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Woman Abducted from West Bank Released; Court Hears from Key Players in Anna Nicole Smith Case; JetBlue Strives to Make Amends; Hikers Credit Dog, Transmitter for Rescue; Final Arguments Underway in Scooter Libby Trial
Aired February 20, 2007 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone.
I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Betty Nguyen in for Kyra Phillips today.
We are following a breaking news story out of the NEWSROOM. Kidnapped and just released. Our Ben Wedeman is following the harrowing story of three Americans taken hostage. We have the late- breaking details.
LEMON: And JetBlues. The airliner is up and flying, but is anybody riding it? JetBlue's plan to get you back on board.
NGUYEN: And rescue from Mt. Hood. What saved the climbers' lives that could save others in the same predicament? You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: But first up, it might be one of the quickest kidnap ordeals in Mideast history. Three American women abducted in the West Bank just a short time ago and just released.
Let's go the latest -- get the latest from CNN's Ben Wedeman. He's in Jerusalem -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, well, these three women -- actually, two Americans and one Briton were kidnapped for a total of an hour and 20 minutes in the northern West Bank town of Nablus. They were surrendered to the governor of that city about 40 minutes ago.
Our understanding is that the man who kidnapped these three women -- well, he did it for personal motives. It really doesn't appear to have had any political content to it.
So a very brief kidnapping. And from what I've seen of the women, they seem to be no worse for wear and tear -- Don.
LEMON: All right, Ben Wedeman, thank you so much for that report. We'll check back with you for updates on this story.
NGUYEN: Well, back here in the U.S., they are fighting over her body and her baby. The main players in the Anna Nicole Smith drama all in court today in two separate hearings more than 2,000 miles apart. In Florida, the drama centers on Howard K. Stern on the witness stand.
Let's get the latest now from CNN's Susan Candiotti. She's in Broward County.
This hearing is about the body, correct?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. In fact, the judge established that he will not only decide where the body should go -- not where the body should go, but to whom her remains belong, in effect, either her longtime partner or her mother or some other person.
But also he established that he may also decide ultimately who the father is in this case, because the judge sees these issues being hand-in-hand, who is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's infant daughter, Dannielynn, who remains in the Bahamas.
So Betty, we have a new set of players in court this day that include Howard K. Stern, appearing here on orders from the court, coming in from the Bahamas, as well as Larry Birkhead. That's the ex- boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith, who maintains that he is the father of her daughter, Dannielynn.
The main thing in court this day is that the judge is now taking testimony from Stern, who is trying to prove to the court that he speaks for Anna Nicole Smith.
And he testified so far that, in fact, he did buy burial plots for her son, who died in September a few days after her daughter, and that it was her wish to also be buried next to her son, that she also purchased burial plots for herself in the Bahamas.
And then there was this rather odd exchange. The judge getting into the record that for Anna Nicole Smith, death was often on her mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE LARRY SEIDLIN, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: Did you find it unusual that she would talk about death like this?
HOWARD K. STERN, ANNA NICOLE SMITH'S LONGTIME COMPANION: No, because Anna -- Anna in a lot of ways always thought she was going to die young, and she said that. And she thought that she was going to be like Marilyn Monroe, so she thought she was going to die when -- I forget, at the age of 36 or 37. So we discussed it prior to that.
And then Anna also thought she was going to die when she was giving birth to Dannielynn.
So Anna did talk about death. She talked about death, really, from the time that I met her.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CANDIOTTI: So this court still has to hear from Anna Nicole Smith's mother, as well as her ex-boyfriend, at some point. There's no telling how long the hearing will go. Stern may not wrap up his testimony this day. We'll have to wait and see how long this hearing will go on.
Back to you, Betty.
NGUYEN: Boy, there's quite a crowd behind you. A lot of interest in this case. And Susan, also, there is another hearing today dealing with the paternity case. Our Brooke Anderson is following that. We'll get to her a little bit later. But Susan, we appreciate your time.
Now, CNN's pipeline service is streaming those proceedings in Florida live. Just go to CNN.com/pipeline to start watching, and we're going to check back with in Susan a little bit later in the NEWSROOM.
