our live broadcast of cnn heros. it's our annual salute to those who make life better for those in need. here's gloria estefan. take a look. >> i love cnn heroes because people are used to seeing celebs on tv, politicians on tv. the people we should celebrate are the people out there doing things that help other human beings. >> tonight you're going to meet real super men and super women from across the globe. >> so shining the light on these heroes that do amazing things helps all of us say, i can do it too. st. jude, it's really an amazing place. the incredible research they do, they make it a soothing place for both the family and the child. they bring kids from all over. it's not just the united states. it's important when someone is in recovery or facing a tough battle that their spirit and mind be taken care of. believe me, i've been there. estefan's back was broken during a collision. >> when i was coming back from that bus accident 22 years ago, my husband pulled me back into my song writing and music. that a

we've got our cnn top ten heroes taking a group picture. holly is like please don't leave, please don't leave, i want my picture taken, too. >> when you study what they have done and you watch the deeds they do and you see them in person, it's really quite astounding. it just feels so good to be here with them. and especially right now around the holidays you see people that are doing things, good things. we read about so many bad things and it uplifts you. they're 1.4 or 1.5 million nonprofits in the country. we have to support them and here are some more. >> by supporting them, each of the top ten heroes gets a $50,000 grant for their organization and the hero of the year gets a $250,000 grant to help aid their good work. >> i'm going to be doing the social media suite. >> tweet her and she will tweet you back. at #cnnheroes. >> hollyrod.org, what she does for autism is amazing and thank you, holly and nischelle. our coverage begins tonight at 8:00 eastern with our preshow special. that's followed by cnn heroes, an all-star tribute hosted

of the day so he's the hero. who's the villain well this one's quite an easy target today it's bob ryan and for those of you don't know who bob ryan is he's a top housing adviser in the obama administration for not much longer you see mr ryan has conveniently decided to jump ship yep next month they'll start a mortgage banking position at wells fargo so why is this a big deal well you have to dig a little deeper for that one see mr ryan has a pretty hefty resume that just screams conflict of interest first off his current position since two thousand and nine has been senior adviser to the secretary for housing and urban development last year he worked as a commissioner for the agency working on. a loan resolutions but before that he was a fan from point for twenty six years at freddie mac. you remember them the government back and to that are you bailed out by our tax dollars in two thousand and nine to help repay defaulted mortgages back in march mr ryan was a key player in the twenty five billion dollar mortgag

in india, here we have super heroes like, tell me a hero. >> super man. we have super heroes in india. krishna. lifts mountains and throws them to the ocean to create bridges. i will tell you the story about a super hero. krishna as a little boy in the village where the trees blow and the water flows and the birds fly and the grass grows, in this village there are cows. and people and they go to the river and they go to get their water. and they go to the river and what do they see? an evil demon is polluting the river. callia. and they can't get water because it's killing the cows and the people. so, they go to krishna and say, please, do something about this this is not good. he says, he thinks about it and says, okay. he takes his friends to the river to play. they play ball. they play with the ball and then by accident or may be not, the ball goes in the -- river. and callia is in the river. krishna is swimming through the dark waters and sees the ball is in the tail of the serpant demon. he sees the ball and the demon is sleeping. so guess what he do

because there is one charity called homes for heros. this is building homes for heros. make sure you give to the right charity. >> sean: what a great story and truly inspiring guy. amazing organization. they are from long island, new york. if you like to help people like sergeant tavera you can go to building homes for heros.org. and coming up next we will take you to afghanistan to see how those that are fighting overseas stay connected with their >> sean: welcome back to this hannity holiday special. for the past three years we have brought you exclusively behind the scenes of operation patriot care package an effort created by michael and monica to raise awareness about the sacrifices that military durings make not just doug the the holidays but all year long. they followed the blackhawks who are double deployed. they are based in germany and have to leave loved ones far from friends and family when they deploy, in this case to afghanistan. >> we are one of the closest patrol bases to the border of afghanistan/pakistan. >> one day the u.s. will leave this country and

i think i had too much when i was young. >> who are your heroes? sporting heroes? >> for me, michael johnson was definitely one. don quarry was one because he was a great runner, a 200 meter runner. i remember watching maurice greene, these guys had a lot of energy. >> what about other sports? >> other sports. >> iconic heroes. >> i was into cricket so it was wazamacher. >> great pakistani cricketer. our american viewers have absolutely no idea what we're talking about or who we're talking about. the west indies have just won the t-20 world cup. congratulations. a jamaican leading the battle cry. >> he was doing the gangnam style. >> can you do it? >> i can do a little bit. i don't want to get into that. >> you mentioned michael johnson has been one of your heroes. i have bad news for you. he doesn't think you can run very well. here's a clip from my interview with him in london. watch this. >> well, i'm a fan of his speed. that's for sure. his style, it's not that great, actually, which is amazing because biomechanically he's not as good as some of the other guys

