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Radiation Leak at Three Mile Island; Ernie Barnes Art Work; Mumbai Terror Attacks; 2009 CNN Heroes

Aired November 22, 2009 - 16:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A high profile Catholic lawmaker gets penalized by the church. The Providence, Rhode Island, bishop tells Patrick Kennedy to stay out of the communion line.

A radiation leak at the country's infamous nuclear power plant sends dozens of workers home.

And an artist trapped in an athlete's body. Six months after his death, tributes for Ernie Barnes.

Hello, everyone. And you're in the CNN NEWSROOM where the news unfolds live this Sunday, November 22nd. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Our top story. The fall out on the health care reform bill after it passes a crucial test in the U.S. Senate. We'll get the latest on what was said and go live to the White House for reaction.

But we begin with details of a stunning letter to Congressman Patrick Kennedy from the top Roman Catholic leader in Rhode Island. Bishop Thomas Tobin said he asked the Democratic lawmaker in a 2007 letter to stop receiving communion because of Kennedy's, "stance on moral issues." The two men have recently clashed over abortion. Kennedy declined to say whether he has obeyed the bishop's request.

For more now this weekend we turn to CNN's senior Vatican analyst, John Allen who joins us now from Denver. Good to see you. All right. Let's talk about why this is bubbling up now. Why the refusal or the banning of communion. We're talking about a letter, an admonition that came back in 2007. Is this about the health care reform debate?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN CENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Fredricka, I think it's almost entirely about the health care reform debate. That is to say the answer to the question why now I think is because of the energy around health care reform. I mean, obviously Bishop Tobin's action in sending the 2007 letter to Representative Kennedy predates the current debate. I think it's worth remembering that this is becoming public largely because Representative Kennedy himself has chosen to make it public in an interview with a newspaper in Providence.

The bishop has sort of responded in kind. And I think this all has to do with the fact that the Catholic bishops have been fairly successful, at least to date, in putting abortion at the center of the debate over health care reform. And that obviously has generated some resentment from people who don't share their views. And my suspicion would be the tactical logic on the Kennedy side here would be making that this public in effect puts the Catholic bishops in a negative light because it ends up making them look intolerant.

WHITFIELD: So what's the strategy here? To do that intentionally then to make this public, how is this advantageous to Kennedy?

ALLEN: Well, look, America is a culture that prizes tolerance. Any time you can cast an institution as somehow intolerant, that usually adds up to bad PR. And, as I say, at least to date, many analysts would credit the bishops with the lead role, for example, in securing passage of the Stupak Amendment in the House of Representatives barring the use of federal funds for abortion in the health care reform package and as that debate unfolds, everyone expects the bishops to play a lead role. And I suspect this revelation is in some ways calculated to attempt to kind of diminish their credibility and hence their political effectiveness.

WHITFIELD: So what's your understanding as to whether Patrick Kennedy has actually been able to receive communion in this amount of time? Has he?

ALLEN: Well, I don't know how often Representative Kennedy goes to mass. But I can assure you that had he been publicly turned away from a communion line some place we would know about it. I mean, look the practical reality is that while the American bishops are uniformly opposed to abortion and they take that very seriously as a principle of Catholic teaching, the vast majority of them are also opposed to using communion as a political weapon.

Most of them have avoided this kind of high profile spat with politicians. And I think that would probably describe the vast majority of priests in the country as well. So this development does not mean that Patrick Kennedy can't take communion. I'm sure he can find a parish some place that would let him do it. I think the lens through which to see this is in the politics of healthcare reform debate.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Something tells me he is not getting communion or trying to get communion in Rhode Island, something tells me he probably can find a forum, a parish as you said right there in the Washington, D.C., area as well.

ALLEN: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right. John Allen, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

ALLEN: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right. Perhaps this has something to do with the health care reform debate. Well, get ready. The rhetoric is just about to get even louder. The tone more urgent. An $848 billion bill is heading to the Senate floor, sent there with a filibuster proof vote last night. The U.S. Senate is set to begin debating the bill when it returns after Thanksgiving break. Democratic leaders say they want a final vote by the end of the year. That full-court press has supporters and opponents pushing their points. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: Well, we don't often ignore the wishes of the American people. They are literally screening, many of them, telling us, please don't pass this. Don't pass this bill. If the majority is hell bent on ignoring the wishes of the American people, they have 60 votes in the Senate. You would think they might be able to do this.

