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Illinois Prison a Mini-Gitmo?; 9/11 Trial Coming to NYC; Pres. Obama in China; Sarah Palin on Media Blitz; More Kids Homeless in Vegas; Turning Gold to Green

Aired November 15, 2009 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, the glowing skyline where the Twin Towers once stood. New York City suddenly at the center of a political firestorm involving the president and the men accused of bringing those buildings down. Those men and nearly 200 other prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, but for how long?

Full steam ahead for the White House scrambling to ship many of them off to the president's home state of Illinois. High drama and very high stakes for a young president not even in the country at the moment. All of this awaiting him when he returns next week.

Next week, a big one for Sarah Palin -- a new book, a big Oprah interview and tonight revelations from Oprah online about the interview it seems the world is waiting to see.

Good evening everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

In just a few hours from now, members of four federal agencies will converge on the tiny town of Thomson, Illinois, population -- 600. The object of their quest is a giant maximum security prison right on the outskirts of town. It can hold 1600 prisoners but it's practically empty.

Today, the governor of Illinois made a public pitch to turn part of the prison over to the defense department, to house some of the detainees now held at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. It could be a huge economic windfall for the area.

CNN's Gary Tuchman is in Thomson tonight where he has been hearing from some of the locals.

What are you hearing, Gary?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, Thomson, Illinois, is in the northwest corner of the state. It's a tiny farming community best known for its healthy crops of melons and corn and soybeans. But it soon may be known as the Guantanamo of the north.

This is the facility - the Thomson Correctional Center, a huge maximum security prison built eight years ago but there's almost nobody in it. It is considered a white elephant, but it might soon begin filling up. The proposal in place to bring roughly half of the Guantanamo prisoners to this facility in this small town in Illinois. Now there are, as you said, Don, about 600 people that live in this town. Literally, the population would increase almost 20 percent if 100, and that's the number being talked about, 100 inmates come here.

Tomorrow, federal officials from the department of justice, from the departments of defense and homeland security will be coming on a tour to see if this is a suitable facility.

My guess -- they will find it's very suitable. It's huge, it's modern, it's big. And this is a very barren area and it has the enthusiastic support of the Democratic governor of Illinois.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. PAT QUINN (D), ILLINOIS: This is something that is very good for our state. It's good for our economy. It's good for our public safety. We believe in America in making sure that safety comes first.

In our state of Illinois, when we have a prison, we make sure that it has the kind of security that protects the civilian population. At the same time, we understand that when there is wrongdoing, there must be punishment, there must be incarceration. And that's why we have built this prison. Almost a decade ago it was completed. And it is there for the use by our federal government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Now, my guess is if I talked to all of you in a room at once, most of you would say that you would not want Guantanamo prisoners living near you.

But here it's very counterintuitive here in Thomson. Almost everybody is for it. It's very difficult to find anyone who's against it. The main reason -- this has been here for all these years. No jobs have been created by it because they haven't put any prisoners in there. The estimate is about 3,000 jobs that will be created.

So for economic reasons, most people are very much in support of it. And even people who have some problems with it see some good with it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSIE ROJAS, WAITRESS, SUNRISE RESTAURANT: This is a small town, you know. It's not like the terrorists, you know, want to do something to Thomson, you know. I mean, Thomson is a great community and, you know, farm town. So, I think it should help.

JUDY AURAND, RESIDENT OF NEARBY CLINTON, IOWA: I think of the positives, with jobs and bringing more people into the community and using that facility to its fullest, because it has been vacant and not used to its high potential.

Then again, I think of the high security people coming in that is also scary, thinking terrorists coming to our area and we have a nuclear facility not too far away from here, just south in the Quad Cities. And that concerns me also. So, I see both positive and negatives about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Now, there certainly are many national politicians, primarily Republicans, who don't want Guantanamo prisoners brought to the mainland United States.

As a matter of fact, one congressman here in Illinois reminds everybody that 150 miles to the east of us is the tallest building in the United States, the Willis Tower, known by us purists, these old- fashioned people, as the Sears Tower. It had its name changed. But that's what he says.

