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Deceptive Calm in Baghdad; Battle Lines Over Iraq War; The Next Unabomber?; Latino Population Wielding a Lot More Political Power; Hunt for Osama bin Laden; 'Uncovering America'
Aired February 18, 2007 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta.
You're in the NEWSROOM.
Insurgents responded today to U.S. efforts to bring peace to Baghdad. After a brief lull in attacks, bombs went off in two Shiite neighborhoods, killing at least 62 people.
CNN's Arwa Damon is in the Iraqi capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After two days of deceptive calm in the capital, on Sunday a thick plume of smoke reminding people that the start of a crackdown in no way means an end to the violence. Two car bombs exploding in quick succession on a busy southeastern Baghdad street, killing dozens and wounding more than 128 Iraqis, sending petrified people running, searing images of violence.
This, as the Iraqi government has been putting out good news lately, desperately trying to put a positive spin on a recent decline in violence.
GEN. QASSIM ATTA, IRAQI GOVT. SPOKESMAN (through translator): There has been a clear 80 percent decrease in terrorist operations and various crimes over the last three days.
DAMON: Sunday's attacks, a brutal reminder that any statements of success against an increasingly capable and violent insurgency might be premature.
The U.S. military cautions that the insurgents are lying low, watching the plan unfold before they come up with their own plan of attack. And days like this resonate more with the Iraqi people than any statements coming from their government. Also, shattering any optimism that may have been generated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I have doubts that the security plan will succeed. We are uneasy.
DAMON: Unease underscored by Sunday's attacks. Unease that is not surprising. (on camera): Iraqis have seen plans like this one fail in the past. No matter how many statements are being made about success or decrease in violence, until Iraqis feel safe leaving their own homes, there is going to be little hope for a better future.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And in Washington, supporters and opponents of the Iraq war are drawing new battle lines after their first major skirmish since Congress fell to the Democrats.
From the White House now, CNN's Kathleen Koch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The motion is not agreed to.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After failing Saturday to pass a resolution to debate President Bush's Iraq troop increase, Senate opponents are asking, what next? Some powerful chairmen say rewrite and scale back the 2002 authorization to go to war.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), ARMED FORCES CHAIRMAN: We can modify the authorization in order to provide a much more limited mission which will remove our troops from the middle of a sectarian civil war.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D-DE), FOREIGN RELATIONS CHAIRMAN: I have been working with some of my colleagues to try to convince them that that's the way to go.
KOCH: Others are eyeing a proposal by Congressman John Murtha to place conditions on future war spending and troop deployments.
SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: I'm going to look very carefully at Congressman Murtha's points. And, again, when...
TIM RUSSERT, "MEET THE PRESS": And you may be open to them?
HAGEL: And I would be open to it.
SEN. JACK REED (D), RHODE ISLAND: Down the road, will we consider issues with respect to funding? I think so. But we will never compromise the ability of American soldiers to protect themselves.
KOCH: One top Senate Republican points out the obvious about Murtha's measure or those that would limit funds for the troops.
SEN. DICK LUGAR (R), INDIANA: They are unlikely to pass two Houses and be signed by the president.
KOCH: White House Press Secretary Tony Snow confirmed President Bush would oppose Murtha's so-called slow-bleed measure to limit troop deployments.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What I would say to members of Congress is, calm down and take a look at what's going on and ask yourself the simple question: If you support the troops, would you deny them the reinforcements that they think are necessary to complete the mission?
KOCH: And snow took issue with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's characterization of the Iraq war as "... the worst foreign policy mistake in the history of this country," pointing out 77 senators voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq.
(on camera): But any face-off over the president's current Iraq strategy will have to wait. Congress is in recess until February 26th.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Al Qaeda may be shifting tactics in Iraq again. "The New York Times" is reporting that militants have focused their efforts on attacking U.S. aircraft. Documents seized in Baghdad outline the new strategy. Seven U.S. choppers have been downed by Iraqi insurgents in less than a month now. That's more than have been shot down all of last year.