is a hero. we've got his picture right here behind us. scott, i asked you if you'd gotten a chance to go in and see the stage and kind of start feeling everything around you. what do you think is going to happen tomorrow night? are you very excited? >> i'm really excited. i think it's going to be an amazing event. it's wild to see it come together. i definitely have some butterflies going, a little nervous but i'm excited. >> reporter: how did you feel when you found out you were going to be honored as one of our 2012 cnn heroes? >> just really touched. i think that cnn was willing to do a story about substance abuse and the positive side, a story of recovery, is really special. >> reporter: i love your story. scott's story, if you don't know, he was a user and he was a drinker from a very young age and then decided, you know what, this was not the life to live. he got straight. he's getting everyone else straight that wants to be. and we're going to honor him tomorrow as one of our cnn heroes 2

>>neil: i will try to sort this out super hero-style. we looked up at the sky, and that is not a bird or a plane but that is a hunky italian american here to save you and the planet earth live tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. where no matter the season saving you is always in season, spandex or not. did you hear about throw women eating dinner in california, ready to pay the check and they discover the words "fat girls" written on the check. do you think they can sue? a lawyer says fat chance. the other says fat chance they can't. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's anothereason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. and i'm here to tell homeowners that are 62 and

i don't think i'm a hero. i just had a job to do, and did it with the children at the school district, but i also like to include the whole community. that's why we put on the powwows and have different events where everyone could attend. be proud that you're indian. >> so we would like to present gwen with this local hero's award from kqmd. thank you very much for what you have done for the community, for yourself and the community and all the relations and gwen is going to be saying a few words. we're going to present her with this bag here and thank you. >> why thank you michael. it's very nice to hear the good words about me, and my son even has flowers i see. thank you very much tom. i have three sons. tom and middle son and he has a son also named tom but he is here today from palm springs. you live in palm springs tom? >> all over. >> all over. and thank you and i would like to thank my other friends. i saw so many of them here tonight and it's really nice that you came for our -- not just my friends bu

hero of an earlier time, -- was a hungarian hero of an earlier time. there was a radio, and they adopted the name of a previous deliberate thing hero, and in 1956 he would have to call it anti-stalinist radio. >> what was the circumstance? >> 56 is the end of the stalinist period. he died in 53, and after 53 people want to begin to reform the system. in '56, you have the revival of what i have just described, so if stalinism was an attempt to put everything under state control, 1956 was the revenge of civil society, when people began reorganizing themselves, reorganizing social life independently and spontaneously, and among other things, creating independent radio station. >> you said it took six years to do this. >> it depends on how you count. >> what i really want you to do is back up and tell me what you went through and what you were trying to find out and how you did this book. >> my inspiration was the idea i wanted to explain how totalitarianism happens. we do know the story of the cold war. we know the documents we have seen, the archives tha

shirley is my hero. she is servicing people and i think that is my message. anybody that chooses to serve people you're awesome. you're all my heroes, and i think i just want to leave a quick little word of what a uncle told me this year is "what -- actually "what is hard is told us to go out everyday and live a beautiful life" and i think if we can do that it's a good world. it's a good thing. so thank you and i thank my family for dancing. that was awesome for me to see. thank you for coming out. thank you lisa for driving all that way and my co-workers -- like i said you're all my heroes and we came straight from work. [applause] >> one of the first times that the harrison family made it to city hall and they're not paying a parking ticket. once again congratulations to anacita, gwen, shirley, and karen. can we have all the other recipients of this pres tangibleious award -- please stand if you're able. okay. don't be shy gosh. again how about a big round of applause for all these standing. [applause] one of the greatest awards is to be honored by your com

encyclopedia knowledge here, they are still cnn heroes, because once a hero, always a hero. they have been filling me in on all the great works they have zone since they became a cnn. dock henley, we were talking early about you were doing such good work before you became a hero, but since then, your project, wine to water, which brings fresh water to third world companies, the most basic thing we need to live -- >> now in just the three years since, we have zbrogrown, we're 15 countries now around the world. we have reached 150,000 people for water, in war stricken places like haiti and i was actually in syria providing r refugees with water. you've got people whose lives have been flipped upside down this last year, year and a half. and one of the most basic things we forget about is that when they get to a camp setting, they lack the most basic needs of clean water. if you think about food, someone can survive in a camp with seven days or more without food, but you can't survive for more than three stdays without water. >> doc's story is going to be mirrored on stage with