LEMON: And Betty, back in the air with a pledge to stay there. JetBlue trying to save face and also save customers after almost a week of delays and cancellations.
CNN's senior correspondent, Allan Chernoff, is talking to passengers at New York's JFK airport.
And Allan, I bet you are getting an earful today.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I really say there are two categories here today. The people who didn't suffer any delays at all over the past week and have flown JetBlue for years. They're just fine. They are loyal to this airline. But the people who were stuck in delays over the past week, they are still quite angry.
I just spoke to one family from Buffalo. It took them two hours the other day to get here, two-hour delay, and now they'd really rather not fly JetBlue back, but they had already bought the ticket.
And I also spoke to one gentlemen who had to wait a few days ago, three hours to retrieve his luggage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They really weren't really organized back there, you know, even after I guess, two or three days. I figure they should have had more people on staff or -- to get the luggage. Because there were people just leaving their luggage there. And then they told us they won't take any -- they won't put anymore bags on the carousel until bags got off the carousel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: So JetBlue today is announcing a customer bill of rights, which includes the right to get a voucher, good for credit on future JetBlue flights, if you are delayed. Twenty-five dollars, the minimum. That's if you're waiting on the tarmac for a gate on arrival. Twenty-five dollars if you're waiting at least 30 minutes. And all the way up to a return trip, a full round trip, that is, if you are struck on the tarmac for at least four hours and it is the fault of the airline.
And the CEO of the airline, well, he certainly has been doing major mea culpas, apologizing on the company's web site. There's a video on YouTube. And he did appear also on "AMERICAN MORNING" earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID NEELEMAN, FOUNDER & CEO, JETBLUE: That was a defining moment in our company. And things are going to be different. I mean, it's -- it was a very, very difficult weekend for our customers and for our crew members. And you know, we failed them. And we're going to fix it, and we're going to be better than ever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Well, he is promising that they will learn from their experience. But clearly JetBlue is going to have to spend some serious money on that. Already, the CEO saying they have spent $30 million as a result of what happened over the past few days, much of that in refunds to customers -- Don.
LEMON: Goodness, goodness. I know, Allan, you travel a lot. A lot of correspondents do. I'm sure you have your horror stories, as well.
CHERNOFF: Absolutely, but I can tell you, I have never had to sit on an airplane for five hours on the tarmac. I cannot imagine. And I can certainly understand how frustrated those customers are. A lot of people just don't want to return to JetBlue.
LEMON: Absolutely. All right, Allan, thank you very much. Of course, this story -- I mean, a lot of people are talking about it, has thousands of you sharing your opinions about flight delays. So I want you to go to our web site, CNN.com, and cast your vote here.
And here's a question. It's on the main page here, if I can get to it. Right here. It's on the right. It says, "Does the airline industry offer reasonable compensation for flight delays?" It's a quick vote on CNN.com.
Let's just check our results real quick here, Betty. Fourteen percent say yes, they do; 86 percent say no. So we thank you for taking part in our unscientific poll. But make sure you go on there and you vote, and the results, and we'll share them with you a little bit later on this afternoon right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: Well, there's a big ruling for big tobacco to tell you about. The Supreme Court today tossed out almost $80 million in punitive damages, an award against Philip Morris.
A jury in Oregon had acted in a case brought by the widow of a man who smoked heavily for almost 50 years. Now she accused Philip Morris of lying about cigarettes' health risk.
In deciding on punishment, jurors took into account other smokers in Oregon who may have suffered for the same reasons. And that, says the high court majority, is the problem. Those other smokers weren't parties to that case.
They were cold, wet and in peril for what probably seemed like an eternity. But now, they are warm, dry, and, most importantly, safe. Three stranded climbers are recovering nicely after their timely, yet grueling, rescue from Oregon's Mt. Hood. Their saving graces, a high- tech navigation device and a dog named Velvet.
CNN's Chris Lawrence has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The weather here on the mountain is bitter cold. The winds are biting. And rescuers say these climbers and the dog could only have last for so long.