U.S. military officials say they don't believe a Chinook helicopter that went down today in Afghanistan, however, today was hit by enemy fire. The chopper was on a transport mission in Zabul Province when the pilot reported engine trouble. Eight U.S. soldiers were killed in that crash, 14 others wounded.
With a three-way summit scheduled for tomorrow, U.S. officials are downplaying hopes for any breakthroughs between Israelis and Palestinians. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will lead the talks tomorrow in Jerusalem.
Here's CNN's Zain Verjee.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Condoleezza Rice is here to breathe life into a near-dead peace process, hoping to give a boost to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. But Abbas' own struggle for survival is making it hard for Rice to help.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: It is, of course, an interesting, even complicated time.
VERJEE: Complicated because Abbas just made a power-sharing deal with Hamas to end the Palestinian bloodshed. The U.S. says Hamas is a terrorist group in spite of the fact they were elected more than a year ago. (on camera): Secretary Rice's mission here, to begin final talks on an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, are being overshadowed by the skepticism and the controversy surrounding a Palestinian unity government.
(voice over): Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert told his cabinet on Sunday that he's not doing business with this government until it recognizes Israel, which so far Hamas has refused to do.
Washington's response is more subtle. Publicly, the U.S. is taking a wait-and-see approach until the new government is formed. Secretary Rice says, "No American dollars will go to a government that..." doesn't recognize Israel, that doesn't renounce violence, and does not recognize past agreements. Rice says there's no indication that the new government will meet those conditions.
Privately, Washington is frustrated by the power-sharing deal. It's been backing the Palestinian president in an effort to weaken Hamas. Secretary Rice wants Congress to give Abbas $86 million to boost his security forces.
Ahead of a three-way meeting to talk peace, Secretary Rice told Abbas and Olmert she wants to make progress.
RICE: I hope that this meeting with the three of us will be an opportunity to examine the current situation, to commit -- recommit to existing agreements.
VERJEE: Like many Palestinians, this man isn't hopeful that Rice's visit will accomplish much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm thinking we are running in the same circle. We are not going to achieve anything.
VERJEE: Secretary Rice says it's never a perfect time to talk peace in the Middle East, but she's here to get the ball rolling.
Zain Verjee, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Explosives in the mail, but who's the target and who is the sender?
A troubling case straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
And politics, Nevada style. John King reports from out West.
And as far as entertainment and attractions go, Las Vegas has almost everything. So, what's left?
You're in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: So, he's no "Unabomer," but the feds fear it is only a matter of time. Somebody is playing a cat-and-mouse game with menacing letters and mail bombs that so far have not exploded.
CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena is on the case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Investigators are looking for a would-be bomber, a shadowy suspect known only as "The Bishop".
PAUL TRIMBUR, U.S. POSTAL INSPECTION SERVICE: We are working day and night on this investigation to solve it as quickly as possible where foreign for everybody's safety and security.
ARENA: In 2005, "The Bishop" sent threatening letters to financial services firms demanding they manipulate stock prices. The letters had a religious overtone.
Stocks were to be priced at 666. "The Bishop" claimed it was "better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven." Last month, "The Bishop" upped the ante by sending actual explosive devices through the mail. One with the message, "Bang, you're dead."
Security expert Fred Burton has seen the letters.
FRED BURTON, STRATFOR.COM: You could tell in his tone that he's getting very belligerent and that he appears to be more agitated.
ARENA: The devices were put together properly but were missing one final element: a trigger to set them off. The targets once again financial companies. But as the threat increases, so does the hope "The Bishop" will be caught.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whenever there's something that contains a lot of physical evidence, more so than just fingerprints, or handwriting analysis, you have all these parts of the bomb that we can then trace back to where they were sold.
ARENA: Investigators thought they had enough information from one witness to release a sketch of a possible suspect but decided it wasn't solid enough. Law enforcement officials say they have a good deal of forensic evidence, including fingerprints from earlier letters, but so far, no match.