the title of cnn hero of the year. cnn entertainment correspondent karine winter is at the site. i see that you have a special guest with you. >> i sure do, randi and she's quite a lady. one of our top ten heroes. it's such a pleasure to have you with us this year. one day away. >> whoo! i can't wait. >> reporter: you did something so special. this is why you were honored. you were recognized, you established an organization in honor of your late husband michael who lost his life in iraq on the battlefields and so you wanted to provide that support for widows out there. how did the cnn heroes platform help you elevate, create more exposure for this important meet? >> in five years, or four years, we had around 900 widows. we were up to 1,500 after the cnn heroes show. besides that, the site is making more widows aware. we were able to find more resources for individuals who tuned in. i think the majority of the causes being showcased, they're grass roots. and cnn, they just take it to the next level. >> and in such an

you have become our heroes as well. no team wins a world series without a little manic and that is you, the fans. baseball is continuous. every generation writes its own chapter. how incredible is this? right now right here our second world championship in three years. this is our chapter. [cheers and applause] so to paraphrase hunter hunter pence. let's look into each other eyes and remember the moment. remember this moment. let's enjoy every minute. let's enjoy what we have together as a team, as a city and a community. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> thanks larry. well, larry mentioned this next gentleman that we need to hear from. here's the architect of this giants franchise in so many ways. here's the longest tenure manager in baseball. he brought his giants to the playoffs six times and five san francisco giants world -- pennants and upon general manager. please welcome brian saibian. >> >> thank you. i didn't think i would be nervous or emotional but i'm all of that right now. i want to thank the city of san

in a lot of fields, there'll be some sort of hero like einstein's our hero, here. we all love einstein. most of us do, yeah. so, einstein's our hero, and you tend to think, "well, if he's a hero, you don't wanna take shots at him." but in science, it's different. in science, say "hero-schmero." everybody is trying to crack that hero and find something wrong. everyone's attacking to see if they can find something wrong. and so science doesn't rest upon the reputation of some hero. science rests upon everyone else trying to find a crack in that theory. and all attempts, so far, have only gone on to substantiate this: time really is different when you're moving. but i'll tell you what? we're gonna talk more about these ideas next time and you know what i wanna do for you now? i wanna share with you a film that a friend of mine made way back in 1976. when i was teaching these ideas in the early '70s, i discovered this kind of treatment at the class board. that's one thing about teaching, you learn at the class board. you know, you guys aren't the only one's learning. i

our nation has lost an unsung hero. heroic and mid-and military valor receiving the nation's highest honor, the medal of honor. taking the truth during our most challenging times. a tireless guardian of our national security and a champion of the men and women who put their lives at risk to protect the united states and whose legislative achievements have been simply remarkable. all this from a man who always gave his credit and never sought the spotlight. yesterday senator john mccain from arizona, a hero in his own right, said the senate lost its below citizens of hawaii, lost a unique, brave and wonderful legislator a man who brought to this institution the most unique credentials and senator mccain said, and would argue probably of anyone who has ever served in this very diverse body. he certainly hit the nail on the head. in hawaii there was a group of young japanese-americans who decided they wanted to serve their country and they wanted to serve in uniform. one of the most well-known and famous and highly take ra

is a hero. we've got his picture right here behind us. scott, i asked you if you'd gotten a chance to go in and see the stage and kind of start feeling everything around you. what do you think is going to happen tomorrow night? are you very excited? >> i'm really excited. i think it's going to be an amazing event. it's wild to see it come together. i definitely have some butterflies going, a little nervous but i'm excited. >> reporter: how did you feel when you found out you were going to be honored as one of our 2012 cnn heroes? >> just really touched. i think that cnn was willing to do a story about substance abuse and the positive side, a story of recovery, is really special. >> reporter: i love your story. scott's story, if you don't know, he was a user and he was a inker from a very young age and then decided, you know what, this was not the life to live. he got straight. he's getting everyone else straight that wants to be. and we're going to honor him tomorrow as one of our cnn heroes 201