Nevertheless, the Obama administration made it clear it wants to close Guantanamo. It set a deadline of January 2010. It's unlikely that will be met. But this will be the first concrete steps to closing down Guantanamo, bringing the Guantanamo prisoners here to this tiny little town in Illinois -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Gary Tuchman in Thomson, Illinois. Thank you very much for that.

Don Manzullo is the Republican congressman representing Illinois' 16th District, which includes Thomson and its prison. Earlier tonight, I talked with him about the possibility of detainees from Guantanamo Bay coming to his district.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DON MANZULLO (R), ILLINOIS: With the move from Guantanamo Bay to Thomson, Illinois, that means the stigma of Gitmo would transfer to Thomson, thus making us an area that would be in extreme danger of national security breach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And on top of this, the president has said that he is going to bring suspected 9/11 co-conspirators to Manhattan to be tried in a courtroom there.

So, what is he saying about this and what is he saying about this in his week-long trip, his meeting with locals about trade and reviving the world economy in Japan?

Senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is traveling with the president tonight in Shanghai. I asked him if the Illinois prison is a done deal.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's not a done deal, but they think it is pretty far along. They're going to defer to the state officials, the Bureau of Prisons and others, as you've been reporting, to make sure that everything fits, make sure they go through and run all the traps. I talked to a top White House official who told me point-blank this is a very attractive option because they think there's basically this empty prison in a relatively remote area.

In terms of safety, this top White House official was pointing out to me that there has never been a hardened criminal to escape from a super max prison anywhere in the United States before. They believe that any Gitmo detainees that would be sent to Illinois would be kept in the prison and would not escape.

Secondly, you've heard the jobs argument. They think it would create up to 3,000 jobs.

And finally, I mentioned to this White House official, does it help you politically, the fact that it is in the president's home state?

This official said that was not a factor driving it, but acknowledged that it could help politically, because if instead the president wanted to send these terror suspects, these detainees from Guantanamo, to a state like Texas that he did not carry in the presidential election and it seemed like he just wanted to stick these terror suspects somewhere far from his own home state, it would be harder to sell.

LEMON: So, again, as we said on top of this, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other accused co-conspirators to be tried in New York City. Rudy Giuliani was the mayor of New York City on 9/11. President Obama's decision to hold the 9/11 trial in the city prompted this blistering response today on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: A trial is OK. A military trial is OK. In the case of the World Trade Center, under Bill Clinton, I've already said in retrospect, as many have, that that was a mistake. To treat the 1993 bombing as if it were just a criminal act, just one of the 1,973 murders in the city of New York that year was a big mistake.

So what -- basically, the Obama administration is repeating the mistake of history. Many, many people have regarded that as a mistake that was treated just as a civilian act. It should have been treated as an act of war. And it's part of a bigger picture here, John. It's part of -- it's part of Barack Obama deciding that we're not at war with terrorism anymore. So, this is not treated as if it was an act of war, which it should be treated like.

Remember, he told us we can't use the term war on terror. The only problem with that, John, is the terrorists haven't stopped going to war with us. Maybe the Obama administration doesn't think we're at war with them, but they are very clear on the fact that they are at war with us.

So for many, many reasons, including the symbolic reasons, this should be tried in a military court, as an indication that we have learned since 1993, after the attack on the World Trade Center then, after the attacks in Africa, after the attack on the USS Cole, after the attack on the World Trade Center. Gosh, you would think we'd learned that we're at war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, just the thought that the 9/11 suspects coming to New York has reawakened raw emotions. Last night on our show, I spoke with the relatives of two victims of the terrorist attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES WOLF, WIFE KATHERINE DIED ON 9/11: I am dead set against this. In June, I was one of a part of a group of 9/11 family members who met with the attorney general and he explained why they need to close down Guantanamo. And it's not for a reason why a lot of us think.

And so this -- bringing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and putting him in a civilian trial is absolutely the wrong thing to do. By doing this, you are -- you are taking his actions out of the realm of being an act of warfare, and calling it a crime. This was not a crime. This was far beyond a crime. It is a act of warfare.

TALAT HAMDANI, SON MOHAMMAD DIED ON 9/11: I trust my justice system, the constitution which has been enforced in last 230 years, and I want them tried home. My son was murdered here, and I want to see them go to trial here and I want to attend each and every single day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So what, if any, political fallout will the administration see from these developments?

