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Waterboarding; Pakistan State of Emergency; New England Severe Weather; Mexico Health Crisis; West Virginia Hate Crimes March; Baby Grace Remains; International Space Station Repairs

Aired November 03, 2007 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MOOS: And then the shaking began.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he's getting ready to say something. Are you getting ready to say something?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We could end this now. Just talk.

MOOS: Larson's producer actually ended it, telling the interrogators to stop after 24 minutes. Normally, a person breaks after two or three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, that sucks.

MOOS: Current TV says Larson was the first to do a serious demonstration of waterboarding over a year ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, the only place he can breathe is through his nose and we're going to fill that with water.

MOOS: Fox News reporter, Steve Harrigan also waterboarded himself. They played cellophane over his mouth, poured water in his nose.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa.

MOOS: Anti-war demonstrators have taken to demonstrating waterboarding and posting their protests on YouTube. Even a few amateurs have tried it at home, timing themselves to see how long they can last.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eleven point nine.

MOOS: Not smart. Do it wrong, and experts say waterboarding can kill you. And then there's this instructional waterboarding tape, supposedly leaked from the military.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Step two, blindfold your subject...

MOOS: Turns out, it's a parody. They recommend splashing water generously.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will aid in the overall drowning look and feel.

MOOS (on camera): Ah, for the good old days when waterboarding meant riding a board on water.

(voice-over): Now, that's constitutional, Mr. Attorney General Nominee. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: The length that some people go.

HOLMES: And with that, CNN NEWSROOM continues.

WHITFIELD: I love watching your expressions. You both were like, what?

NGUYEN: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: In fact, that reminds me. You know, that reminds me, we have a segment coming up later on in this hour, stories that kind of evoke that response, kind of, what? What were they thinking? We've got that coming up. You'll have to stay tuned for that. But it has nothing to do with waterboarding.

NGUYEN: Good.

WHITFIELD: Instead it has something to do with breast milk.

NGUYEN: Oh, lovely.

WHITFIELD: What?

HOLMES: You've got me already. What?

WHITFIELD: I know. Well, you'll have to watch. You guys have a great day.

HOLMES: All right.

NGUYEN: You, too, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, topping our news this hour in the NEWSROOM, a state of emergency in Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in president bush's war on terror, today expelled the chief justice of the Supreme Court, suspended the constitution, and imposed a media blackout. All this is straight ahead of a crucial Supreme Court decision on whether to overturn Musharraf recent election victory. We spoke earlier to CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson about what exactly is at stake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Potentially, this puts on hold parliamentary elections that are coming up at the beginning of next year. We've seen the former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, come back to Pakistan in recent weeks. This is a step that most outsiders believe is a step in the direction of Democracy for Pakistan. They say that president Musharraf is a military dictator, he needs leaders like Benazir Bhutto, the former proposal prime minister, to come back. He needs to hold parliamentary elections in the country. President Musharraf was just recently re-elected president, and he said at that time he would step down as army chief of staff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And we'll bring you more on this crisis. I'll talk to a former CIA director, John McLaughlin, about 15 minutes from now in the NEWSROOM.

And it was a killer in the Caribbean, now Noel is expected to batter the New England coast. CNN's Jim Acosta is live in Chatham, Massachusetts.

I hope I'm saying that right. Chatham, right, Jim?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And later on today it might be cha-cha-cha-Chatham, because it's going to be cold, here. This is not your typical hurricane coverage. As a matter of fact, it's no longer a hurricane. They're calling it an extra tropical storm, and I can tell you, it's feeling pretty extra tropical, right now.

The winds are in the 40 mile-per-hour range, in terms of the wind gusts, but later on this afternoon, when we see basically the worst of this storm, we could see wind gusts at hurricane force strength, and that is about 85, 90 miles-per-hour is what weather forecasters are predicting.

And while this is not a direct hit, it's more of a glancing blow people here in Cape Cod are very concerned about this. Local officials are talking about lots of downed trees that are expected, widespread power outages, and just in case, they have shelters open across the area in case it gets too rough for some residents in this area, specifically, people in mobile homes.

The National Weather Service has already issued an advisory saying those people living in mobile homes should take shelter, because of the wind gusts, they're talking about, those structures may not hold up once the worst of noel passes through this area.