But I believe there are a number of democratic senators who do care what the American people think and are not interested in this sort of arrogant approach, that everybody sort of shut up, sit down, get out of the way, we know what's best for you. And we're hearing from the American people. They don't want us to pass it.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), MAJORITY WHIP: We want to make health insurance more affordable for all American families, number one. Number two, we want to stop insurance industry abuses. And number three, we've got to make sure at the end of the day we have more Americans with the peace of mind of good health insurance coverage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Kate Bolduan is at the White House. So Kate, now what? How does the White House, I guess, use the momentum from the 60 votes last night and carry it through?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you can be sure that they will be trying to jump on the momentum from last night and try to push through after --especially after the Thanksgiving break when the debate is really going to start picking up as lawmakers return back here to Washington, D.C..

Here at the White House today you can be sure they are breathing a little easier today. But at the same time, if today is any indication it is a long and bumpy road ahead for the health care debate. Republicans continue to insist that this health care bill before the Senate will lead to a rationing of care and will also explode the federal deficit.

But the fighting, Fredricka, is not only between political parties. We're seeing that there's also fighting and arguing going on within the Democratic party, between Democratic lawmakers at the very same time more liberal Democrats. They are adamant that a public option be included in whatever final health care bill hits the Senate floor.

But more conservative, more moderate democrats, they disagree. They feel very differently. Democratic Senator Ben Nelson from Nebraska is one of them. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BEN NELSON (D), NEBRASKA: A whole host of other items that are the same as they are right now, I wouldn't vote to get it off the floor. In the end I don't want four Democratic senators dictating to the other 56 of us and to the country when the public option has this much support that it's not going to be in it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Now, Fredricka, those two arguments that you heard, both from two Democrats, they really encapsulate the dilemma that the democratic leadership and quite frankly here at the White House, what they face going forward. How do they get a bill through that they want and how do they also maintain party unity. That's not an easy question to answer.

WHITFIELD: And speaking of bills, the president wants a bill on his desk by the end of the end of the year.

BOLDUAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: Does the president feel pretty confident that is actually going to happen?

BOLDUAN: That, of course, remains the goal. It's not out of the question. If the debate, you know, would really get under way as we expect it to right after Thanksgiving. But take the statement that came out of the White House from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs just last night.

The Press Secretary says that the President is gratified that the Senate is moving forward. He calls the vote historic. But there is no mention in the statement of a deadline. And also notably absent any mention of bipartisanship. And as you know and you saw, the vote count is exactly what they're talking about from last night.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kate Bolduan, at the White House, thanks so much.

All right. Other things on the president's calendar this week, tomorrow President Obama presents the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award to women of Zimbabwe Arise. On Tuesday the Obamas welcome India's prime minister and his wife to the White House. And Wednesday a big day at the White House with the traditional turkey pardoning ceremony that happens in the Rose Garden.

The president's family spends Thanksgiving in Washington. And another big day, Friday, the Obamas will be presented with the official White House Christmas tree.

All right. It happened. Again. At Three Mile Island. Another radiation leak. Workers are sent home. The feds launch an investigation into just what happened. We'll fill in the blanks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: I know we've got some pretty nasty weather in parts of this country. How about parts of England? They're beginning a very difficult process of cleaning up after days of raging flooding there. At least one person is dead and many bridges across northwestern England are considered unsafe. Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson has this update.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, it's still raining. Rain predicted on and off throughout the day. Another two inches, about 50 millimeters expected to fall on the hills around here. That was the problem that led to the flooding here. This is main street in the center Cockermouth. If you look up here you can see and get an idea of the damage and destruction. Right there, you can see a washing machine washed out of one of the stores here, left high and dry in the street.

Over here behind me, as well, you can see the damage done at this store front here. The windows pushed in. Utility workers now getting to work here. This is the main thrust of the work for the police. If you go in and look closely, you can see what they're up against here before they even get into the stores and get to the wires and get to the gas supplies that are the main concern. They've got to clear the water out of here. That a big challenge for them at the moment.