Not unusual in cases like this.
GEORGE BAURIES, FMR. FBI OFFICIAL: So we are dealing with people that are very bright and meticulous and they cover their trail. And they are not going to be sloppy.
ARENA: "The Bishop" has made references to the Unabomer and D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, writing, "It is so easy to kill somebody, it's almost scary." Investigators are hoping to catch him before it ever gets to that.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And new pictures right now out of Cleveland's Hopkins International Airport. See the airplane in the middle there of that frame? Well, apparently that was the plane that skidded off the runway. It was a plane with the Shuttle Craft Airline flying from Atlanta to Cleveland and skidded off the runway, crashing into a fence there.
Upon landing, 74 passengers onboard, no reported injuries. That's the good news. And we understand within the past hour, some shuttle buses have arrived at that plane to take the passengers off.
Meantime, the big picture for that airport, while it is now reopened, certainly expect delays if you are flying in and out of be Cleveland.
More information as we get it on the cause.
(NEWSBREAK)
WHITFIELD: The early bird gets the worm. Well, not when it comes to politics. At least that's the opinion of Republican Newt Gingrich. The former House speaker and potential presidential candidate insists that too much time in the public eye can be lethal for any campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), FMR. HOUSE SPEAKER: I think there may be a market out there for somebody who has enough sense not to run two years early, that if you think about it, these candidates are running for an entire year to get into a campaign to run for an entire year, to get sworn in January of 2009. And I just think the average -- this is going to be like watching bad reruns of "Survivor".
People are going to say, "Get them off the island. I don't want to see this anymore."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh boy.
Well, Senator Rodham Clinton is not only in the race, this leading Democratic presidential candidate is wasting no time assembling her campaign staff. The latest addition to her team, the son of Senate majority leader Harry Reid.
Forty-four-year-old Rory Reid will be Clinton's Nevada chairman. He will advise her on western issues, including land use, conservation and housing.
And immigration is another huge issue in the region and in Nevada, which is home to a large Latino community. It's a population that is wielding a lot more political power these days.
More now from CNN's chief national correspondent, John King. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sunday mass with his parents is a tradition that dates back to Ruben Kihuen's childhood in Mexico. Las Vegas is home now, Kihuen a member of the Nevada legislature and the young Democrat eager for his state to start a new tradition in presidential politics.
RUBEN KIHUEN (D), NEVADA STATE ASSEMBLY: so you have to go out to the swap meets and shake people's hands. You have to go out to the rodeos and shake people's hands.
KING: Retail politics like in Iowa and New Hampshire, but with a decidedly different look and flavor.
(on camera): To visit Kihuen's district is to see obvious signs of why this contest is so different from Iowa and New Hampshire. Nevada's Hispanic population is nearly 23 percent, compared to just 3.5 percent in Iowa, and barely 2 percent in New Hampshire.
(voice-over): So an early contest here guarantees greater focus on immigration, urban sprawl, gaming and other issues central to the Las Vegas service economy. And it guarantees the first opportunity for Latinos like Manny Barajas to have an early voice in the presidential campaign.
MANNY BARAJAS, WAITER, EXCALIBUR HOTEL AND CASINO: We are busboys. We are dishwashers. We are waiters. We are cooks. You know, but we impact a lot in the economy of the United States.
KING: Barajas' union is already a major player in Nevada politics. Now it's intensifying its voter registration efforts, in English and in Spanish, because of the new presidential calendar.
BARAJAS: It's a big motivation to all our members. We have a unique opportunity here to make a saying.
KING: An opportunity that convinced Barajas, after 35 years in the United States, to enroll in citizenship classes.
BARAJAS: That's what everybody is asking me, Manny, why are you being so long to become a citizen?
The thing is that I need to be accounted for. You know, I have to be able to vote. That was missing for me in all my dreams, American dream and Vegas dream -- me being able to express my opinion legally.
KING: Classes end in a few months and Barajas plans to cast his first vote next January, when the Democratic nominating contest makes its new early stop out west.