But, if you look behind me here, you can see, you know, these shipping vessels behind me are getting tossed around, already. The white caps on the ocean behind me, and then on the other side, I don't even know if you can make it out there, there is a barrier island that protects this coastline, here. That barrier island was cut in half by a nor'easter back in April, so this area has been dealing with some serious storms over the last couple of years here. But these are hardy New Englanders out here, they can deal with these type of storms, is what we've been told. Most of the people are planning to stay inside, hunker down, maybe put some chowder on the stove and keep some candles ready in case the power goes out later today -- Frederica.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, it's a nuisance of the storm, but it kind of adds to the character of New England. So, we know the people can handle this no problem. Jim Acosta in Chatham, Massachusetts, thanks so much.

All right, well, Reynolds Wolf is in the Weather Center.

And so I don't know, Reynolds, it looks a lot like what a typical nor'easter for the folks in New England. But this has got a name.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: See, there you go. That's why we love you, you absolutely nailed it. It is -- it is kind of similar to a hurricane, in face, it fact it was a hurricane less than 24 hours ago, but since then, now it's a cold-core, an extra tropical cyclone and it's bringing a lot of the same kind of conditions that you'll deal with.

Cold yes, yes, and those hurricane-force winds are going to continue through much of the afternoon into the evening. Torrential rain is going to be an issue, and of course, you always have beach erosion with this kind of a system.

Now, in terms of the rainfall, some of the heaviest is falling right where Jim was, just moments ago, and those winds spinning around that center of circulation from Hyannis Port back over to Newport, all moving on shore. It's going to be an ugly day there, no doubt.

Now, on the other side of the coin, we're dealing with not rain, but rather thereof in parts of the southeastern United States, and what that means is we've got the dry conditions, the low humidity and we have that wildfire threat for parts of northeast Georgia and along portions of northern Florida. And if that isn't enough, out west we're dealing with the Santa Ana winds again today, Frederica.

WHITFIELD: Oh, no.

WOLF: Those are expected to crank up by late afternoon. We're looking at some gusts going to 40, 50, maybe even 60 miles-an-hour, so we're definitely going to have that fire threat in parts of southern California. Same song, second verse. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, so it means people, you got to be really careful. You can't be careless about any kind of flames or anything that will spark a fire, because you know, the conditions are just ripe for it, right?

WOLF: Enough said. You bet.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Reynolds. We'll check back with you.

WOLF: Anytime.

WHITFIELD: All right, meantime, fears of a health crisis are raising alarms in southern Mexico, that's because much of the state of Tabasco is now under water, just like that right there. Massive flooding sent hundreds of thousands of people racing to higher ground. Nearly 100,000 are still waiting to be rescued. The rain has stopped, but all that standing water could lead to cholera or other water-born illnesses.

Also, happening right now, on the heels of a recent wave of hate- related crimes across the country, today a hate crimes awareness march for a young black woman in West Virginia.

Police say Megan Williams was tortured, raped, and held hostage for days by six white suspects before being rescued. But, state prosecutors say they'd have a tough time proving that that qualified as a hate crime. Our Kathleen Koch live at the rally in Charleston.

So, that statement alone from the prosecutors, that this would be difficult to prosecute as a hate crime, that has to enrage a lot of people.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it does, Frederica, and that's why they're having this rally and march later on today. Roughly about 300 people have gathered here on the steps of the West Virginia state capitol in Charleston, and just with about 15 minutes ago, the victim, Megan Williams, herself, came out, came down these steps with her family, wearing a shirt saying "protect the black woman." She was smiling and waving, greeted very warmly by this crowd.

And you described her terrible ordeal. She was rescued back in early September. There are some six suspects now facing charges in the case. The charges range from kidnapping, which has a maximum penalty of life in prison, sexual assault, maximum penalty of 35 years in prison. But still, the organizers of this event believe that state and federal hate crimes charges must be brought, as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALIK SHABAZZ, VICTIM'S ATTY: Because if one of the other charges fails and those additional years will mean something. And also, they should be subject to both state and federal prosecution. We don't know how this trial will go in Logan County. They will have a jury of their peers; I'm talking about the defendants. We're very worried about justice being done in Logan County. So, this case deserves national attention and it deserves a national prosecution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Now so far, state and federal authorities had declined to bring hate crimes charges. As Fredricka mentioned, obviously, local authorities have some questions. They say that Williams apparently knew and had a prior relationship with one of the suspects, Bobby Brewster, and then federal authorities point out that to qualify as a hate crime, the pure intent of the harm has to be racial and the victim has to have been, at the time, engaged in a federally protected act like voting. So, there's some question whether this case would even qualify for federal hate crimes.