Over here you can see a car that was washed up and damaged during the intense flooding here. The water, you can see by the level of the debris on the tree there, just how high the water was on this street. But the real concern that the police are saying right now is keeping this area safe for the public. They're warning people not to come to this area in the northwest of England if they don't have to.

Many bridges are damaged. There are about a dozen bridges that are closed at the moment. 1,800 bridges that need to be inspected throughout the area. There are several bridges that are right now in danger of collapse. Right now as well on this street in the center of the town, a concern about a possibility of gas leaks. All with buildings that have been damaged by water they say, the police say have to be checked by utility services before people can be allowed back in.

There are just less than 100 people living still in emergency shelters. A lot of people, of course, taking refuge with family and friends in the area. But the clean-up here only just beginning with being hampered by this continuing poor weather.

Nic Robertson, Cockermouth, England.

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WHITFIELD: Well, record keepers say that this is some of the worst and the heaviest of rainfall they've ever seen, actually, in the U.K.. And we got our fair share of it here in the southeast. A little bit ago. A couple weeks ago, really. But, boy. That is severe.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Compared to what happened in Atlanta -

WHITFIELD: Yes. JERAS: Back in September.

WHITFIELD: We didn't have bridges being washed away like that.

JERAS: That's true. But we did have a lot of roads which got washed away as well. And unfortunately for those folks in Cockermouth, across the northern parts of the U.K., more rain is in the forecast.

WHITFIELD: Oh, no.

JERAS: We're talking - yes, heavy rain, probably at least through Wednesday.

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy.

JERAS: Before it starts to taper off a little bit more. So you know, might not be enough to make the river levels go back up, but it could be enough to kind of hold it there and, of course, make it much more difficult.

WHITFIELD: Folks are going to have to relocate temporarily, then.

JERAS: Pardon me?

WHITFIELD: A lot of folks just need to relocate probably temporarily.

JERAS: Oh, absolutely. From what I'm hearing, they're saying it could be six to nine months before these people are able to live back in some of these residences. So, it's pretty much as bad as it's going to get, Fredricka.

Now back here at home, we have a really powerful storm system in the Pacific northwest. This came for the most part while you were sleeping. Unless the winds were howling so loudly that you couldn't sleep. And it did cause some damage overnight. You can see the rain and the snow continues to come down, particularly heavy in the Cascades. It's starting to taper off a little more into the Olympics.

But check out some of these wind gusts from overnight. We're talking this is the equivalent of hurricane force winds. So 93 miles per hour in Mount Hebo, Oregon. My favorite though, by the way of all the names of these towns, check it out, Cape foulweather. Very appropriate, right? 78 miles per hour. The winds staying strong through the afternoon. But once we approach sunset we'll watch them begin to taper off. And our system in the Pacific northwest begins to pull out. We'll watch for our new system to come in late Wednesday night and into Thursday. This will be the third system that we've been dealing with in just less than a week.

Now in the southeast today, we've got some heavy rain in some areas and kind of a nuisance for many of you travelers. We've got a picture to show you out of the Atlanta metro area, to look at our miserable, dreary day. Cloudy conditions. Temperatures only 48 degrees in Atlanta. We've got what we call that wedge-type situation where those winds come in from the east and it keeps you cool and keeps you cloudy and kind of misty throughout the day. Of course, that always causes problems at many of the local airports that we do have some delays at Atlanta, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. 35 minutes, these are the arrival delays if you're trying to get here. That's where the problem is. We got some delays in La Guardia, 30 minutes. So in the overall scheme of things there are plenty of days when we see one to two hour delay. So this isn't too shabby.

Now, if you're trying to go on the roadways, we put real-time traffic information here for you. Of course, CNN is your travel headquarters. Why? Because we say so. And we want to bring you the most up to date information. And here you can see, in the Seattle Metro area along the 509 west side of town, all those little red dots that you see there, that means that traffic is moving extremely slowly.

And if we take a little trip further down by the south by SeaTac Airport. There you can see the airport on Google earth and there you can see those red dots where all those cars are moving very, very slowly. So a lot of congestion in this area. Of course, a big travel holiday, right. So a lot of people may be going somewhere for tomorrow, even if it's just around town. The big areas where we'll see delays with the continuation of our storm into the southeast, what's going to happen there is it's going to move further up towards the north.