Our Mark Preston and Lynn Sweet will help us to break it down in just a bit.

Also, you better get ready. Sarah Palin's new book and she's sitting down with Oprah and Oprah is revealing something online tonight.

Plus this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That image of the feet wearing pop bottles for sandals kind of struck a chord in me and I said, you know what, I could do something about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: One woman making a difference all the way around the world.

And make sure you join our conversation tonight. All you have to do is log on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's talk now about the controversy surrounding the civilian trials for five 9/11 suspects and the potential -- the possibility that some of those Gitmo prisoners can be taken to Illinois.

Mark Preston is CNN's political editor and Lynn Sweet is with the "Chicago Sun-Times" and a columnist for PoliticsDaily.com. They join me tonight from Washington.

Lynn, I'll start with you. This is just the beginning of, you know, what happens when lawmakers get back to work next week and they start talking about the possibility of these Gitmo detainees being moved to Illinois.

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "CHICAGO SUN-TIMES": A lot of debate is going to go on, both in the national picture of moving any of these detainees on U.S. soil and having them stand trial in a federal court rather than a military tribunal, and specifically locally, it's as big -- as you have just been saying, it's a very big debate in Illinois, which has a big primary for the governor races coming up on February 2nd.

LEMON: Mark, does it help or hurt the president that this is his home state?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you know, I think that it probably helps him try to succeed if he does try to get these prisoners moved to that facility because it is his own state.

There is this big NIMBY clause that we've heard about, you know, over the past year, ever since back in January when the president said that he would close Guantanamo. Not in my backyard. Well, President Obama is now saying in my backyard.

LEMON: Where did this come from, all of a sudden, Lynn, because you were one of the first reporters to report this yesterday? Where did this come from, this possibility? How long has this been in the works?

SWEET: This has been seriously in the works for most of the month. This has been an empty prison. I mean, people have known that it could be used because it is -- the state never had money to open it.

And by the way, Don, that's one of the big White House arguments on this. Who knew that the transfer plan for Guantanamo prisoners is really an economic stimulus plan?

In Illinois today, Governor Quinn and Senator Durbin were talking about how many jobs would be created if the prison is opened up to its full capacity and how the local economy in northwest Illinois, which is hurting, would get a big boom if the prisoners are relocated there. A hundred detainees is what they're talking about, maybe another 1500 prisoners who would be in, you know, just in another part of the prison.

LEMON: You know, the uproar that's happening in Illinois, I don't know if it's comparable to what's going on, considering with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Mark. I mean, this is -- this is causing so much controversy, and this morning on the talk shows, the president took a lot of heat for it.

PRESTON: Yes. And, you know, we're certainly going to hear a lot more about it when members of Congress come back to Washington this week.

You know, a very bold move to say let's bring, you know, this gentleman and few other people up to New York and let's do it in the civilian courts. And I think that the Obama administration is thinking to themselves or at least what they're trying to portray, Don, is that this is going to be an open trial. It's not going to be done in secret. And, really, that's what the United States is about.

Having said that, you know, I -- you know, the critics will say, look, do we really want to bring these people on our soil? Is it safe to bring these people on our soil?

And it's going to be a very big debate. It won't be -- you know, any conclusion will not happen anytime soon.

LEMON: Well, you know, it's very interesting that the administration, the president is in Shanghai now, and that they have not said much, anyone from the administration, except for the folks who were on the talk shows this morning, about Illinois and about this.

And some say this was the worst thing to do because it politicizes this particular issue by bringing these men to New York City. Lynn?

SWEET: Well, that he's not talking about it in his trip, I understand he has a big plate full of multilateral relationships to deal with...

LEMON: It is overshadowing it though, his trip over there.

SWEET: Well, there's -- people -- there is just a lot of stories coming out of it. And I realize domestically this is a big deal. But I don't think that's the main point. I think no matter when these detainees would be sent to the United States, the reaction was going to be fierce. Not only is it along partisan lines, but people will be actually worried about the safety in their communities.

The bigger issue now also is for some people, whether or not these civil trials will end up being show trials, especially in New York where the 9/11 terror suspects will have public trials.

