CNN Hero Feeds Hungry Children
HOLMES: It's 25 minutes past the hour on this CNN Saturday morning. And there has been a devastating drought in the southwest, and as a consequence now, among a number of consequences, it's now hitting Christmas tree lots across the region. This drought has killed thousands of Christmas trees in Texas and Oklahoma. They're literally dying of thirst. Hundreds of other trees, they were burned in the wildfires. So some farms will be selling trees grown in North Carolina now. But this, again, as I bring in Bonnie Schneider, we were talking about these drought conditions in Texas. They were going through the season, really a record drought there, and we're seeing the consequences.</s>BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's impacting so many industries, so I'm not surprised Christmas trees are one of them. We are seeing, though, a lot of rain moving through other parts of the country right now. So for those of you on the road and maybe you're heading somewhere to do some shopping or perhaps continue your holiday travel, let me show you with some of the trouble spots are right now, some strong thunderstorms rolling into Arkansas at this hour. Little Rock, it's just start to go rain there. Expect more of that throughout much of the morning. And to Shreveport, Louisiana and then northward, everything is changing. In Chicago, for example, light rain is moving in. But by tomorrow night, you're looking at a chance of light snow showers in the Chicago area. It's snowing in northern Minnesota, and that's where we have winter weather advisories because we are looking at wintry conditions in this region, snow and ice a possible two to four inches. That's going to be a problem for those of you driving later tonight and through Sunday. And that's really a shame because tomorrow is, rather, the busiest travel day. No delays right now for air travel. But this is what we're anticipating throughout the afternoon. Chicago, winds, low clouds, rains could all cause delays. As well as Dallas, Houston. Memphis, St. Louis, Minneapolis and even Miami all facing delays this afternoon. So if you can get on that earlier flight or hit the road earlier, you'll probably be best off on this busy holiday travel weekend. T.J.?</s>HOLMES: Thank you very much. We're about 26 minutes past the hour now. And we're also just about three weeks away from picking a CNN hero of the year. I want to give you a chance to get to know some of the top 10. This morning, chef Bruno Serato, who has more on his mind than serving dinners at his popular restaurant, is somebody we want to introduce you to now.</s>NATE BERKUS, TV HOST: Hi. I'm Nate Berkus. And as a member of the American Red Cross celebrity cabinet I am committed to emergency preparedness, disaster response, and lending a helping hand to those in need. Now I am thrilled to help introduce one of this year's top 10 CNN heroes.</s>BRUNO SERATO, CNN HERO: I came to this country I love to cook. But to be in the restaurant business you must love the people. There's your lunch, ladies. In 2005, my mom was on vacation from Italy. I said, mom, let's go to the Boys & Girls Club. This little boy, five-years-old, eating potato chips for his dinner. He was a motel kid. I find a poor family who has nothing else, you live in a model. When they go back after school, there's no dinner. There's no money. Mom said, Bruno, you must feed them the pasta. My name is Bruno Serato. My mission is pasta and feeding hungry children. I don't give the kids leftovers.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bruno brings the trays and all the kids expect to eat spaghetti.</s>SERATO: Are you hungry? Are you hungry? Right now, we are between 150 to 200 kids. Who likes the pasta?</s>CROWD: Me!</s>SERATO: My mom, she made me start. Now I could never stop. They're our customers, my favorite customers.</s>HOLMES: And you can actually still vote for the winner. Log on to CNNheros.com and take part in our special all-star tribute, December 11th, 8:00 eastern right here on CNN. And Newt Gingrich, what is he doing? Was it a bold step, a big idea, or was it a mistake? His take on immigration raising some eyebrows and some concerns. But look at those two. They don't look concerned this morning. Our dear friends and our political players Lenny and Maria, we're talking all new when we come back. Stay with us.