We'll expect that to spread to places like Charlotte, up towards Norfolk, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, even New York City. We could potentially see some airport delays here. Of course just a little slower on the roadways because they're going to be wet. We're expecting rain. Yes, rain. Not snow. In Minneapolis for you tomorrow. There you can see on the backside of this system we're going to be getting some of those snow showers.

Breezy conditions here between the Rockies and into the plain states as we have a big pressure gradient between our high pressure and low pressure. And we're still going to be lingering with our system into the Pacific northwest. But we should start to clear up late in the day. All right.

So the biggest travel day of the year, of course, or one of the biggest travel days of the year, Wednesday. The day before Thanksgiving. So we're going to jump forward into time to give you an idea of what you can expect. The big area we're going to be focusing on here is going to be the upper midwest. We're going to start out with rain likely on Wednesday and change over into some snow.

So Milwaukee, Chicago, maybe even in Detroit, Minneapolis, could have some of those travel delays. Fredricka, I have an assignment for our viewers.

WHITFIELD: Yes, what's the assignment?

JERAS: Well, I want to know what everybody is doing over the holidays, right and how weather is impacting your travel.

WHITFIELD: That's good. JERAS: So in the week ahead, I want you to send me an e-mail with a photo of your travel good times or woes, perhaps, in the car, on the plane, whatever that you're doing. And I also want to know what your favorite Thanksgiving food is and we're going to try to do some of these kind of like i-reports next weekend in the NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: That's perfect. That's great. I know you're going to be filled, you'll get a plateful of really good i-reports.

JERAS: I hope so. So e-mail me jacqui.jeras@turner.com. You can see my e-mail here on the lower third of the screen.

WHITFIELD: Did I say plateful? Where's my grammar? Plateful.

JERAS: What's your favorite thing?

WHITFIELD: I could see my elementary grammar teaching saying, what is the world did you say? What's my favorite thing?

JERAS: What's the one thing that you have to have on Thanksgiving?

WHITFIELD: Oh, I've got to have my mother's corn souffle. It is just the best. Oftentimes I miss the, you know, the Thanksgiving holiday because I'm working or I'm somewhere else. And she's given me the recipe. She doesn't write anything down. She's one of those cooks. Give a pinch of this. I've tried it. It's never the same. I miss it every year that I'm not home. But I try to make my own little version so I have a little taste of home.

JERAS: All right.

WHITFIELD: You didn't expect all that, did you?

JERAS: I didn't. But thank you for sharing.

WHITFIELD: Anyway, all right. Good. And you and I are going to talk again, we're going to be in the chat room. And we're going to talk about a really out of this world experience times two for one shuttle astronaut. We'll explain. He's a happy papa but there's more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. A look at the top stories right now. The alleged Ft. Hood shooter will remain in a military hospital for now. But Major Nidal Hasan is under pretrial confinement. A judge made the decision after a hospital room hearing yesterday. Hasan is charged with killing 13 people earlier this month.

And divided Democrats have a tough road ahead of them. The Senate agreed last night to move forward with a floor debate on a health care bill. But some moderate Democrats say they will join Republicans in voting against the bill unless it is changed. The Senate debate will begin after the Thanksgiving break.

And it's a lot of love for just one glove, don't you think? Dozens of Michael Jackson's items went out for auction in New York on Saturday. That one was the one that everyone is coveting. The rhinestone encrusted glove worn by the king of pop when he debuted his moon walk in 1983, guess what tit sold for? $420,000. The winning bid came from China. The auction raised $2 million for Jackson's estate.

Oh, that would be a good topic for the chat room. Bu Jacqui and I have other things.

JERAS: I know, I was biting my tongue the whole time for that.

WHITFIELD: I know, if you have that kind of money. If you're a collector. You have that kind of money.

JERAS: Gosh. No.

WHITFIELD: No.

JERAS: Jackie Robinson's jersey sold like last weekend for I think it was $380,000. I would have bought that before I had the glove.

WHITFIELD: Now, that's cool. If I had the (INAUDIBLE) There's only one.

JERAS: There's only one glove.

WHITFIELD: There's no duplicate. Anyway, cool stuff. Let's talk about other cool things on the ground here and then way above. We're talking in space. One of the astronauts, NASA astronaut, not only did he get to do this very cool space walk, trying to make repairs for the international space station, but what else happened, Jacqui Jeras?