Will these be used -- how will these trials be used? How will these trials be seen throughout the world is going to be certainly much talked about and much examined. LEMON: And, Mark, I'll give you the last word. I'm up against the break. Just really quickly if you want to put a button on this for us.

PRESTON: Well, you know, again as I said, this is going to be debated day in and day out and even though the administration is moving forward, I really think you're going to hear some very fierce opposition here in Congress, here in Washington, certainly in New York as well from Republicans.

LEMON: We shall see. And as we always say, stay tuned, because this is -- this is only the beginning. Thank you both very much.

SWEET: Thank you.

PRESTON: Thank you.

LEMON: A horrible story developing out of North Carolina tonight to tell you about. It involves human trafficking, child abuse, prostitution and the disappearance of an innocent little girl. The leading suspect -- the child's own mother.

And we first told you about this story last night, an urn with the remains of a Korean War vet stolen just hours before his burial at Arlington National Cemetery. We have an update for you tonight on the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It has been a weekend of sad goodbyes for a family and friends of those killed in the Fort Hood shootings. Services were held today in Cameron, Texas, for 62-year-old Michael Cahill. He's the only civilian killed in that massacre. But reports say six soldiers carried his coffin and he was given a 21-gun salute. Cahill worked as a physician's assistant at Fort Hood.

A funeral service is scheduled Wednesday for Specialist Fred Greene of Mountain City, Tennessee. His body arrived home this morning escorted by an Army honor guard.

Funerals were held around the country yesterday for seven other Fort Hood shooting victims.

A decorated Korean War veteran may be robbed of his eternal rest at Arlington National Cemetery. The urn holding the ashes of Colonel Norbert Schmidt was stolen on Thursday, just hours before his burial. It was tucked inside a turquoise bag and stowed in the Schmidt family's rental van. But the van was ransacked near the National Mall and the bag -- gone.

I spoke to the colonel's children last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL SCHMIDT, FATHER'S ASHES STOLEN: You know, he died in August, and we've grieved and we've cried and we've hugged each other and we've gotten together and we've cried and we've -- you know, he was 83 years old and we've worked our way through this a lot and we're sad, but we were coming here excited to -- to just kind of review his life.

He's had a very full life. And we were -- we're coming here for all of us to just say, wow, think of all the great things daddy did. And, you know, it feels like he just died again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The Schmidts left the D.C. area this morning, heading home to Florida. Still, they have not found the urn with the remains. But they are asking anyone who has the urn to take it to a safe place like Arlington Cemetery or a church.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heard this rumble, bang, you know, boom, boom. And I saw kind of like a flash and then you saw smoke and then, you know, we started decreasing in altitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Terror in the skies as passengers on a jet taking off in Kansas City hits a flock of birds.

And Jacqui Jeras is watching a couple of big weather-makers for us tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: President Obama is meeting this hour with Communist Party leaders in Shanghai, the latest stop on his week-long trip to Asia. He's already held talks in Tokyo, where he met with the prime minister and tried to rebuild U.S. relations with Japan which have frayed in recent months.

He arrived in China earlier today from Singapore, where he took part in talks on trade, the global economy and climate change. In about an hour, he plans a town hall meeting with university students.

CNN's Emily Chang is in Shanghai tonight.

Hi, Emily.

EMILY CHANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don.

It's a windy and rainy day in Shanghai. The president's motorcade rolled through the red light district on the way to his meeting with the mayor and Communist Party secretary of Shanghai. This is the commercial hub of China. Lots of U.S. businesses and business interests here.

After that, as you said, he will head to the much anticipated town hall meeting with what they're calling China's future leaders. We expect many of them will be students. This is where the president will take their questions and he may ask them some questions in return.

And the White House had been struggling to come to an agreement with Chinese authorities as to how this meeting would run. President Obama really wanted to reach the widest audience possible and he wanted the event to be broadcast live.

Well, Chinese authorities weren't too happy about an uncensored and unscripted event. Right now, we are told that it will not be broadcast on national television. It will be broadcast on local television, hopefully, on the Chinese Internet as well as whitehouse.gov.

At the end of the day today, he will head to Beijing. That's where he'll have bilateral talks with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. He'll have some time for some sightseeing including the Great Wall and most certainly he will served the best Chinese food -- Don.