But still, people are rallying here and they're very concerned. After they wrap up here at the state capitol around 3:00 p.m., they're going to be marching to the federal courthouse. And also, they're trying to raise money for Megan Williams to pay for her continuing care, treatment, and also future education -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right Kathleen, thanks. And you have to wonder if it speaks volumes just looking at the make-up of those who are attending the rally, that speaks to kind of the disparity on right along racial lines as to whether some people think this is hate- related and others don't.

Kathleen Koch, thanks very much, from Charleston, West Virginia.

WHITFIELD: Well, this story, too, this one is a heart-breaker, indeed. Take a look at this picture. Do you recognize this little girl? It's a just-released composite sketch of Baby Grace. The remains were found stuffed in a plastic box by a fisherman near Galveston, Texas. Tests show that she was between two and three years old.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ RAY TUTTOILMONDO, GALVESTON SHERIFF'S DEPT: We have adopted the name of Baby Grace because, there, again, it's part of the emotional part of this case for us. We -- she's more to us than just a case number, more to us than just an unidentified body. She is very much a human being. She is someone's child, someone's grandchild, someone's cousin, someone's best friend and to us, that's the most important part about this case, but in looking at this box she was found in, this is not a way for her to end her life.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that is horrible. Well, if you have any information that could help solve this case, please contact the Galveston County Sheriff's Office at 409-766-2222 or 866-248-8477, the numbers right there on the screen.

And how about this -- would you try this? A spacewalk that's not just risky, but downright dangerous, way up above. You're looking live at what's happening right now at the International Space Station. Find out what's at stake exactly in this mission, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Plus, if you're a bride-to-be or perhaps you were once a bride, you know how special this big day is. Well, now a new twist on the wedding day. Should you be green with envy? We'll tell you why.

And a story that'll make you say, what? Are you kidding me? Why a woman is selling her breast milk in the classifieds. You're in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A major political crisis is unfolding at this hour in Pakistan, which potentially could impact the U.S.-driven war on terror in that region. President Pervez Musharraf has declared a state of emergency, blocking all communications, including phone services and television news service, as well. CNN's State Department correspondent, Zain Verjee, is traveling with the U.S. secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. They are in Istanbul, Turkey.

And so Zain, you, apparently, just had a conversation with Secreretary Rice. Pakistan was at the top of the list. How is Condie Rice responding to President Pervez Musharraf's actions?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredricka, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that anything that takes Pakistan off the path of free and fair elections in a Democracy is highly regrettable. She said that the situation there was still unfolding, she wanted to wait to get all the facts, but she insists that the United States does not support any extra constitutional measures taken by Pervez Musharraf.

What the U.S. wants, she said, is to see a quick return to Democracy. She urged restraint on the part of the government, on the part of Pervez Musharraf. She said that violence needs to be avoided at all costs. She also said that she had been in touch with Pervez Musharraf and his top aides over the last few days. She acknowledged that there are difficult circumstances in Pakistan, but that is no reason to do things that go beyond constitution. She said she wants to see Pakistan back on the path to Democracy -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so, Zain, is the secretary offering any explanation of Musharraf 's intent? Is she deciphering anything from this move?

VERJEE: She did not comment on that. She said the situation is unfolding. But senior Pakistani officials that we've spoken to say that the reason that Pervez Musharraf is making this move is because of the law and order situation they say is getting out of hand. There's been a lot more violence in Pakistan, particularly against Pakistani forces in the northwest fonder province of Pakistan, near Afghanistan.

But also, it's important to note, too, that the supreme court of Pakistan was about to make a decision as to whether or not President Musharraf could stay on as president. They may have ruled that he couldn't. So what this move essentially does, by declaring a state of emergency and imposing martial law, Pervez Musharraf gets to keep his job and stay in power -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so, Zain, did the secretary say anything about what potentially the U.S. is willing to do to try to help maintain or encourage the government to maintain some order or restraint?

VERJEE: She said (INAUDIBLE) Pervez Musharraf to do that. It's been really important for the United States to push forward with free and fair elections in the past. And this is really a big blow to the U.S. I mean, Secretary Rice has been saying to Musharraf, the U.S. government has said to him, don't do it, do not impose a state of emergency, hold free and fair elections.