JERAS: He found out that day he was a proud papa. His new daughter, Abigail Mae Bresnick, was brought into the world. And he found out within seven hours.

WHITFIELD: Isn't that amazing?

JERAS: Just when you think about the technology, he's out in space and he finds out he had a baby girl. I mean some of us have husbands who travel or whatever. But where was your husband when your daughter was born? Oh, you know, he was in space.

WHITFIELD: I know. I know. And they have another child at home. A three-year-old. But this one really a nice kind of - I mean, surprise that was expected and unexpected, right? Of course, they knew the baby was coming along. But maybe not while he was at work in outer space. They played a really nice little song this morning. Butterfly, what was it called again?

JERAS: I don't know. I didn't see that part.

WHITFIELD: "Butterfly Kisses." They played that song for him this morning. As they shared the news.

JERAS: He's supposed to be able to see video, by the way, and get pictures of her within just a couple of days. I think he's supposed to be home within three days' time. WHITFIELD: Well, why not because we can see immediately what's going on there. So why can't we have reverse technology where they can enjoy some immediacy as well?

JERAS: Congratulations.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Congrats. big time. Not so good of a day for one guy, right? An alleged bank robber, here's some of the picture right here. This is caught on dash cam. What's interesting about this, not this part. The search and all that.

JERAS: You couldn't see it. There he is goes. See it? He's eating the paper. Allegedly this guy robs the bank, right? He didn't have a gun. Just had a note that said, you know, give me all your money kind of thing. So the cops find him. And they arrest him. And they catch him eating the piece of paper. So the question is, was that the note that he gave to the bank teller?

WHITFIELD: Well, it was certainly very important to him, either that or he was very hungry. Because it was time for a little dash board snap.

JERAS: The evidence has been eaten.

WHITFIELD: Yes, yes.

JERAS: Mom, the dog ate my homework.

WHITFIELD: A bad day for him. But you know, allegedly he's going to be facing some nasty charges at about now. Well, that was kind of a little fun for our chat room segment. We were all over the world, weren't we? All right. Thanks a lot, Jacqui, good to see you.

JERAS: You, too.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk about something very serious and rather scary. Another radiation leak at the nation's - place of what was once the nation's worst nuclear accident. We'll find out exactly what happened this time at Three Mile Island.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Some pretty frightening moments. A small radiation leak has triggered an investigation at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The leak was discovered at the site yesterday, 150 workers were sent home. Officials say there is no threat to the public. A plant spokeswoman says the leak was quickly contained. Of course, Three Mile Island was the scene of the nation's worst nuclear accident during a partial meltdown back in 1979.

Two specialists from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were scheduled to arrive at the plant today. Joining us right now from Middletown, Pennsylvania, is the NRC's Diane Screnci. I'm glad you can make some time with us, I mentioned that no threat to the public. But how concerned, really, should we be nonetheless about a leak taking place here? DIANE SCRENCI, NRC: Well, what happened was the plant was in a refueling outage. The nuclear plant shuts down every 18 to 24 months to replace some of the fuel within the reactor. During that time they perform any number of maintenance activities that you wouldn't be able to perform while the reactor was operating. So there were a lot of maintenance activities going on in the reactor building yesterday. At about 4:00 they had an alarm that there was airborne contamination within the reactor building.

And sent their workers home, took them out of the reactor building and ultimately sent them home. There was no impact on public health and safety. And while some of the workers did receive an unplanned occupational dose exposure, based on the information that the company has provided to us, the level of that dose was within a small fraction of the NRC's regulatory limits.

WHITFIELD: OK. Let me stop you right there. You mentioned the leak was within the reactor building. I guess that's comforting to people who may live in the area that you are underscoring that this leak was contained within the confines of this building. However, when you have 150 people that were exposed to this radiation and many of them were sent home, therein lies the concern or question about kind of cross- contamination.

SCRENCI: Before you leave the site, you go through monitors that would preclude you from taking the contamination home. So anyone who had some contamination was decontaminated before they left the site. The company has said that they sent the workers home because while they were conducting their investigation into this, they didn't have work for those employees to do. So they took them away from the area where there was airborne contamination. And then sent them home basically because there wasn't work to do while their investigation was continuing.