LEMON: Emily Chang in Shanghai with a whole laundry list of events for the president. Thank you, Emily.

Sarah Palin speaks her mind about the 2008 election, her daughter's pregnancy and her future.

And also, walking away from poverty one step at a time. We'll show you a woman who is helping with that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Sarah Palin is on a media blitz promoting her new book titled "Going Rogue: An American Life." The book goes on sale on Tuesday. Presale orders of "Going Rogue" are through the roof.

Could a coffee date be in the works for Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton? Palin suggested it and she has some kind words for the secretary of state in her new book. Clinton, who's on a trip to her Far East, well, she says she's agreeable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm sure that, you know, I'll see excerpts printed and, you know, snippets of interviews as I, you know, channel surf in Singapore and in Shanghai and in Beijing. But, you know, I'm ready to have a cup of coffee, maybe I can make a case on some of the issues that we disagree on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Sarah Palin is getting some couch time this week with Oprah Winfrey. And once the conversation wrapped, Oprah turned to the camera -- turned the camera to give a sneak peek on what viewers can expect to see behind the scenes. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": Governor Palin just left and it was really an interesting interview.

You know, lots of people didn't want me to have her on. Lots of people did. Lots of her supporters didn't think that she should come here, but she did.

And we talked about everything. We talked about inside the campaign, about what it felt like when she first was asked to be vice president, the candidate. We talked about Bristol, the pregnancy. We talked about Trig, her baby. We talked about Levi Johnston. We talked about her marriage. We talked about -- we talked about everything. There's nothing that we didn't talk about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: They talked about everything including, including that interview, the primetime interview with Katie Couric during the presidential campaign, certainly not her best showing, and she admits as much in her conversation with Oprah. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WINFREY: Let's talk about the interview with Katie Couric.

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Must we?

WINFREY: Yes.

PALIN: OK, OK.

WINFREY: You talked about it in the book, so I assume everything in the book is fair game.

PALIN: Yes, it is.

WINFREY: You do say that it wasn't your best interview.

PALIN: But there again...

WINFREY: Do you think that was a seminal defining moment for you, that interview?

PALIN: I did not and neither did the campaign. In fact, that is why segment two and three and four and maybe five were scheduled. The campaign said right on, good, you're showing your independence, this is what America needs to see and it was a good interview.

And, of course, I'm thinking if you thought that was a good interview, I don't know what a bad interview was, because I knew it wasn't a good interview.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the year leading up to this has been a really rocky one for Sarah Palin. And tonight, CNN's Candy Crowley, our political correspondent, takes you behind the scenes of her life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Sarah Palin sat down with Oprah Winfrey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sarah is a pro.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. She is a pro and so is Oprah.

CROWLEY: Opry (ph) Oprah, the bus tour, newly published book in hand, Palin hits the road, kind of like a campaign.

PALIN: I think I'm going to have to cast my vote for the maverick.

CROWLEY: She will visit mostly small and mid-sized towns in politically pivotal states -- Iowa, Florida, Virginia, Michigan.

Is this a book tour fueled by politics? Or a political tour fueled by a book?

Probably yes. Sarah Palin is a two-fer.

DAVID FRUM, FORMER BUSH SPEECHWRITER: Sarah Palin generates a lot of news. And she is one of those people who manages to straddle that line between politics and soap opera in a way that Bill Clinton did.

CROWLEY: It's a lucrative combo. The Republican ticket's number two is Amazon's number one in nonfiction presales.

FRUM: The danger for her is she may have moved out of the political leader box into the celebrity box.

CROWLEY: She is as famous for her loyal following in the Republican Party as for the unsubstantiated and forcefully denied say everything tales from this soon to be pin-up for "Playgirl" magazine, the former boyfriend of Palin's daughter on CBS.

LEVI JOHNSTON, FMR. BOYFRIEND OF PALIN'S DAUGHTER: She's coming home from work and she would be like where's my retarded baby, all this.

CROWLEY: Even as she fended off Levi Johnston and wrote her book, Palin remained attentive to the core of her support -- the conservatives who fell in love on the campaign trail.

PALIN: You betcha, it's drill, baby, drill.