of the day so he's the hero who's the villain well this one's quite an easy target today it's bob ryan and for those of you don't know who bob ryan is he's a top housing adviser in the obama administration for not much longer you see mr ryan has conveniently decided to jump ship yep next month he'll start a mortgage banking position at wells fargo so why is this a big deal well you have to dig a little deeper for that one see mr ryan has a pretty hefty resume that just screams conflict of interest first off his current position since two thousand and nine has been senior adviser to the secretary for housing and urban development last year he worked as a commissioner for the agency working on high risk f.h.a. loan resolutions but before that he was a faithful and point for twenty six years at freddie mac. you remember them the government back entity that every bailed out by our tax dollars in two thousand and nine to help repay defaulted mortgages. back in march mr ryan was a key player in the twenty five billion dollar mortgage for closer settlement between the country's five largest l

you will get to meet the four local heroes. that's the term we like to use and people in the community that wins a award that is very special and i think it's important to thank the city of san francisco for hosting this event. -- plawz. thank you. this is really quite a beautiful space and honor to be standing at the base of the stair case and this incredible rotunda and i want to thank the dancers and singers and drummers for sharing their heritage with us and just adds to this special event and be sure to tune in through november. thanks. [applause] >> all right. thank you michael and i would like to call to the stage at this time mr. joaquin torres the director of neighborhood service from the mayor's office. good to see you again. [applause] >> well, good evening everyone and just to reaffirm on behalf of mayor lee it's a pleasure to have you here tonight in city hall, our humble abode. to all of the musicians and performers and nice to bring life into sometimes these cold walls and we we can. kqud and to all of you for co

of the day so he's the hero who's the villain well this one's quite an easy target today it's bob ryan and for those if you don't know who bob ryan is he's a top housing adviser in the obama administration for not much longer you see mr ryan is conveniently decided to jump ship yep next month the start of mortgage banking position at wells fargo so why is this a big deal well you have to dig a little deeper for that one see mr ryan has a pretty hefty resume that just screams conflict of interest first off his current position since two thousand and nine has been senior adviser to the secretary for housing and urban development last year he worked as a commissioner for the agency working on high risk f.h.a. loan resolutions but before that he was a physical in point for twenty six years at freddie mac. you remember them the government backed entity that had any bailed out by our tax dollars in two thousand and nine to help repay defaulted mortgages back in march mr ryan was a key player in the twenty five billion dollar mortgage for closer settlement between the country's five largest l

they are trained to be heroes. on friday morning, the team of first responders arrived at the scene within minutes. prepared to save lives at sandy hook elementary. >> we set up a triage area right by the rescue truck. >> reporter: they waited, hopeful. then the horror began to set in. >> it was astonishing to hear what we were supposed to be prepared for. there was hope we would be able to help people. >> reporter: as those moments passed and you realized you were not going to be called upon, what was that like? >> we are trained to do this. we wanted to help people. there was nothing we could do. >> twlerp that day to do anything we could for their children. we're going to do whatever we can for them. >> we wish we could have done more. >> reporter: so many families would have done anything to see those faces again. i have spoke on the a lot of parents. spoke about the worst moments were when they got here and they hoped to see their child. >> it was the biggest roller coaster of emotion to see one family reunite

because there is one charity called homes for heros. this is building homes for heros. make sure you give to the right charity. >> sean: what a great story and truly inspiring guy. amazing organization. they are from long island, new york. if you like to help people like sergeant tavera you can go to building homes for heros.org. and coming up next we will take you to afghanistan to see how those that are fighting overseas stay connected with their families. that and much more, straight ahead. [ woman ] we knew it was gonna be bad, but never like this. the red cross was down here all the time. [ man ] they've given us a lot of heart. in times of need, they're there. ♪ [ kerry ] my dad was watching his house burn. he turned around, and all of a sudden, therwas this guy standing there from the red cross. at a point where i had just lost everything, the idea that there was someone there... that's an amazing thing. ♪ ♪ but the fire is so delightful ♪ nothing melts away the cold like a hot, delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup from campbell's. ♪ let it snow, let i

. >>> coming up on the morning news, a senator and decorated war hero. we remember the remarkable life of daniel inouye, the country's first japanese american senator who served for five decades. this is the morning news. a febreze experiment. can a 30-day-old pluggable febreze make even this old container smell fresh? take a deep breath. describe the room that you're in. i think just like a big, open space. like i'm hanging the sheets on the line. and it smells really fresh, man. let's take your blindfold off. oh! [ both laugh ] super-weird! oh, is it febreze? yeah. ohh, how about that? febreze has anti-clogging technology that keeps it smelling fresh, even after 30 days. febreze. breathe happy. and it feels like your lifeate revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief, and many achi

