing on free trade and getting our government to make tough decisions where to spend money so we're not just giving our kids a bunch of debt. we have to focus on our kids' education and their future. that means innovation and doing what we do good. >> good luck on your show. i love that show. i love cement as well but i love your show. good luck with it next week. we will have a lot of products on from it as well. "cnn newsroom" continues after this with brianna keilar. limit your mobility? is it difficult to get to the bathroom on your own? do you feel like a bother to others due to your lack of mobility? have you fallen in the past 12 months? if you answered yes to any of these questions, you may qualify for a new power chair at little to no cost to you. hi i'm doug harrison. if you're living with limited mobility, call the scooter store today. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. i promise, no other company will work harder to make you mobile or do more to ensure your total satisfaction. because making you mobile is our mission. we'll work with your doctor, medicare, and your private insurance. so don't wait any longer! call the scooter store today! call for your free mobility consultation and free lighted magnifier right now. i'm bob kearn, president of coit cleaning services. these pictures are the history of my family and they're also the history of coit. we've been in business for 60 years and our greatest asset has always been our people. we use the plum card from american express open to purchase everything we can and with the savings from the early pay discount, we were able to invest back into our business by hiring more great people like ruben here. how can the plum card's trade terms get your business booming? booming is a new employee named ruben.

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