John King, CNN, Las Vegas.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WHITFIELD: And straight ahead in the NEWSROOM...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For this to come on the heels of this disaster, certainly it's a hard -- a hard lick, you know, for communities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: More than a year after Hurricane Katrina, find out why some along the Gulf Coast are feeling new pain.
And let's take a look. There is Rick Sanchez in the newsroom working on stories for his programs at 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern. He will be along a little bit later to give us a preview of what to expect.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, take a look at New Orleans. It is hoping to get a big bounce from Mardi Gras this year. And so if revelers do have a great time, they are more likely to come back and help revive the troubled city, or at least that's the psychology of the planners.
Right now these live pictures right there in the middle of it all. Organizers are predicting as many as 700,000 visitors. It's New Orleans' second official Mardi Gras celebration since Hurricane Katrina. Parades are taking place each day leading up to the big finale, Fat Tuesday.
A tale of two cities now, both in Mississippi, and both ravaged by Katrina. Business is booming in one, while a major business is leaving the other.
The story now from CNN's Sean Callebs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Beaten and battered by Katrina, Long Beach, Mississippi, just got another kick in the teeth. Oreck, the vacuum maker and the town's most important employer, is leaving town, not for cheap overseas labor, but for Tennessee. Five hundred jobs here will disappear.
MAYOR WILLIAM SKELLIE, LONG BEACH, MISSISSIPPI: For this to come on the heels of this disaster, certainly, it's a -- it's a hard, hard lick, you know, for communities.
CALLEBS: Company president Tom Oreck says post-Katrina insurance costs, double the price for one-third of the coverage, and not enough workers have forced his hand.
TOM ORECK, PRESIDENT/CEO, ORECK: Less than half our people came back after the storm, and repopulating the plant has been very difficult.
SKELLIE: I don't buy it. I mean, they can, you know, take it to the bank, whatever, but, I mean, I don't buy it. There were enough workers before. There were enough workers to put them back in business.
CALLEBS: This is the daunting task facing Mayor Skellie and his city. All these red blocks highlight homes and businesses destroyed. Just 20 miles to the east it is a completely different story.
Biloxi's casino business is booming. The Beau Rivage, just one of ten casinos trying to fill thousands of jobs after rebuilding and after so many were forced to leave the area.
BRUCE NOURSE, BEAU RIVAGE CASINO: There was a lot of anxiety, obviously, when we got to the point of rehiring. We needed to hire about 4,000 people. We were very pleasantly surprised, to be honest with you. We had over 25,000 applications for those 4,000 jobs.
CALLEBS: The casino pays $1.5 million in taxes each month to Biloxi, giving the city a leg up on its coastal neighbors still trying to rebuild.
SKELLIE: We still have our Gulf Coast here, our beautiful beaches, our water, our great fishing.
CALLEBS (on camera): Long Beach also has this: a legacy of debris and devastation a year and after half after Katrina hit this area. Long Beach used to have some 40 businesses and scores of homes along the coastal area that were simply destroyed. The mayor says they can only take rebuilding and reconstruction day by day, week by week.
Sean Callebs, CNN, in Long Beach, Mississippi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And one other note. State Farm Insurance says it will stop writing new homeowners and commercial policies in Mississippi. Mississippi's attorney general says he will now push for legislation to block that decision.
Remember last week we told you about some JetBlue customers who were quite heated about being stuck on an airplane for eight hours because of weather? Well, because of that and other weather delays, the company has decided to cancel 23 percent of its week flights. They say they need the time to get the weather-battered airline back on a normal schedule and allow JetBlue's flight crew's mandatory rest periods.
And now take a look at this. More than 8,000 people in Bismarck, North Dakota, spending their Saturday trying to reclaim their title: the most snow angels made in one place.
Their previous record was knocked out by students in Michigan, and if the number is confirmed by the "Guinness Book of Records," it would be more than double the Michigan number, 8,000. Can you count them?
Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Well, as America focuses on Iraq, what about the hunt for Osama bin Laden? We will get an update straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
And thousands take to the streets in where else? Italy. We will find out why a proposal by the U.S. military has upset so many people.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
WHITFIELD: The hunt for Osama bin Laden. More than five years after 9/11, has the trail gone cold?
CNN's Barbara Starr has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): President Bush talking tough about the war in Afghanistan.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Taliban and al Qaeda are preparing to launch new attacks. Our strategy is not to be on the defense, but to go on the offense.
STARR: But the president never mentioned the man who has alluded him for more than five years, Osama bin Laden. The reality is the hunt for bin Laden is not a popular topic these days for one reason.
LT. GEN. KARL EIKENBERRY, FMR. CMDR., U.S. FORCES AFGHANISTAN: The intelligence is -- has gone cold on Osama bin Laden.
STARR: Analysts aren't surprised.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: There's really no point in mentioning him. If it's very unlikely you're going to find him anytime soon, why bring him up?
STARR: The rhetoric was hot in the days after the 9/11 attacks.
BUSH: I want justice. And there's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said "Wanted, Dead or Alive."
STARR: U.S. officials say bin Laden is just too good at remaining out of sight. At his confirmation hearing, to the new secretary of Defense, questioned the al Qaeda leader's importance.
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: His ability to directly organize and plan the kind of attacks against us, that hurt us so badly in September of 2001, is very limited now.
STARR: But experts say bin Laden hasn't receded into history.
BERGEN: When bin Laden calls for attacks on Saudi oil facilities, Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia eventually will do that. When bin Laden calls for attacks on members of the coalition in Iraq -- that's one of the reasons we had Al Qaeda affiliates attacking in London and in Madrid.
STARR: Secretary Gates still says little about the hunt itself.
GATES: I guess I would put it this way if I were Osama bin Laden, I'd keep looking over my shoulder.
STARR (on camera): President Bush isn't the only one not talking about Osama bin Laden. None of the presidential candidates so far are making catching bin Laden a top campaign pledge.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Let's say we go global now.
(NEWSBREAK)
WHITFIELD: Despite a massive public protest yesterday, Italian prime minister Romano Prodi says he still supports plans to expand a U.S. military base in northern Italy.
CNN's Jennifer Eccleston reports from the town of Vicenza.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was the largest, perhaps most colorful protest this idyllic town has witnessed. Tens of thousands of people marching in opposition, noisy, but peaceful opposition to the expansion of an American base in Vicenza, northern Italy.
The base is home to part of the 173rd Airborne Division, a force now split between Vicenza and two bases in Germany. The enlargement would marry the three, almost doubling the number of American military in Vicenza requiring new barracks, a new base, in a new location.
"Traffic is already difficult," she said. "There is gridlock everywhere. How are they going to get through?"
An opinion poll last October showed over 60 percent of residents oppose the enlargement.
(on camera): But they have come from all over Italy here, not only to protest the base expansion, but to protest against their government who they say betrayed them.
(voice over): Ellen Baragli is an activist from Rome, a former supporter Prime Minister Romano Prodi's leftist coalition and a staunch opponent to any uptick in U.S. forces in Italy, let alone Vicenza.
ELLEN BARAGLI, PEACE ACTIVIST: Many people voted for Prodi because they expected, they hoped the government throw (ph) away military bases.
ECCLESTON: She and many protesters call the Italian government's "yes" vote on base enlargement earlier this year a validation of aggressive American foreign policy. But there is always another point of view -- those in favor of expansion who welcome the construction dollars estimated to be in the hundreds of millions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They do a lot for the community.
ECCLESTON: Greg Faggianato is the son of an Italian mom and an American soldier dad, and he's lived here 27 years.
FAGGIANATO: I'm embarrassed because Vicenza now looks like against Americans. But we've always been friends of America. And I'm embarrassed of the attitude of these people. It really makes me upset.