But they had two big advantages. One, the climbers had the dog with them. And, two, they had an electronic device that allowed rescuers to signal to find exactly where they were.
Having the dog with them turned out to be a very big advantage. The 4-year-old black Lab mix, Velvet, has a fairly thick fur. So when the climbers started falling over the ledge, Velvet was attached by rope to them. At first, it looked like a bad thing. But now rescuers say having Velvet lay on top of them overnight helped keep them a lot warmer than they otherwise would have been.
Also, having that electronic transmitter allowed rescuers to get to them quickly.
Some Oregon legislatures are trying to propose legislation that would make those transmitters mandatory for climbers. Some climbers are opposing it, saying that's part of the lure and the adrenaline rush, is the risk and danger of climbing. They don't want to be told that they have to have it.
But again, when some of these rescues start to soar into the thousands and millions of dollars, it affects a lot of public agencies, which ultimately, the taxpayer has to pay for. It's a debate that climbers and legislators here in Oregon will have to continue to wrestle with.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Timberline, Oregon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Chris.
Closing arguments in the Libby trial. And our Brian Todd is at the courthouse. We'll have the very latest coming up. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news. NGUYEN: Also, against all odds, a preemie pulls through, setting records and stealing the hearts of many along the way. Her story ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Oh, look at that. Let the good times roll. They are rolling in New Orleans. And up next, the NEWSROOM has got your ticket to Mardi Gras.
NGUYEN: Fat Tuesday.
LEMON: Yes. You'll have to bring -- you'll have to bring your own beads. Betty's got some here, though.
NGUYEN: Just a couple.
LEMON: We're going to show you New Orleans coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Final arguments, they are under way in the perjury and obstruction of justice trial of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, once Vice President Cheney's most trusted aide.
CNN's Brian Todd is outside the federal courthouse in Washington.
Brian, what is the very latest?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, a very dramatic morning here at U.S. district court. The prosecution led off and was up there for almost two hours, trying to discredit some key claims that "Scooter" Libby had in his defense.
First, the claim that Mr. Libby was scapegoated by the White House in some effort to protect White House political adviser Karl Rove. Prosecutor Peter Zwynenburg led off by saying to the jury, you did not hear any evidence of a conspiracy to scapegoat. There was no such evidence.
He then spent a lot of time trying to tear down another central claim that Libby has made in this case. And that is essentially that he did not have a very good memory of his conversations with reporters about the CIA identity of administration critic Joe Wilson's wife.
Mr. Zwynenburg detailed what he said were nine conversations that Libby had with eight different people about the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson. And said that how could he have forgotten essentially all of these conversations?
He ended by -- with this quote: "He is here because of his own choices and own decisions. He decided to lie to the FBI and the grand jury."
Then it was the defense's turn. Ted Wells, the lead defense attorney for Mr. Libby, very, very dramatic presentation, very emphatic when he got up there. He talked about the madness of the prosecution's case, said "Scooter" Libby had no motive to lie to anybody and that he simply just didn't recall conversations that he had had several months earlier from his grand jury testimony.
He also spent the better part of an hour, Mr. Wells did, trying to tear down the credibility, the testimony, of the prosecution's star witness, Tim Russert of NBC News. Quote, from Ted Wells, "You cannot convict Mr. Libby solely on the word of this man. It would just be fundamentally wrong."
He spent an hour, more than an hour playing clips of Mr. Russert, showing pictures, charts, of Russert's testimony and how he believes Russert is not a credible witness, doesn't have a good memory, not reliable. So they're going to go back at it this afternoon, Don, and more dramatic testimony, another couple of hours left.
LEMON: CNN's Brian Todd. Thank you, Brian.
NGUYEN: Well, the good times, they are rolling in New Orleans. Up next, the NEWSROOM has got your ticket to Mardi Gras, plus those coveted beads. But you might want to bring a little bit of your own in the bead category, because we don't have that many on this side of town. Stay with us.
LEMON: We've got a couple of them right here on the set.
NGUYEN: Just two, kind of lame.
LEMON: Just two. There you go.
NGUYEN: Thanks.