WHITFIELD: And the source of the leak has been located and you're able to say that there is no longer a problem, no leak right now anymore?

SCRENCI: Well, I don't believe -- they're looking for the source of this. But this is contamination. And I think that leak creates the image that there was liquid dripping or something along those lines. And there were a lot of activities that were going on having to do with cutting pieces of equipment and welding and things like that. And it was more than the contamination was coming off equipment rather than a leak as you would imagine a leak to be.

WHITFIELD: OK.

SCRENCI: Right. The event occurred yesterday -- the incident occurred yesterday afternoon and it is not an ongoing event. Other than the company is continuing to investigate. And we sent some technical experts to independently review and confirm the company's technical assessments. They spent the middle part of the day there today and have been doing just that.

WHITFIELD: Diane Screnci thanks so much. I know that means throughout the week there will be even closer looks at this facility to make sure that was an anomaly and that won't happen again any time in the near future. Diane Screnci thanks so much. Appreciate it.

SCRENCI: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: The death toll is growing from a Chinese mine explosion. More than 100 people are now reported dead or missing. This is the deadliest mining accident in China in two years. The blast is dealing a blow to the Chinese government's race to improve mine safety. Last year China's central government closed more than 1,000 dangerous mines.

The h1n1 virus is having an impact on Muslims heading to the Hajj inside Saudi Arabia. At least four pilgrims have actually died from the swine flu. Three of the victims were elderly. One was a teenager. Some had pre-existing chronic health problems. All Muslims have to make the pilgrimage to Mecca once in their lives. Many are traveling this year with face masks and they're arriving early. The Hajj starts Wednesday.

You probably know the picture. But do you know the artist?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Chances are you've seen the art work of Ernie Barnes. Like many pagers who want to emulate them you may have been inspired. And that is what he wanted. The former pro football player turned artist died last April from complications of a rare blood disorder. Now, six months later the tributes and memorials are just getting started.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): "Good Times."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD (voice over): It is this painting that was, perhaps, America's first glimpse of the work of Earnest Eugene Barnes Jr. Featured in the CBS show "Good Times" a piece of art called Sugar Shack. The same painting graces the cover of the legendary singer Marvin Gay's "I Want You" album. That was if 1976. And the demand for his work blossomed says former ABC "Good Morning America" anchors David Hartman.

DAVID HARTMAN, FORMER ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Ernie and I met 40 years ago in Los Angeles. And I was mesmerized by a painting I saw which I couldn't afford. And kept thinking about it all night. Went back the next day and tried to buy it. And he happened to be standing there. I didn't know he was the artist. He said, well, I'm sorry. That painting is sold. And I was heartbroken. Because I wanted that painting. And he said, well, would you like me to paint you another one sort of like it? And I thought, oh, my goodness, you're Mr. Barnes. So that began our friendship of the last 40 years.

WHITFIELD: Barnes, whose specialty was colorful, elongated human figures, would become known internationally for two types of paintings. Sports images and scenes from black America. Both inspired by his own history. He explained in a 1990 CNN interview. ERNIE BARNES: We all have the -- for one thing the image of the ghetto as bringing on the crime, filth and illiterates. There are people who live in the prime circumstances who have ambitions and dreams. And they are taking the worst of times and transforming them into the best of times.

HARTMAN: Look, I don't know anything about art. I just know that when I looked at his paintings, I get it.

WHITFIELD: It is that gift to reach people, says "Good Times" creator Norman Lear that inspired him to use the artist's work in the hit show.

NORMAN LEAR, "GOOD TIMES" CREATOR: There aren't that many artists who catch motion. Who make snapshots of life and Barnes is one of those people.

WHITFIELD: The desire to paint sports images came from Barnes' days as a college and professional football player. Six years as an offensive lineman in the Old American Football League. An artist, he said, trapped in an athlete's body.

BARNES: I know that that was something I had to do in order to get to where I am now.

WHITFIELD: Thirty five year-old artist Akiu Richards says it was Barnes who inspired him to paint.

AKIU RICHARDS, ARTIST: Ernie tried to show the world and show what was going on in the world. And I kind of do the same thing. With a, you know, slight different technique and things of that nature. But he shows the soul of humanity. And I wanted to do the same.