Secretary Rice said that the U.S. also wants moderates in Pakistan, and something like this really does jeopardize the U.S. efforts to transmission to democracy. I mean, the last time there was anything -- there was speculation this may happen, Secretary Rice picked up the phone, called Musharraf and warned him against doing something like this, but it seems as though he's determined to do it. And on the part of the U.S., they continue to urge that he reverse it -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, State Department correspondent, Zain Verjee, thanks so much, traveling with the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, there in Istanbul, Turkey, commenting on what's going on in Pakistan.

Meantime, let's talk about what's going on in outer space. So far, so good, actually. A dangerous spacewalk underway right now to fix a ripped solar wing on the International Space Station. Our space correspondent Miles O'Brien is keeping an eye on the mission from New York.

And so, Miles, it looks good?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Fred. It was kind of a nail-biter of a six-hour spacewalk. Let me just show you what's going on, as you look at those live pictures, we'll come to the model here and give you a sense of where things are taking place.

This is the Destiny U.S. Laboratory, here. This is the airlock that they come out of. Scott Parazynski, the very veteran NASA astronaut and spacewalker, using a 75-foot robot arm, short of a cherry-picker, went out to the edge of the space station, absolute limits of the reach of the arm and the reach of Parazynski, who's 6'2" tall and has some pretty long arms -- to go after and repair a mangled solar array that was mangled on Tuesday as they tried to deploy it.

Take a look at these pictures as the deployment just unfurled a little while ago. This is the moment when they could all kind of relax and take it easy, having known that they successfully did their job there today. The solar array, as we said, was fully deployed, and that's a successful end to a spacewalk that was extremely hazardous, because those solar arrays, Fred, cannot be turned on or off. They are generating electricity -- 300 watts all the while. There you see Parazynski at the end of that long robot arm with the extension there.

WHITFIELD: Oh, merchandise -- my gosh!

O'BRIEN: What a view, huh?

WHITFIELD: That's incredible.

O'BRIEN: And take a look at this thing, they call this thing here, the technical term is hockey stick, in his right arm. And it's wrapped you know, in this kind of burnt orange tape, that is capton tape, asked for it by name, that is insulating tape, which every piece of metal he had was insulating that way. Take a look at what they did as they suited up, the cuffs, which are metal on his suit, the waistband, all that kind of thing that was metal taped up for fear that he might come in contact with that electricity and shock himself. So...

WHITFIELD: OK, now I'm getting why we're saying this was so risky. You know, because I was going to ask you, wait a minute, aren't all these spacewalks kind of risky and dangerous?

O'BRIEN: Well, yes.

WHITFIELD: But this takes the cake.

O'BRIEN: This one went to 11, as they would say in "Spinal Tap," but you notice how the tools are wrapped up. Anyway, look at that fantastic picture, that's from his spacewalking buddy, Doug Wheelock, as he looked up at the array. He put in -- Parazynski is a physician, a medical doctor, and he essentially sutured the array with butterfly bandages, in essence.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh, it's like surgery.

O'BRIEN: It was like surgery. He basically put in six of those to stitch it up, and he had to snip through just a tangled mess of guide wires, which were the root cause of the problem. I think you can see on the top part there, one of the sutures there before the array was extended out there, and it all went off well, but this was totally an improvised thing, and now that makes it possible for this solar array to be fully extended and generate the electricity they need up there.

WHITFIELD: Man. It was crazy enough, I was thinking, you know, the danger that comes with spacewalking, you have to have that tether, thank goodness you've got that, but now you can be electrocuted, too?

O'BRIEN: Just to add a degree of difficulty, wouldn't you say?

WHITFIELD: Yeah, I'd say. But thanks, Miles, you always make us love space and all things space. Good to see you.

O'BRIEN: All right, good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, this was a bit of a shocker, if you will. An arrest now in the abuse scandal that has rocked Oprah Winfrey's South African school. Next in the CNN NEWSROOM, we'll tell you what Ms. Winfrey is saying about all this and what about the school and its safety and the kids?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, back to our top stories. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, today declaring a state of emergency, expelling the chief justice of the Supreme Court, suspending the constitution, and imposing a media blackout. And new images right here of Pervez Musharraf alongside his new chief justice that he named after the other Supreme Court decided that his election was not fair and clear.