LEMON: And we want to hear from you. Go to CNN.com and cast your vote. Does the airline industry -- let's go right here quickly to our web site. Does the airline industry offer reasonable compensation for flight delays? Go in and vote. We're going to check the results coming up, straight -- right after a break. Right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, this just in to CNN. We've got some new details on a developing story out of Florida dealing with a missing girl. T.J. Holmes has been following it for us.
T.J., what have you found out?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we've been following it since this morning, an alert put out for a missing girl in Florida. She has been found safe. Her name is Ninotshka Pablos. She's an 11-year-old. The concern was she had left home last night to go get ice cream, 8 p.m. She didn't come back. Mom finally called 911 after midnight. The girl was missing all day.
Well, local affiliates reporting and police are saying she just showed up back at home today. Police in the original alert actually said they believed the girl might be in danger. But today she has just shown up back at home.
Everybody's happy, of course. She's safe and sound, just fine. Everybody's glad to hear that. But police are questioning her now and trying to figure out exactly where she was. And I'm sure Mom has a bunch of questions, as well, Betty. But good news, at least she is home now and she is safe.
NGUYEN: Yes, so she went for ice cream, was gone all night and today she just shows up on the doorstep?
HOLMES: She just shows up back at home. "Hi, Mom. How you doing?" And that was it. And police and everybody have been looking for her all night. So she's got a lot of questions to answer to the police and mama, as well.
NGUYEN: Well, good news, she is still alive. Definitely have a lot of questions for her, no doubt.
T.J., thank you.
HOLMES: All right.
LEMON: Eighty million dollars. That seem look a lot of cash?
NGUYEN: Oh, yes, I'll take it.
LEMON: Yes. Might seem like a lot of petty cash to a company as big as Altria. I hope I'm saying that correctly. But it still represents a big win for the company and for big business in general.
Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange today, which is open.
Did I say that right, Altria?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Altria. Yes. Well, actually, it used to be known as Philip Morris, so then it changed its name. The parent company is Altria. But whatever the case, it makes lots of money, Don.
It's really not the $80 million per se. It's what it represents. It's the precedent that could be used.
This was a close call, and it was a closely watched case. The Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling overturned the $79.5 million punitive damage award won by an Oregon smoker's widow. The high court ruled that Philip Morris, a unit of Altria, could not be punished for the harm caused to other smokers who were not part of the lawsuit.
Business groups hope that it will curb the size of corporate liability awards in general. They've long complained that punitive damages are out of control and can be arbitrary and even frivolous at times -- Don.
LEMON: Has punitive damages -- the Supreme Court ever addressed punitive damages? I don't -- I don't remember that.
LISOVICZ: That's right. It has. In 2003, the high court, Don, capped punitive awards, about ten times actual damages. The ratio in this case was nearly 100 times the actual damages.
The court did not address the question of whether it was constitutionally excessive. But its decision does give new ammunition to frequent targets of product liability lawsuits, which we've talked about a lot. For instance, the big pharmaceutical company Merck, the drug giant faces as many as 40,000 lawsuits over its withdrawn painkiller, Vioxx. Ford has been the target of hundreds of claims involving its Explorer SUV that were involved in rollover accidents.
(STOCK REPORT)
LISOVICZ: And that's the latest from Wall Street.
Coming up, the numbers are in. I'll tell you how women are outdoing men in more ways than one in the workplace. I'll have details next hour.
NEWSROOM continues after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Kyra Phillips today.
Smaller than a soda can but a fighter from the get-go. We've got more on a record-breaking preemie. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: But first, Baghdad, Taji, Tikrit, more bloody violence across Iraq today. The most spectacular attack used a chemical tanker to kill or sicken scores of people.
CNN's Arwa Damon filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The violence across Iraq really demonstrating the various methods that the insurgency here has to target, not only the Iraqi people, but also the Iraqi security forces and the U.S. military.
Just to the north of Baghdad in Taji, a bomb placed inside a tanker carrying chlorine gas exploded outside of a restaurant, killing at least six Iraqis and wounding or poisoning more than 105.
In the capital, Baghdad, an explosion outside of a fuel station also left five Iraqis dead.