. >> there were heros. mary nan jacobs keeping her kids safe. she called the secretary a hero and she called the office and heard over the innercomsomething was going on. it seems like there are folks out there that are truly heroric also the process of what it is like to gather news on this story. >> we are told initially when the calls came out there was a shooting in the elementary school. on duty and off duty officers all responded and we have been hearing reports of shattered glass and we learned that all of that extra shattered glass is because the same way the gunman had to force himself in the school since they didn't want him in there, the police and on duarteduty police officers had to force themselves because the school was on lock down and tichers and students were so scared and with all of the fourth graders, you heard they cannot want to open the door until the police got there until they saw a badge. it difficult to gather news on this, when you hear the store tores and talk to the colleagues and the library clerk told us how it w

we say zero to hero in 120 days. >> the wags arrive for training. >> the four legged heros have a long and storied his tore arery of serving on the battlefield. during world war ii the military officially began training dogs to fight and k-9 and handler teams continue to train. >> dog command. >> and defend our freedom at home. >> and overseas. nearly 3,000 dogs currently work for the military. >> we train the military working dogs to detect explosives and narcotics. building searching scouting. looking for someone in an open field. >> we are doing explosive training. the dogs of day 25 in training. >> pretty much a game of hide and seek. the job is to go find it. when they do find it we teach them to sit and give them a toy. >> they think some of the training that they do s actually a game which is nice because they really try hard. >> the dogs may look cute and playful but they are fierce intelligent creatures. depending on the breed their noses can detect up to 100 times better than their human partners. >> we use primarily german shepherd dogs as our working dogs because those are

because there is one charity called homes for heros. this is building homes for heros. make sure you give to the right charity. >> sean: what a great story and truly inspiring guy. amazing organization. they are from long island, new york. if you like to help people like sergeant tavera you can go to building homes for heros.org. and coming up next we will take you to afghanistan to see how those that are fighting overseas stay connected with ♪ [ male announcer ] how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. with investment information, risks, fees and expenses is bigger than we think ... sometimelike the flu.fer from with aches, fev

. >>> coming up on the morning news, a senator and decorated war hero. we remember the remarkable life of daniel inouye, the country's first japanese american senator who served for five decades. a febreze experiment. can a 30-day-old pluggable febreze make even this old container smell fresh? take a deep breath. describe the room that you're in. i think just like a big, open space. like i'm hanging the sheets on the line. and it smells really fresh, man. let's take your blindfold off. oh! [ both laugh ] super-weird! oh, is it febreze? yeah. ohh, how about that? febreze has anti-clogging technology that keeps it smelling fresh, even after 30 days. febreze. breathe happy. and it feels like your lifeate revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief, and many achieved remission. humira can

we say zero to hero in 120 days. >> the wags arrive for training. >> the four legged heros have a long and storied his tore arery of serving on the battlefield. during world war ii the military officially began training dogs to fight and k-9 and handler teams continue to train. >> dog command. >> and defend our freedom at home. >> and overseas. nearly 3,000 dogs currently work for the military. >> we train the military working dogs to detect explosives and narcotics. building searching scouting. looking for someone in an open field. >> we are doing explosive training. the dogs of day 25 in training. >> pretty much a game of hide and seek. the job is to go find it. when they do find it we teach them to sit and give them a toy. >> they think some of the training that they do s actually a game which is nice because they really try hard. >> the dogs may look cute and playful but they are fierce intelligent creatures. depending on the breed their noses can detect up to 100 times better than their human partners. >> we use primarily german shepherd dogs as our working dogs because those are

year-old victoria soto died shielding some of her first graders from the bullets. >> she is truly a hero. [ crying ] and it's very likely because of her that our son is with us today. >> reporter: school officials say the surviving students won't have to return to the sandy hook elementary school building anytime soon. they will attend classes at another location. as the grieving continues, efforts are under way to resalvage some semblance of normalcy. we have seen moving vans down this road transferring materials from sandy hook elementary school to the new location where the children will eventually be going back to school. reporting live in newtown, connecticut, i'm randall pinkston. back to you. >> randall, i wanted to ask you in the aftermath of this one of the things that's come up is gun control and the suggestion that maybe we need to take meaningful measures. with respect to that, do you hear much of that from the parents of these children or from the people in the community? is that something that they seem to be advocating? >> reporter: two points. first of all, newtown is a c