So joining us live from Washington with the significance of all of this, CNN national security adviser, John McLaughlin. Good to see you.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATL SECURITY ADVISER: Hi Fredricka. WHITFIELD: All right, help us understand what is going on. Follow the bouncing ball, here. You know, General Pervez Musharraf saying, wait a minute, media blackout. I don't want anybody hearing anything, I don't want anybody to know any new news. They can't even use the telephone. This is a state of emergency. Why? What has brought him to this?

MCLAUGHLIN: I think the thing that pushed him over the edge here -- two things, in fact. The first is that it was clear to him that the Supreme Court was going to declare his election to the presidency, some weeks ago, illegal. Second, there is within the country now a very high state of violence that extends from the frontier areas into the cities. It's a much higher state of violence than we've seen in Pakistan in the past. And I think in view of that, it pushed Musharraf over the edge to declare martial law, the first time he's done that since taking power in 1999, when, of course, he did declare martial law for a period of time then.

WHITFIELD: And then most recently, maybe less than two weeks ago, when that latest spate of violence taking place right in Karachi taking place just as former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto came back in town after living in exile or living in Dubai for many, many years. Is he in any way imposing or implying that this recent spate of violence has anything to do or if it's directly related to her return?

MCLAUGHLIN: I think what happened to her is a symptom of the broader problem of violence in Pakistan. And in a way, what we're seeing unfold here, Fredricka, in my view, is a struggle for the soul of Pakistan, because it is a very different country than it was when Musharraf took over in 1999. It is more prosperous, there is a growing middle class which favors more moderate policies and will oppose martial law.

I think the two things to watch now, in the coming hours and weeks and days, are first the cohesion and strength of the military. It is a strong military. He's put all of his people in power in place in the October round of promotions. So, it's generally loyal to him. But, it's stretched very thin now. It's battling people all over the country, more than it has in the past.

And the second thing to watch is the reaction of the organized political parties to his declaration of martial law. Now, obviously, demonstrations will be banned during a martial law phase, but Bhutto and other leaders of other parties will be very much against martial law, so they're going to face a decision about whether to tell their supporters to go into the streets and protest or not.

WHITFIELD: OK. And what's interesting is also against martial law, we're already hearing from U.S. Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in an interview with Zain Verjee at the State Department -- who is traveling with Ms. Rice -- she, too, is condemning any sort of martial law, this state of emergency. So, can you kind of read between the tea leaves, and perhaps your insiders are letting you know already -- what does this mean for the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan? Pakistan being the leading ally in this war on terror in that region, there. How disappointed, how angry, how does this reshape the relations between the U.S. and Pakistan?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, it's a tricky balance. I think in the best of circumstances, the United States would have preferred a compromise that had Musharraf stepping out of his uniform and into a civilian role as president, and Bhutto coming back and doing well in an election, well enough to become the prime minister, the ideal circumstance would have been one in which civilian rule would have been restored in that way. But a person who's been very faithful as a counterterrorism partner, Musharraf, would still be in charge of the -- would still be assisting on the margins and influential with the military, the strongest institution in the country.

So what we have now, though, is while that's not the preferred U.S. outcome, the United States, in any scenario desperately needs a cooperative government in Pakistan, because in many ways it can be argued that that is the central front in the war on terrorism, given the fact that al Qaeda is still heavily based there in the frontier provinces and has recently extended its reach into the urban areas.

So the United States will not be able to back away from Pakistan here, but they will not, I don't think officially be happy with this turn of events.

WHITFIELD: And quickly, do you see -- in short term, perhaps, do you see Condoleezza Rice or some other, you know, envoy with the State Department, making a trip to Pakistan within days to say, wait a minute, what's going on here?

MCLAUGHLIN: Oh, absolutely, yes. You'll be -- many parts of the U.S. government will be reaching into Pakistan, our military and our civilians, to find out. And our Congress will be particularly upset by this. And it could ultimately have an impact -- a negative impact, on funding for Pakistani aid programs.

WHITFIELD: All right. John McLaughlin, good to see you this Saturday. Thanks so much.

MCLAUGHLIN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, how about this? A celebration with the Earth and mind. Well, this here looks like a familiar setting, right? Good old wedding day, wearing white. Well, how about a wedding where green is kind of the prominent color? We'll explain.

Plus, speaking of green, how about young people who have taken a new approach to being -- or I guess a new spin on being environmentally conscientious. We're going to talk to these two students right here in Washington, D.C., where many are summiting there in Washington to try to make sure the next generation gets it.