And in the evening, mourners who were inside a funeral tent were the target of a suicide bomber. That attack also left five Iraqis dead, at least another 15 wounded. This violence coming as the Iraqi government, the Iraqi security forces and the U.S. military are trying to crack down on the capital, Baghdad. But the violence that left over 20 Iraqis dead and over 100 wounded, underscoring that, just because there's a crackdown going on, this does not mean an end to the violence any time soon.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: There will be no day in court for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, at least for now. A federal appeals court says the law Congress passed last fall setting up military commissions deprives the civil courts of jurisdiction. Detainees' lawyers plan to appeal to the Supreme Court, which struck down the administration's original plan for military tribunals.
LEMON: Iran is facing another U.N. deadline with an offer the West probably can refuse. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his country will stop enriching uranium if Western nations will do the same. Ahmadinejad says Iran will return to negotiations, but only under, quote, a fair atmosphere.
The White House is unimpressed. Tomorrow is the date set by the U.N. Security Council for Iran to suspend enrichment or face further economic sanctions.
Testing the waters. The U.S. military tells CNN that on at least two separate days last week Iranian patrol boats crossed into Iraqi waters at the northern end of the Persian Gulf. They stay for several minutes before Iraqi forces told them to leave. Our sources say the Iranian boats did not approach oil terminals and so far, at least, the U.S. does not consider the moves aggressive or provocative.
NGUYEN: A change of tune for John McCain. Could it be? When Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resigned under fire back in November, McCain said he deserved respect and gratitude for his service. Now, on the campaign trail, McCain's views are a bit little less respectful, and a lot less grateful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worse secretaries of Defense in history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: McCain said Rumsfeld failed by not putting enough troops on the ground in Iraq. The Republican presidential hopeful told an audience of South Carolina seniors the U.S. can still succeed in Iraq, but it's going to take more troops and a new strategy.
LEMON: Well, if the Republican presidential nomination is the promised land, Christian conservatives may be gatekeepers. They are faithful voters who value commitment to values, and they don't forgive trespasses, at least not quickly. Here's CNN's Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MITT ROMNEY (R-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not doing a press avail, but I'm just happy to see other folks who are people of faith.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): If you want to be the Republican nominee for president, a convention of religious broadcasters is close to must-do politics.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I respect the work of the religious broadcasters and I was glad to have the opportunity to meet with them.
CROWLEY: In the 2000 election season, 16 percent of New Hampshire Republican primary voters identified themselves as part of the Christian conservative political movement. One-third of South Carolina's Republican primary vote was conservative Christian. More than one-third of caucus-goers in Iowa said they were part of the religious right.
SUZANNE TABOR, CO-FOUNDER, "REVIVAL": I think the Christian conservatives are a force to be reckoned with and could put anyone in office they wanted if they would get out and vote.
CROWLEY: You hear the echo of their influence down the campaign trail. It is in the announcement speech of Mitt Romney.
ROMNEY: I believe in God. And I believe that every person in this great country, and every person on this great planet, is a child of God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three --
CROWLEY: It is in John McCain's journey through the town halls of South Carolina.
MCCAIN: I do not support Roe v. Wade, and it should be overturned.
CROWLEY: It is even in the interviews of the pro-gay rights, pro-abortion rights, Rudy Giuliani.
RUDY GIULIANI, (R-NY) FMR. NEW YORK MAYOR, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Abortion is something I oppose, I don't like, on a personal basis.
CROWLEY: It is not enough, for Giuliani, this is a courtship over before it begins.
CHARLES CRISMIER, RADIO HOST, "VEIWPOINT": I find it difficult to put him in the Republican camp.
REV. BOB SCHENCK, FAITH AND ACTION: He will never be able to connect with our core values. I think he's got to look elsewhere for his support.
CROWLEY: The ex-mayor of New York was looking elsewhere over the weekend. Any casual conversation reveals when it comes to other candidates polling in the top tier, conservative Christians are not happy campers.
They are suspicious of Arizona Senator John McCain, who once called the Reverend's Falwell and Robertson "agents of intolerance". Preparing for the '08 cycle, he tried to make amends.