ECCLESTON: The threat of protest violence forced those at the heart of the controversy, American soldiers, to stay away from the city's center. A military spokesman told CNN they are working side by side with the local community. But he says the soldiers' top priority is not the protest or the controversy, but an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.
Construction on the base is expected to begin at the end of year, and it's unlikely that this or future protests will change that.
Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Vicenza, Italy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Until this week, this house held historic treasures the world knew nothing about.
Peter Viles has a report coming up.
And what are the odds of Las Vegas scoring a major sports team?
This is CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A reminder today that much of the history of black America is sitting unrecognized in the attics, garages and church basements.
Peter Viles has more on the historical treasures that Mayme Clayton left for America.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You would never know it from looking at the house, but for 40 years the woman who lived here was doing something absolutely amazing. Mayme Clayton was building a collection in every nook and cranny of her home that major museums would envy.
AVERY CLAYTON, MAYME CLAYTON'S SON: Well, this is a first- edition work of the narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglas. And it was published in 1845. "American Anti-Slavery Almanac" from 1843.
VILES: A massive eclectic jumble of black American history.
CLAYTON: One of the original prints of Martin Luther King's letter from a Birmingham jail.
VILES: Some of it's politically incorrect or even racist, Black Sambo.
CLAYTON: This is Sambo's testimonial of (INAUDIBLE). They tell you everything that you want to know about putting on your own minstrel show. From how to apply the blackface makeup...
VILES: But Mayme's son Avery believes all of it is worth saving.
CLAYTON: Well, you know, my mom had a saying. She said, you can't know where you are going unless you know where you have been. You know? So you can't have a revisionist history and paint everything as rosy.
VILES: Mayme Clayton was a librarian who died in October. Her son never considered donating the collection or selling it. He wants to build a cultural center around it.
CLAYTON: This is an American treasure, and it belongs to the American people. And it's a part of American history that got forgotten.
VILES: He's raised $40,000 so far. Enough to bring in archivists to sort the collection.
JULIE PAGE, CALIFORNIA PRESERVATION PROJECT: I'm amazed. I can be going through and I find a receipt for a payment, and then a bill, and then a little flyer, and then something from 1850. It just -- each -- each handful I pick up I uncover something that could be unique.
VILES: Tens of thousands of books and papers had to be frozen to kill bugs and then moved into a vacant courthouse where Avery hopes to share the treasure that his mother spent a lifetime collecting.
Peter Viles, for CNN, Culver City, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(NEWSBREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Las Vegas, not a big NBA city. Some people want it to be. It has no franchise of its own. But tonight it's playing host to the league's all-star game. The real game. Not the one last night you just saw.
Some wonder if it's time for the entertainment capital to get a pro team. But is it too big of a gamble?
Our Larry Smith asks the experts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The sign says it all. Las Vegas is fabulous, and it is welcoming the world's greatest basketball players. But will what happens in Vegas this weekend really stay in Vegas?
MAYOR OSCAR GOODMAN, LAS VEGAS: For the entertainment capital of the world, the one thing we can't give our visitors right now is a major league professional sports game. I would like to get one of those teams to come here, and I think this is a big step.
SMITH: Mayor Oscar Goodman, a showman in grand Vegas tradition, likes his odds of getting a team. Metro Las Vegas nearly doubled in size in the 1990s and is one of the fastest-growing cities this decade. But some think the 43rd largest TV market remains a gamble, especially since Vegas is already overflowing with entertainment choices.
GOODMAN: Am I going to see Celine tonight? Am I going to see Danny Gans tonight? Or am I going to see the Las Vegas Oscars?
SMITH: Yet, the success of a Las Vegas professional team is going to depend less on tourists and more on the locals. Don Logan has spent 23 years running Vegas' Triple-A baseball teams, trying to get his fans into his ballpark and out of the casinos.
DON LOGAN, PRESIDENT, LAS VEGAS 51S: One of the things that people don't realize that don't live here is we are a three-shift town. At any one point in time you have got a third of those people working, a third of them sleeping. So you really only have a third of them available for other activities.