WHITFIELD: That comes as no surprise to North Carolina's central chancellor, Charlie Nelms.

CHARLIE NELMS, CHANCELLOR, NORTH CAROLINA: He's more of a teacher than an artist. But he taught through his art. And he was able to touch the spirit and the soul of people through his art without using words. He was able to do it in images. And I think that's what made him so special as an artist.

WHITFIELD: Six months after Barnes' passing, his alma mater, NC Central, held a memorial. Barnes would become one of the most respected artists of his generation. His accomplishments too numerous to mention here, more album covers, art shows hosted by the rich and famous spanning generations. Like Ethel Kennedy, Congressman Jack Kemp, Representative John Conniers (ph), political analyst Donna Brazile and actor Charlton Heiston. And in 1984 Barnes was appointed the official sports artists for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Later, the 1987 basketball champion Los Angeles Lakers would commission him to paint a piece called Fast Break. The family of actor Will Smith wanted this oil of his two sons. And the list goes on.

LUZ RODRIGUEZ, BARNES SPECIAL ART TRUSTEE: Ernie Barnes' work crossed all racial, society, educational levels. It appeals to everyone. WHITFIELD: Luz Rodriguez, his personal assistant for 21 years says all Barnes wanted to do was inspire us all. Like he did with artist Akiu Richards who specializes in digital air brushing. A process not available when Barnes became an artist. But if it were --

RICHARDS: It would be breathtaking. Just his use of the human form, it just says a lot. He has a painting call, a victory in overtime. It's a picture of an overtime of a football game. And without showing any faces you can tell the emotion on the different players' bodies by using the movement instead of necessarily seeing their faces. So, you know, he knew how to use the body magnificently.

WHITFIELD: That, another Barnes trademark. Most of his characters cannot see.

BARNES: I tend to paint everyone, most everyone, with the -- their eyes closed because I feel that we're blind to one another's humanity. So if we could see the gifts, strengths, and potentials within every human being, than our eyes would be opened.

WHITFIELD: Ernie Barnes. An artist who used blindness to help us all see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Guess what. There is a new exhibit featuring the last works of Ernie Barnes in the planning stages right now. Organizers tell us it will be called "Liberating Humanity from Within." You can find out more by going to Erniebarnes.com. Earnest Eugene Barnes Jr. was 70 years old.

He's on the same record label as Snoop Dogg and Ashley Simpson. You never thought I was going to say the Pope.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. A look at the top stories right now. Pretty dramatic images off the Indonesian coasts as passengers from a sinking ferry are rescued, 250 people survived, at least 26 others did not. The ferry went down in stormy weather. Emergency officials are trying to reconcile the number of actual passengers with the number listed on the manifest.

U.S. Senate Democrats give health care reform the thumbs up to move forward. But look for the coming debate to be loud and acrimonious. Democratic Senator Ben Nelson warns that he wants tougher restrictions about how tax dollars will be used. Republicans want concessions as well. Full Senate -- full, rather, debate in the Senate set to start after the Thanksgiving holiday.

And a Kennedy family dust-up with the Roman Catholic Church. A bishop is asking Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy to stop taking communion. The bishop and Kennedy one of the late Massachutes Senator Edward Kennedy are clashing over abortion. Media reports quote Kennedy as saying the bishop ordered priests in his diocese not to administer the sacrament to Kennedy. On a very different note, Pope Benedict is coming out with his first album tomorrow. Here's a cut from it.

OK. The album is called "Alma Mater Music from the Vatican." It features the Pope singing and reading prayer passages with some backing by an orchestra.

All right. A year later the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks are remembered. And our Josh Levs is helping us remember that day.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Fred. We've also got a new twist in the investigation this weekend. Along with all the memorials for the victims, a happy moment for a 3-year-old who became known to people all over the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A year after the world watched a terrorist siege on Mumbai; people are remembering the victims and marking a happy occasion for a 3-year-old who was actually saved at that time. Our Josh Levs joins us with that. Josh.