PATRICK MAHONEY, CHRISTIAN DEFENSE COALITION: I think Senator McCain has a long way to go in rebuilding a bridge to the faith community.
CROWLEY: And conservative Christians are questioning a former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who has, since beginning to think about running for president, changed positions on abortion and gay rights.
BRAD MATTES, HOST, "FACING LIFE HEAD-ON": If that conversion is genuine, yes, then he would have our support.
CROWLEY: They have heard words before, and they have been disappointed.
JIM WEST, PRESIDENT, FAITH TV: You have to look at the stand on the issues not only today but yesterday and ten years ago and whether they are pandering to the crowd.
CROWLEY: This is a necessary but uneasy courtship. Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Take a look at this tiny, tiny baby. She was against all odds. This preemie pulls through, setting records, and stealing hearts along the way. We have her amazing story ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Goodness.
And the warm up is under way. But how long will it last? There's Rob Marciano. He's happy to be inside in the studio. We'll have your forecast. The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it right to you. You're watch CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: She is one of the world's tiniest survivors. A baby who spent less than five and a half months in the womb. She was less than 10 inches long and weighed less than 10 ounces when she was born last fall. Doctors weren't too optimistic about her chances. But as one puts it now, she proved us all wrong. Her mother is simply amazed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SONJA TAYLOR, MOTHER: Even though she's only four pounds, she's plump to me so -- yeah, the big difference is her size now. Now I can feel her when I hold her. Before she was just there, I'm like -- oh, I don't feel anything. But now I feel her. She's moving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yes, she is. The baby should be released from the Miami hospital sometime this week. Joining us now is CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
To really understand -- this baby was so tiny and so small. There are rules about not resuscitating. Should they be changed because of the fact this baby did so well?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, some doctors are saying it is really amazing what happened with this baby. Babies at this gestational age, 21 weeks -- remember, a full-term pregnancy is about 40 weeks. So we are talking -- there are her little tiny feet. This is her when she was born.
Babies this size -- usually doctors don't try to save them. Babies this age, I should say, born at 21 weeks. Doctors usually consider this a miscarriage. It sounds awful to say it that way. Babies at 21 weeks usually do not do well. They barely have any lung capacity at all. Their lungs can barely function. So this really is truly a miracle.
Now, at 23 weeks, doctors do start to say to parents, you know what, your baby might survive, your baby might do OK. At 23 weeks, they give parents the choice, do you want us to try to resuscitate your baby, or don't you? Some parents decide that they don't want to. So at 21 weeks for the prognosis to be this good is really truly unusual.
NGUYEN: That begs the question so if the baby was at 21 weeks, why didn't doctors just decide, as unfortunate as it is, to call a miscarriage.
COHEN: Well, because she told them the baby was 23 weeks.
NGUYEN: Oh.
COHEN: And that puts things in a whole different category.
NGUYEN: Yes, it did.
COHEN: Because hospitals pretty much are routine about this. Most hospitals say at 21 or 22 weeks, they do not try to resuscitate the baby. If the baby does show some signs of an ability to breathe, they might help, but usually that is not the case.
But starting at 23 or 24 weeks, they will move in and try to do something if the parents want. So, again, at 23 weeks, they'll try to help if the parents want. At 21 weeks, they usually won't. So this mother said that this baby was 23 weeks gestational age. Now, it's very interesting because different babies do have different prognoses. African-American female babies do the best, so it's interesting to see that's the case here.
NGUYEN: This is an very interesting case. The good news here, though, is the baby has survived, and she is doing well. Very interesting, the details of it, and how we got to this point.
Elizabeth, thank you for that. Appreciate that.
COHEN: Thanks.
NGUYEN: Don.
LEMON: Some were stuck on a runway for hours. Now JetBlue says it will make it up to all the passengers. Will they accept that apology? Or tell JetBlue just to take off?
And we want to hear from you. Does the airline industry offer reasonable compensation for flight delays? Well, vote yes or no, and we'll follow the results throughout the afternoon, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. We'll check them right after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Look at that. Watching the good times roll, Betty, right through the streets of New Orleans.