CROWLEY In recent weeks, Palin has railed against healthcare reform to thousands of anti-abortion activists, kept up an unusually active Facebook page, lent her endorsement to a conservative party candidate over a Republican one in upstate New York and made Robo calls on the behalf of a conservative group in the Virginia governor's race.

PALIN: Virginia, hello. This is Sarah Palin calling to urge you to go to the polls Tuesday and vote to share our principles.

CROWLEY: A recent CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll found 85 percent of Republicans say Palin agrees with them on their most important issues. Only 49 percent of independents felt that way, and it's hard to win national election with those kinds of numbers.

But if Palin is eyeing 2012 her biggest liability is not independent voters, the side shows or her paint-outside-the-line style. The poll found that 71 percent of Americans do not think Palin is qualified to be president, exacerbated by the decision to quit as governor of Alaska.

PALIN: Only dead fish go with the flow.

CROWLEY: It is the kind of rogue-ness that made her a household name, but in the end, it may also make Sarah Palin a player who helped shape the party, not a player who leads it.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Let me tell you about a horrible story developing out of North Carolina tonight. It involves human trafficking, child abuse, prostitution and the disappearance of an innocent little girl. The leading suspect -- the child's own mother.

Plus this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heard this rumble, bang, you know, boom, boom and then I saw kind of like a flash and then you saw smoke and then, you know, we started decreasing in altitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Terror in the skies as a passenger jet taking off in Kansas City hits a flock of birds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A missing 5-year-old girl allegedly sold as a sex slave by her mother. Officers are scouring parts of North Carolina for a trace of Shaniya Davis as her mom, Antoinette Davis, faces charges of human trafficking.

Arrest documents say she knowingly provided her daughter with the intent she be held in sexual servitude. That's according to the "Fayetteville Observer." But it's not clear if the charges are related to her daughter's disappearance.

Shaniya hasn't been seen since Tuesday when surveillance video recorded a man carrying the girl into a hotel room. Police say that man that you see right there is Mario Andretti McNeil. He's been arrested and charged with kidnapping, but still no word of Shaniya's whereabouts.

Nevada has been named one of the 10 worst states when it comes to economic problems caused by the recession. One place that is showing up, it is in schools. In Las Vegas, there has been a huge jump in the number of homeless students.

And tonight, CNN's Dan Simon shows you why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the kitchen.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): She has moved seven times in just the past few months since leaving her salesclerk job to take care of a sick mother. That would be tough for anyone. But Sarah Barks also has five young children to worry about.

SARAH BARKS, JOBLESS: For me just to get something, like a backpack, tennis shoes, shoelaces, I can't provide those things. I can't. I cannot. I can't go to the store and buy them what they want.

SIMON: She wants her old job back, but it's filled. And she says the Las Vegas job market is so dry that she competes with hundreds of others for the same positions.

Her kids who range in age from 3 to 9 years old try to adapt to their nomadic lives.

JOCELYN BARKS, NINE YEARS OLD: Sometimes Mama struggles to find us a place to live. But as long as I'm with my mama, I'm fine.

SIMON (on camera): Do you get sad sometimes?

J. BARKS: Yes.

SIMON: What's the hardest thing for you?

J. BARKS: Having to say bye to my friends.

SIMON (voice over): Jocelyn has a lot of company. According to a study conducted by the Pew Center on the States, year over year, Las Vegas public schools saw a 42 percent increase in homeless children, nearly 5,000 kids today in all.

SUE URANH, MANAGING DIR., PEW CENTER ON THE STATES: Nevada has the highest foreclosure rate in the country. So, the housing problems that that state is experiencing are severe. And think I that what that statistic points to, that has real human consequences and that's what we're seeing in Nevada.

SIMON: The consequences are seen every day at Whitney Elementary School, where the principal says a majority of her students come from homeless families.

SHERRIE GAHN, PRINCIPAL, WHITNEY ELEM. SCHOOL: We went from a lot of low-income families to no-income families, which really paid a toll on our families. And then in addition to that, it comes the stress of just basically trying to survive from day in and day out.

SIMON (on camera): Most school supply closets are filled with things like pens or papers or crayons, but this one is different. It is one you probably have never seen before at a school. It is filled with food and clothing. This school has so many homeless people that it felt it had to take the initiative to make sure that its students are fed and have clothes on their back. You can see all the food here.