And stick around so you all can hear about a woman's rather unusual way to make sure that her breast milk doesn't go to waste. Huh?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) All right. Forget white. Green is the color of the day for some brides and grooms. More and more couples are actually looking for environmentally-friendly ways to tie the knot, promising to love, honor, and recycle.

CNN's Carol Costello has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A beautiful bride dressed in white and everything else is green. Luis and Jessica Castro forged a bond based on love of each other and the environment.

LUIS CASTRO, GROOM: It's really not different from a normal wedding. It's just those things that do have a bad, you know, negative impact, you just take away.

COSTELLO: That meant throwing a beautiful party with Mother Earth in mind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The new Mr. and Mrs. Luis Castro.

COSTELLO: They purchased carbon credits to offset the emissions for guests who traveled. Magnolia leaves from their neighborhood replaced paper seating cards, and recycling bins.

L. CASTRO: When you're planning something like this...

GROUP: Cheers.

L. CASTRO: ... it takes two seconds to think about something you could do instead.

JESSICA CASTRO, BRIDE: I think it was actually probably less time that we put in, just because we tried to keep it simple to reduce the waste.

COSTELLO: An environmentally friendly event doesn't have to cost more, but it does take creative thinking. Check out Kathy and Daniel (ph) Pfieffer, especially Kathy's dress.

KATHY PFIEFFER, BRIDE: I got a dress on Craigslist and I told some of my friends about that and some people were like, you did what? And then other people thought that was really cool.

COSTELLO: Other green ideas, organic food and wine.

K. PFIEFFER: I'm surprised by how much I liked it.

COSTELLO: Events planners say while some want a top-to-bottom green wedding, others opt for smaller changes to prevent waste.

AIMEE DOMINICK, OWNER, DOMINICK EVENTS: I would work on very high-end weddings and often would see a tremendous amount of waste. So we would have to rent full container trucks to haul the trash away at the end of the event, and I just thought that there had to be a better way.

COSTELLO: Jess and Luis decided to donate their leftovers to a food bank for the needy and their wedding favors included locally produced organic honey. And with that, they are off in their hybrid car, hoping their big day had a positive impact.

J. CASTRO: You don't have to do anything drastic. Just think about it.

COSTELLO: Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, the good news right now, still on the environmental front, the hole in the Earth's protective ozone layer is actually getting smaller. It shrank 16 percent this year compared to last year's record size. The bad news, well, it's still the size of North America.

At this rate, the hole will not be closed until 2070, and a NASA scientist says the recent improvement might be due to weather conditions, rather than our efforts to protect the environment. Oh really?

So it's possible that our next guest will be around in 2070 when things might finally get better. In the meantime, they're part of a student environmental movement that's gathering this weekend in College Park, Maryland.

Shadia Wood has been an environmentalist and an environmental activist since age 7. And Nathan Jones is a student at Portland State University in Oregon.

Good to see both of you.

NATHAN JONES, PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT: Thank you.

SHADIA WOOD, ENERGY ACTION COALITION: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, Shadia, let me begin with you, because you're old hat at this, given you've been doing this since age 7. Are you impressed by the outpouring of concern from a number of young people just like yourself right there in College Park?

WOOD: It's truly amazing. We have around 6,000 young people here, and they are concerned. It is our future. And this is the place where we are converging to actually make real, bold solutions on climate change.

WHITFIELD: And so, Nathan, what needs -- you know, what's the message that you need to really convey to a lot of folks who are turning out there? I mean, clearly, they're already pretty conscientious of, you know, going green, being a lot more environmentally friendly, because they showed up. So how do you take it to the next level? JONES: I would say that the message I have is to become politically active, to go out there and use your voice, to build communities and to work towards that better future that we all envision.

WHITFIELD: And so we've seen -- you know, I guess a lot of us have become a lot more aware of what's going on around us, when we're all talking about water conservation, drought that is sweeping the country, just over the last couple weeks we've seen wildfires as a result of the dryness out on the West Coast.

So, Shadia, what are your greatest worries about how humans, how all of us can do something, play our part to help respond to what nature is telling us?

WOOD: Well, what the youth are asking for, especially when we go to take it political, just like Nathan said, we're doing a lobby day on Monday, and what we're asking for, what we're actually demanding is for 5 million new green jobs. We're asking for a ...

WHITFIELD: Like what?

WOOD: ... just transition away from...