NGUYEN: Time's running out. They better party up.
LEMON: This was a fun one. This was a Zulu Social Club parade. One of the most popular events of Mardi Gras. This is the one where they used to throw the coconuts and then they stopped them from throwing them.
But if you can't be on Bourbon Street for all the Fat Tuesday fun, you know what you can do? You can go online. CNN Pipeline and watch the festivities live all day.
NGUYEN: Just like being there.
LEMON: It's almost just like being there. That's cnn.com/pipeline.
Well, one person for sure that has a great vantage point of all this, our own Gulf Coast Correspondent Susan Roesgen. She is standing by live in New Orleans with -- well, she is in New Orleans with all the festivities. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: Hey! Throw me something, mister. Hey!
This is what New Orleanians wait all year for, Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, celebrated like this no place else in the country. We beg for beads here. And then when the last float goes past, most of the people in this crowd will head down to Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, and party, party, party, until the stroke of midnight, when New Orleans police come and send everybody home.
In a good year, this is a terrific economic boost for the city of New Orleans. The people who ride on the floats pay for their own costumes, their own beads, their own construction of the floats. While the tourists who are here stay in local hotel rooms, eat in local restaurants. It can be as much as a $1 billion boost to the local economy.
This year, expecting about 700,000 people. Down some from a pre- Katrina estimate of 1 million people. But still this is good for the city's recovery and good for the city's soul. Susan Roesgen, CNN, New Orleans.
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NGUYEN: All right, well, the party may stop here because a winter storm with extreme conditions is heading east unfortunately. Sounds like we've heard this before. CNN's Rob Marciano keeping a watch on all this.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: Now departing, finally, JetBlue flights, one after the other. This after almost a week of cancellations beginning with the Valentine's Day ice storm in New York. On CNN "American Morning", the airline's founder promised to make amends to outraged passengers, and to make things better from here on out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID NEELEMAN, CEO, JETBLUE: There's no excuse. We learned a huge lesson. That will never happen again at JetBlue. We will have provisions to be able to take people off airplanes. We have our new bill of rights today talks about what we are responsible for that will --
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: What are you going to do? Tell me about the new bill of rights -- I know you have the video up now.
NEELEMAN: Well, the new bill of rights has all kinds of things. It's going to be a work in progress. We'll be able to add things to it, and be able to move forward. If you're on an airplane and, you know, you arrive in a city, and you can't get on that airplane, within 30 minutes, you get compensation starting at 30 minutes. And if you get to two hour, you get the full credit on your trip back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So here's how they're going to do it. JetBlue's CEO says the make-good vouchers will range from $25 to full refunds, depending on how long you're stuck on a plane. If you're stuck there 10 hours, or nine hours, like those folks, it's a lot of money. Now, the airline will also use that method to reimburse passengers stranded since Wednesday. Now, if the -- if in the future, rather, if your JetBlue flight is canceled within 12 hours of departure, you can ask for a full refund or a voucher.
In addition, the airline plans to form a customer advisory council. Well, this story has thousands of you sharing your opinions about flight delays. So, go to cnn.com and cast your vote. Does the airline industry offer reasonable compensation for flight delays? Vote yes or no. And then let's check the results. See what's happening right now. It's on the homepage --
NGUYEN: Last time folks were saying yes, right?
LEMON: Last time they were saying, no way.
NGUYEN: What were they --
LEMON: There we go, 86 percent said no, it's not enough. That's overwhelming. Yeah.
So we'll be checking your results right here throughout the afternoon, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
If you have ever been lucky enough to never be trapped in a travel nightmare -- I'm sure you know someone who has, we found a couple of people right here at the CNN Center.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LENITA BROWNING, CHICAGO: About five hours.
LEMON: Five hours?
BROWNING: Yes. There was a situation in Chicago where Flying Tigers cargo jet had gone off the runway. And all of the traffic was backed up. And just to get from Chicago to Atlanta took all day. It was a completely packed flight. And it was -- it was very obtuse because the person next to me had been drinking. So there was, you know, all kind of foul odors going on at that hour. And sitting next to the galley. I mean, it was really just awful to be constricted that long.