S. BARKS: I don't have enough room for their things. There's only one tiny closet.

SIMON (voice over): As for Sarah Barks, a friend is letting her and her kids live in this tiny two-bedroom house until December. Then it's on to another place unless she can scrape up the $400 a month for rent. With no job and no prospects in sight, Sarah isn't sensing an economic recovery. Not yet.

Dan Simon, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Our Jacqui Jeras watching a couple of storms that are happening on the horizon.

Jacqui?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Don. A powerful storm dumps feet of snow on Colorado. That storm is now on the move. Find out where it is going. Plus, torrential downpours flood streets in Puerto Rico. We'll show you the pictures.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Some tense moments aboard a Frontier Airlines passenger jet. Flight 820 from Kansas City to Denver struck a flock of birds shortly after takeoff last night. One of the 120 passengers recalls exactly what he was doing at the moment of impact.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM WEISGAL, PASSENGER: We were talking about the airplane that had gone down in Trenton (ph) in New York and how it survived. And all of a sudden the plane felt like it hit something. I mean, you could feel a shudder. The plane shuddered, OK?

The first thing that happened as the plane shuddered was out the right side of the windows of the airplane on the right side. You could see flashes of light, sparks and flames. Smoke immediately started to come into the cabin. You could smell something that was burning, obviously, something out of the engine.

And the plane immediately canted, OK. Immediately started going down to the right, like that. And I think everybody in the plane thought we were going down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heard this rumble, bang, you know, boom, boom and then I saw kind of like a flash. And then you saw smoke and then, you know, we started decreasing in altitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Plane landed safely back at Kansas City International Airport. An airport spokeswoman says both of the plane's engines suffered damage, but that only one actually lost power. Wow.

CNN's Jacqui Jeras joins us.

Jacqui, real frightening moments there.

JERAS: Yes.

LEMON: Let's hope that it doesn't happen to any of us, any of us. So, tell us, we got a lot of snow in the forecast?

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: All right, Jacqui. Hey, you own any gold jewelry?

JERAS: Yes, some. Not a lot.

LEMON: All right. You want to stick around for this next story after the break. You could be a whole lot richer. We're going to tell you how after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: With the dollar on the decline, gold is where the money is. Markets closed with prices at a record high. And CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow goes inside a gold party where it actually pays to be there. The more gold you bring, the more green you leave with.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's 10 carat.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's not a jewelry store.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 14 carat, see.

HARLOW: Or a pawnshop. This is a party. A gold party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Who's got gold?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I came to be honest with you because I needed cash.

HARLOW: Each piece is examined and the gold content is measured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much is it worth, Bunny (ph)? HARLOW: So, what is Grace's payday? Well, it all depends on the purity and the weight of the gold, and most importantly, gold's current market value.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grace, $315.18.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow. Wow.

HARLOW: But how do you know if you're getting a good price?

Michael Gusky, founder of Gold Fellow, the company running this party, has been in the gold business more than 30 years. He says here you'll get 62 percent of the gold's value and warns you should never accept less than 50 percent.

MICHAEL GUSKY, FOUNDER, GOLD FELLOW: Some of the largest companies in this business are paying as little as 18 percent, 20 percent, relative to the price of gold.

HARLOW: We were quoted $411 for this necklace at the gold party. But we hit the streets of New York in search of a better offer.

(on camera): So now we're here in what is known as the diamond district in Manhattan where we're going to go into some of these stores, some of the establishments. As you see across street here, they all say, you know, we buy gold, we buy, we buy, you see over there.

So, we're going to go in and then we're going to try to see what they'll give us for this gold necklace.

I just wanted to sell the necklace, this necklace. But I don't know how much it is worth.

GOLD BUYER: About $500.

HARLOW: About $500? Thank you.

GOLD BUYER: I'd probably go to like $620.

HARLOW: You'd go to $620?

GOLD BUYER: Yes.

HARLOW: Can I ask how much for this necklace?

GOLD BUYER: $630.

HARLOW: $630.

(voice over): But the lowest offer was still to come. We headed to Canal Street in downtown Manhattan.

(on camera): How much is it worth?