WHITFIELD: What would be a green job?

WOOD: Yes, green jobs. And also...

WHITFIELD: What would be a green job?

WOOD: What would be a green job?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

WOOD: Working with renewable energy. Working on, you know, wind and solar power, and -- yes, those various jobs that when we're switching away from dirty energy, we have to go green, and so those are the jobs that will be created.

WHITFIELD: OK. And I just saw behind you, you know, a lot of folks that were bike riding, which you see often on college campuses. That's the easy part. But trying to get everyone on board, Nathan, that's the biggest challenge. Any environmentalist will tell you that, that, you know, trying to get, you know, regular Joe and regular Jane who are so committed to their day-to-day, I guess, comfort, you've got to try and change their mindset as well as their habits.

So what habits would you want to see mostly everybody kind of dispose of to make them go green?

WOOD: Well, I guess it's more of an issue of people are concerned about their future. People want to raise their kids just like everybody else, and it's, how do we provide them the ability to do that in a way that is just and sustainable?

And so, I think it is about providing that to them and then also empowering them to get involved and to get active and to really, you know, demand from Congress that we need bold solutions on climate change.

WHITFIELD: OK. Nathan, I'll let you have the last word. What have you done recently, I guess, to kind of change your ways, to make yourself much more green, that perhaps your fellow students and maybe even your family members can learn from?

JONES: I think some great things that we can do are just address the way that we live, the individual choices we make every day. There are a lot of little steps you can take like...

WHITFIELD: Like what?

JONES: ... riding a bike. Well, like riding a bike when you can. It's healthy for you and it's good for the environment. You can reduce the amount of waste you use. You can definitely look into purchasing clean, renewable energy as opposed to dirty coal or other fossil fuel energies. There are lots of little things that we can do to make this world a better place.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nathan Jones and Shadia Wood, thank you so much for joining us from College Park, Maryland, getting us all to think a lot more clearly and more thoroughly about what we can do to be more green. You all have a great day.

JONES: Thank you.

WOOD: You, too.

WHITFIELD: Well, coming up, we are going to talk weather, this weather system right here. It had a name, not long ago called Noel. And now it kind of has a lot of -- a lot of things in common with a nor'easter, but it's still called Noel, and you're looking at a I- Report right there. We're have more on what that I-Reporter is saying and what the images are that you're seeing, straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. In the wake of tragic events like the California wildfires, many are looking at how they can reach out and help those that need it the most. In this week's "On the Go," we take a look at a popular trend that combines work with travel and a whole lot of fun.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIK TORKELLS, EDITOR, BUDGET TRAVEL: In recent years, we've watched helplessly as natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami destroyed the lives and homes of thousands. It's a natural response to want to lend a hand. One example is the recent boom in volunteer vacations, also called "voluntourism."

But don't just hop on a plane, hands-on assistance is great, but you should do it through a company or organization that can provide a structure for all those good intentions. Voluntourism groups organize the projects, assemble materials, and get supervisors in place so volunteers can get right to work on arrival.

There is usually time built into the itinerary for exploring, making a volunteer vacation a great way to combine seeing new sites with giving back to those who need it the most. Organizations like United Way, Global Crossroad, Eye to Eye, and Habitat for Humanity have volunteer opportunities.

If you are worried that you're not good enough with your hands to do construction, you can help in other ways, such as cleaning beaches or helping out at relief camps. Keep in mind, these aren't necessarily luxury trips. You might be staying at a local's house and you will need to set aside a decent amount of time for the trip.

Most organizations ask for a minimum two-week commitment. Anything less, and they say you can't really have as positive an impact as you would like.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We want to share with you some pretty incredible pictures of what was once Hurricane Noel. These pictures are coming in from our I-Reporters. Check this one out right here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're looking at more beach erosion. As you can see -- whoa! Oh, my goodness! I just got -- I just (INAUDIBLE) how fast it comes up? We are right along (INAUDIBLE)...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Our intrepid I-Reporter there, William Bernstein in Nags Head, North Carolina, yesterday. I know it looks like New England, but that's North Carolina. Covering the wind and beach erosion right there from his -- maybe his cell phone?

And you can see more I-Reports online. Go to cnn.com/ireports, you can also learn how to submit your own I-Reports when you see breaking news, like Hurricane Noel.