JOE MALOOF, CO-OWNER, PALMS CASINO: The population base here, it's strong enough now to consider having a major league sports franchise here in Vegas. It's over a million and a half people now. It's one of the fastest-growing cities in America.
SMITH: While those who run the casinos are willing to share the city, they want to make sure the house rules are the same. So if casinos use their own money to build entertainment complexes, then a pro team shouldn't get taxpayer money to build an arena.
ALAN FELDMAN, PUBLIC AFFAIRS, MGM MIRAGE: If an owner of an NBA franchise, an NHL franchise, whatever it may be, wants to come to town, come on down. But bring your checkbook with you. Because that's what we do. SMITH (on camera): For every obstacle confronting Las Vegas getting a pro sports team, what was once the biggest may now be the smallest: legalized gambling.
GOODMAN: Forty-eight out of 50 states have legalized gambling. So gambling isn't the issue anymore. The issue appears to be that Nevada is the only place that accepts bets on sporting events.
DAVID STERN, NBA COMMISSIONER: I think it's moving closer to an intelligent business decision if you get this one little thing taken care of.
SMITH (voice over): So the wheels may be in motion, but Las Vegas isn't a winner just yet.
Larry Smith, CNN, Las Vegas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In honor of Black History Month, CNN is profiling prominent African-Americans who are making a difference and following their dreams.
Our Tony Harris introduces us to a fashion maven who says sometimes the biggest challenges come from within.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRACY REESE, CLOTHING DESIGNER: My name is Tracy Reese.
You look fresh as a daisy.
My name is Tracy Reese. I'm a clothing designer.
TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From feminine and chic, to classy and sleek, Tracy Reese, a fashion designer whose vision...
REESE: I think it will work.
HARRIS: ... ultimately graces the runways in Manhattan.
Beyonce, Jessica Simpson, Eva Longoria -- she says her clientele list includes the hottest of Hollywood's who's who.
REESE: I don't want our customers to look just like somebody else. I want her to bring her own flare and attitude to whatever it is she is wearing.
HARRIS: Reese has been featured in prominent publications -- "Vogue," "Newsweek," and Oprah's "O" magazine. Still, she remembers her modest upbringing in Detroit with her two sisters.
REESE: We were always dressed well, and we were dressed well because my mom sewed for us. We couldn't afford to, you know, just buy a bunch of clothing. And she used to make -- sometimes she would make triplet outfits, even though we were years apart in age. We would have, you know, the same fabric in all of our outfits for occasion, which was kind of funny.
HARRIS: By age 23, Reese had moved to New York City, graduated from Parsons School of Design in ma Manhattan, and started her own clothing line with money from one of her biggest fans -- her father.
REESE: It was my dad who said, you know, you should think about having your own business. You need to do our own thing. And it hadn't really crossed my mind.
HARRIS: But like many success stories, Reese's startup business didn't work the first time around.
REESE: I decided I needed to get more experience and I needed to become more mature and gather my strength.
HARRIS: The experience Reese was looking for came in the form of a job with fashion guru Marc Jacobs. But Reese says working for others didn't allow her to be as creative as she wanted to be.
REESE: I wasn't a big company person. I don't function well in that kind of environment because I don't have enough control. And not to be a control freak, but I think most designers, you want to know the end result of your work.
HARRIS: So again, she started her own clothing line. But this time, manifesting a story of triumph.
Ten years and two clothing lines later, Reese is now the owner of a Manhattan boutique, manages a home collection, and a line of shoes that bears her name. And as one of the few black couture designers in New York, Reese readily offers a little advice, a little guidance for anyone with a dream.
REESE: I think that it can be more challenging if you are a woman and if you're a person of color. But I think that most of the challenges are sort of within yourself.
HARRIS: Her dream now a fashion reality as Tracy Reese steps out in front center stage.
Tony Harris, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
The latest on today's runway mishap in Cleveland.
And then "LOU DOBBS THIS WEEK" right after this.
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