WILLIAM BURG, NEW YORK: About -- almost three hours.
LEMON: Yeah? What did you think?
BURG: I was upset. It was just crazy. We sat out there on the runway just -- for no reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Been there. I think we all have at some point.
Well, a world that you often hear about, but rarely see. Young black men serving time. They're criminals, but they're also kids. What you'll hear from one of them, many of them, in fact, may change the way you think about them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Well, if the crimes are bad enough or the suspects, victims, famous enough they get in the newspapers and newscasts. But even then, once the convicted are sent off to prison, they disappear. This week, CNN takes you inside prison walls to meet convicts and revisit cases that got little or no attention to begin with. Our guide is award- winning documentary filmmaker Shola Lynch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHOLA LYNCH, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER (voice over): Black children compared to white kids with similar offenses are six times more likely to be incarcerated.
(On camera): I was particularly interested in this story of young black men because they are the statistics that we hear about. They're the ones that are getting caught up in the prison system younger, and younger, and younger.
(Voice over): Chris Varner, 16 years old, used a .9 millimeter handgun to settle a fight. He missed, injured a bystander and is now he's in prison for two years for assault with a deadly weapon.
CHRIS VARNER, IN PRISON: I don't even know what happened. I just got sucked into the street life.
LYNCH: And 17-year-old Brandon Marbury and his friends car jacked woman, leading cops on a high-speed chase. Because someone in the car had a gun, Chris is in prison for seven years for armed robbery.
BRANDON MARBURY, IN PRISON: I didn't have all the things I wanted so I went out there and did what I had to do to get it. It was illegal things to do, and did.
LYNCH: The impression when you meet these guys is that you're going to be confronted with these tough guys, these that you are going to be confronted with these tough guys, these hardened criminals, these juveniles that have been sentenced as adults.
(On camera): Then you meet them. And they are, in so many ways, kids.
(Voice over): Look at Chris' smile or Brandon's unguarded laughter. It's hard to reconcile their serious crimes and tough guy exteriors. They still melt when you ask about their mothers.
MARBURY: That's my heart right there. That's everything. I love my momma.
VARNER: Powerful woman, my mom. Great woman.
LYNCH: Like Chris and Brandon, half the boys from major inner cities across the country don't finish high school. Among the dropouts, some six in 10 will spend time in prison. For many of them, prison provides a foundation they didn't have on the outside.
(On camera): It shouldn't be where people go to get structure and discipline and education.
(Voice over): At the D.C. correctional facility, an all- volunteer book and poetry club is trying to help these kids on an educational track, calling their program Free Minds.
MARBURY: They say when you're in jail your mind ain't free. So that helps us, that helps a lot of us think outside these walls. Also write poetry. It helps a lot, too. Express yourself on paper if you can't express yourself by talking.
VARNER: As I sit in my room, I hear a strange noise. Someone calling me. I ask who's there. Someone replies, me, your mind. We need to have a talk.
DEVON BROWN, DIR., D.C. DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS: We know that those who achieve, educationally, while in prison are more likely to succeed once they return to society. And indeed they will return to society.
OK, good luck.
LYNCH (voice over): Devon Brown, director of D.C.'s Department of Corrections.
BROWN: Our tax dollars are directed towards maintaining prisons and those tax dollars, I believe, could be better spent in other areas.
VARNER: Everybody needs an education to help you make it through this world. Who don't know right from wrong? Babies know right from wrong, eventually. But it's more than -- you need to know more than that to make it in life.
LYNCH: Brown says the primary goal should be prevention. But once kids are locked up we should focus on education and re-entry.
BROWN: The true ownership for their failures may not lie with them. But with us, that we have failed them. They should not have to come to prison to receive these services.
LYNCH (On camera): The statistics say these kids are going to fail. The situation is much more complex than we want it to be. Because it's so much easier just to write them off.
(Voice over): And Chris and Brandon know it.
MARBURY: They imagine I'm a criminal. I don't like to do nothing but hurt people and all that other bad stuff.
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