LEVS: Yeah. Hey, Fred. I'm going to show you some ways these victims are being remembered. We're going to look at the happy occasion you talked about, a beautiful picture. But first I want to give you the latest twist in the investigation which came this weekend. Actually in Brescia, Italy. Authorities arrested two Pakistani men there accused of providing the gistical support to the Mumbai terrorist, just to give you a sense of how far away it is, we will zoom over Mumbai. Its 4,000 miles away from Mumbai, India where the attacks began November 26th, 2008.

As we remember the attackers hit several locations in Mumbai popular with tourists. Including the luxury motel the Taj Mahal. This here is just some of the damage that we saw afterward. More than 160 victims in these attacks, plus nine of the attackers were killed as well. We have a special section on CNN.com that's all about these attacks. Let's zoom into it. As a way of bringing you inside the event we have the interactive tool that includes the voices of people who are right there. We are going to zoom in there and play you a little bit of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): It just seemed like it was all surreal. It wasn't really happening. You could see the bombs outside. I bought a DVD. I was cleaning out the mini bar.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): We knew if we stay there had for long, we would be trapped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: You can see a lot more of that at CNN.com. Take a look here. This shows you some of the vigils that we've been seeing. You can see there's a photo right here in this picture. This is Sanjay and Rita who were killed there. There's also a banner here for some commandos who were killed. Another photo of one of the victims here. This was Indian's slain terror chief. His colleagues called him a shrewd and unflappable investigator. This here is one of the American families. Kia's husband and daughter they were killed. Kia has gone on to Co- found this, the One Life Alliance. An organization about celebrating the life and sacredness of life and achieving forgiveness.

Finally, I want to show you this it is one more image. They killed the parents of a little boy. Their son's nanny managed to get him out.

WHITFIELD: That's right.

LEVS: She saved his life. Now the boy is celebrating this. We're looking here at the Website for the organization. This is that little boy celebrating his third birthday in Israel. That's the time when he was officially ushered into the world of Torra (ph) study in Israel. Another picture of him down here. I like seeing that. It's a sign the next generation is moving on. It says he's with his grandparents. There he is. He was joined by his grandparents.

WHITFIELD: That was extraordinary. That was an incredible story of survival. His parents being killed and how the nanny had the wherewithal when the terrorists were going into the building to grab the child, take the child to safety, and this little boy has known nobody else except for that nanny. I think they've been able to stay together all this time.

LEVS: Let's go back to it. That's her with him. There he is. She's standing right next to him. She is here with him and continues to be with him.

WHITFIELD: Thank you, Josh, for bringing us that.

All right. Celebrating lives that are full of compassion for others. Look at why CNN heroes are getting some wonderful recognition in their hometowns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All through the year we've been sharing the stories of CNN heroes, ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Many of their hometowns actually are so proud of them that they're holding rallies as well in their hero's honor. So just take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): What I want to say to you simply this. When Mr. Blauser gets up here today, I want you to take a good long look at him. He is a hero!

BRAD BLAUSER, 2009 CNN HERO: You cannot buy a children's wheelchair. They're just not available. There will be millions and millions of people watching the CNN's award show. I'll be given 30 to 45 seconds to ask and make a plea. All it takes is 150,000 people going on to my Website clicking donate and sponsoring a wheelchair to actually solve the need in Iraq for children's wheelchairs. DOC HENDLEY, 2009 CNN HERO: Killing more children than Aids, malaria, tuberculosis combined. You can live years and years with different diseases. You can live months without food. You can live I think three months. You can't live three days without water.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Congratulations.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): We're all here to share with one of our own, someone who's dedicated his life to serving others, our hometown hero Jorge Munoz.

JORGE MUNOZ, 2009 CNN HERO: I am Jorge Munoz and every night I bring food to the hungry in Queens, New York.

All you've got here pushing out those guys out here, nothing to eat, nothing in their hands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Of course we wish them all the best. You can watch all ten of our heroes being honored Thanksgiving night right here on CNN. Anderson Cooper hosts "CNN Heroes." An all-star tribute 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 pm Pacific. Gather your families and friends and be inspired.

All right. One hour from now in the CNN NEWSROOM the healthcare showdown. How will things actually shake out? We'll talk about where the Senate goes from here.

And 150 workers sent home. We'll take a closer look at what caused a radiation leak at Three Mile Island.

It's all coming up with Don Lemon in one hour from now.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield in the NEWSROOM. "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" starts right now.