Well, now to the West Coast, California, where wildfires could flare up again. The fear right now, conditions are ripe for a return of the Santa Ana winds. The governor is telling state agencies to be ready to move if fires do erupt. Reynolds Wolf is in the weather center.

You spent quite a bit of time out there in Southern California. You saw firsthand how dry, how terrible the conditions were. So now it looks like a return to all of that, or maybe it never really departed it, right?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, yes. I mean, they still have the dry conditions, they still have very little moisture out there. Now you have the winds that it will begin to accelerate. So yes, it's all coming together, very similar scenario.

Not expecting the winds to be quite as strong as they were the last time, but still certainly enough to cause those fires to pop up once again. So we have that big fire danger. But what's interesting, Fredricka, is that's not the only part of the country where we're dealing with this kind of situation.

In the Southeast, we all know about the lack of rainfall that we have had here. And although the wind will not be as strong, we still have some other issues to deal with. One, the lack of moisture, obviously, extremely dry conditions, the low humidity.

We've got a wildfire threat for parts of north Georgia, mainly northeastern Georgia, and for much of north Florida, especially along parts of the I-10 corridor from Jacksonville back over to Tallahassee. It is going to be certainly an area where you could have some fires. That is two big areas of concern that we have. Again, parts of Florida, parts of north Georgia, and of course, out West in California.

A lot to cover this weekend. Let's send it back to you.

WHITFIELD: Yes, keeping you busy.

WOLF: Always happens.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Reynolds.

WOLF: Any time.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, here's something to make you lose your appetite. If you have any ground beef in the refrigerator, you need to listen to this. Cargill Meat Solutions has issued a recall for a million pounds of ground beef products. They may be contaminated with the potentially deadly bacteria called E. coli. They carry a variety of brand names, this product-maker does. But most have the notation EST9400 inside the USDA inspection mark.

All of the products carry expiration dates that have already passed. So throw it out -- or take it back to the store.

Oprah and the scandal in the same sentence? No way, say it isn't so. There's trouble at the talk show host's school, but in South Africa, and she is not directly being related to it. We'll tell you all the latest in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Oprah fans, listen up. A former matron at Oprah Winfrey's school for girls goes to court on Monday in Johannesburg, South Africa. Police say she is charged with assault and soliciting girls for indecent acts. In a written statement, Winfrey thanks South African police for their sensitivity during the investigation. We expect to hear more from Oprah Winfrey on Monday. She is holding a news conference following the court proceedings.

And now to another part of Africa, far north, where police in Chad say these toddlers and babies that you're about to see were snatched from their families in an alleged adoption plot. Aid workers are now trying to figure out who the children are. It's not them right there. The Red Cross said some may never be reunited with their families.

In court today, a group of French journalists, aid workers and a Spanish flight crew, which you did see in these pictures right here, all accused in the international kidnapping investigation of these kids right here. Among them, six members of the French charity Zoe's Ark, a group that arranges for orphans to be adopted in France.

And because this story is so perplexing and just so disturbing, we're going to take an in-depth look at this adoption scandal still unfolding. Join us tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern in the CNN NEWSROOM. We'll have live coverage from Chad and France, the two countries at the center of this controversy. That's tomorrow, 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

Well, it's something you don't see every day, an ad selling, of all things, right there, read it right there, breast milk. Why would anyone want to do that? Find out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, every weekend there are stories that cross our radar that invoke a kind of "you're kidding me" reaction, or in a word, what? So we've come up with a new segment to share such stories provoking that kind of verbal and emotional response, and so here it goes. An Iowa woman is selling something very personal, her breast milk.

Martha Heller (ph) of Tiffin, Iowa, says she has pumped more milk than her 4-month-old daughter will drink, and it's cluttering up her freezer. She doesn't want it to go to waste. If you've ever been breast-feeding, you know this is liquid gold. So she has taken out an ad in the paper offering 100 ounces of breast milk for $200, or the best offer. Not so sure that you'll get any medical doctor to endorse this one, because after all, people, this is bodily fluid. What?

All right. Well, don't forget, Daylight Saving Time ends at 2:00 a.m. Sunday. So be sure to turn your clocks back one hour before you go to bed tonight.

Straight ahead, a look at the top stories in a moment. "YOUR MONEY" is coming up next. Here now is a preview.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks. Coming up on "YOUR MONEY," what this week's job numbers can tell you about the state of the economy and your place in it.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, how high the price of oil has to go before you'll feel it off the road.

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