GOLD BUYER: I don't know. You tell me. HARLOW: You tell me? I've never sold a necklace.

GOLD BUYER: It's like $200.

HARLOW: $200?

Two hundred bucks, that was my offer in there, $200. And I said is this a fair price, fair market value?

He said yes, a very fair price.

(voice over): In New York, Poppy Harlow, CNNMoney.com.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A simple idea like shoes is having a profound impact on lives across the globe. That's what the ASHE Foundation was hoping would happen with their Shoes for Africa initiative. They shipped a cargo to Ghana and we were there watching it all come together with a woman who ignited the movement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DION FEARON, FOUNDER, THE ASHE FOUNDATION: I'm coming.

LEMON (voice over): She's a mother.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: No, I'm OK. I know how to get down.

FEARON: You're in the thicket.

LEMON: A visionary.

FEARON: And you put another pair of shoes in between. There is a science to this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, OK.

LEMON: And a fighter.

FEARON: She's packing the shoes wrong.

LEMON: Battling extreme poverty on the continent of Africa. Her weapon --- shoes. A million pairs, she hopes.

FEARON: A million pairs of shoes, but I believe that it's going to be way more than a million pairs.

LEMON: Dion Fearon founded a non-profit called the ASHE Foundation. ASHE is Yoruba for the power to make things happen. And that's exactly what she did after seeing this image. FEARON: That image of the feet wearing pop bottles for sandals kind of struck a chord in me and I said, you know what, I could do something about that.

LEMON: Shoes for Africa was off to a running start with a little star power from R&B recording artist Kenny Lattimore, celebrity stylist Okera Banks and Antina Campbell, a complete stranger who would become Fearon's closest ally. The two met in church after one of Fearon's appeals for shoes.

ANTINA CAMPBELL, DIR. OF OPERATIONS, THE ASHE FDN.: She started talking about the ASHE Foundation and collecting shoes and taking them over to Africa and all of that was like, wow to me, you know, like, I got to help her.

OKERA BANKS, CELEBRITY STYLIST/COSTUME DESIGNER: I had just wrapped up a Nickelodeon show. So, I had abundance of shoes for kids. And I said I'm going to go home and I'm going to go through that garage and give her some shoes.

KENNY LATTIMORE, SINGER: I didn't want it to just be -- or somebody use my name and, you know, I came by, I dropped a little donation in the bucket and kept going. I wanted to really be a part of something that was going to be life changing.

LEMON: The organization's mission is to change the lives of millions of children in African nations who have been orphaned by the devastating effects caused by HIV and AIDS.

Thanks to actor Will Smith, the ASHE Foundation took its first shipment of shoes to Africa in January.

FEARON: Will Smith was in church one Sunday and he heard me begging for shoes and he said OK, I'll pay for 15 people, 15 members of the congregation to go to Africa to deliver these shoes.

LEMON: The experience made Fearon even more determined to, as she calls it, beg for shoes for barefoot children.

These two showed up for the shoe distribution sharing one shoe each.

FEARON: My heart is in Africa. It beats in Africa. And I, for a very, very long time, I ran from the responsibility of knowing that I was going to make a difference there.

LEMON: And now she's at it again, this time it's more than two tons of medical supplies and 10,000 pairs of shoes en route to Ghana.

LATTIMORE: This looks like it's hardly ever been worn.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE & MALE: Never been worn.

LEMON: Volunteers showed up to pack the shoes. A box like this one holds 70 pairs. It packed right and packed tight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, what's the count?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seventy pairs in this box.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dion, it's good.

LEMON: On shipping day, a handful of volunteers loaded this 20- foot crate with box after box after box. It's hard work but it's fueled by purpose and passion. The crate is finally packed to capacity and ready to head to the shipping dock.

FEARON: This is a good day.

LEMON: She says a prayer...

FEARON: That this container makes it to its final destination.

LEMON: And hope that its contents will change lives two feet at a time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, many of you have been asking how to get involved with what the ASHE Foundation is doing. So here it is. Go to the ashefoundation.org. Again, theashefoundation.org. And check out our blog at cnn.com/newsroom. It was written by my producer Annika Young who went to Los Angeles to cover this amazing group of people.

I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Thank you for watching. Have a great week, everyone.