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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Out of Hospital; Former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel to be Nominated Defense Secretary; 17- Year-Old Student was Arrested in Russell County, Georgia;

Aired January 06, 2013 - 22:00   ET

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

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Deborah Feyerick in for Don Lemon. Let's get you up to speed on the day's headlines.

This just in, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is returning to work tomorrow morning. It will be his first day back since she was sidelined by a stomach virus followed by a concussion and blood clot in her brain. She was released Wednesday from a New York hospital. According to her schedule Clinton will meet with her assistant secretary tomorrow morning. That meeting is her only public event of the day.

President Obama plans to nominate former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel as the next Secretary of Defense. Reaction is already pouring in, some positive, some not. We'll have much more on the story in a moment.

Pakistani intelligence officials say a suspected U.S. drone strike killed 17 people today. Today's attack follows two suspected U.S. drone strikes last week that killed 15 people, including a Taliban commander with ties to the Pakistani military. Demonstrators protested against drone strikes Thursday and burned a U.S. flag.

Parents in New York are on edge tonight waiting to hear if their children will have to find other ways to get to school tomorrow morning. The union representing the city's school bus drivers is threatening to strike in a dispute over job protection. They're concerned about a new bus contract that could mean some drivers would lose their jobs. If there is a walkout the city will provide some bus riders with free metro cards to ride public transit. In other cases, parents can apply reimbursement if they drive their children to school or send them by taxi.

The national hockey league could be back in business in just a matter of day. The league officials and the players association struck a tentative labor agreement today, according to a statement posted on the league's Web site that would end the three-month lockout. If players and owners approve of the agreement, the NHL could play a 48 game schedule and then the Stanley cup playoffs.

Well, the two top college football teams meet tomorrow night for the BCS national championship. You couldn't script two bigger names. The undefeated Notre Dame will take on Alabama in Miami. The Crimson tide is going for its third national title in the past four years. Notre Dame is trying to win its first since 1988.

Let's turn to Washington now. And word from the administration officials that President Obama plans to nominate Chuck Hagel as his next Defense Secretary. It's getting lukewarm reception from some of the Hagel's fellow Republicans. They don't like some of his past statements on Israel and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Here's new Republican Senator, Ted Cruz of Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TEX CRUZ (R), TEXAS: If Hagel nominated, it is very difficult to imagine the circumstance in which I could support his confirmation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: It's not just Cruz. Veteran Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says Hagel's views on the Middle East, especially toward Israel cause him a lot of concern.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Chuck Hagel, if confirmed to be Secretary of Defense would be the most antagonistic Secretary of Defense toward the state of Israel in our nation's history. Not only has he said you should directly negotiate with Iran, sanctions won't work, that Israel must negotiate with Hamas, an organization terrorist group that lobs thousands of rockets into Israel. He also was one of 12 Senators who refused to sign a letter to the European Union trying to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. He has long served his ties with Republican Party. This is an in your face nomination by the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Last week, the pro-gay rights group Log Cabin Republican took out this ad in "the New York Times," the head of the group told our Don Lemon why his organization thinks Hagel is the wrong man for the Pentagon's top job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARKE COOPER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LOG CABIN REPUBLICANS: This is a guy who's going to be in charge of ensuring implementation of open service takes place. He has a negative record on that, and I'm not just talking about one comment he made toward a former nominee, ambassador Hormel and when it comes to Iran, very weak. Actually, left of President Obama when it comes to economic sanctions or imposing sanctions on Tehran to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons. And then, finally, our bilateral relations with Israel, not strong on that. So, regardless of where you lie, you know, pick your poison, it's a perfect storm for why he should not be SEC DEF. As you know, to use an army collicolism (ph), he's a no go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Rabbi Aryeh Azriel has known Chuck Hagel for the past 25 years. He tells me, the man he hears critics describing does not resemble to the Chuck Hagel he knows.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RABBI ARYEH AZRIEL: He's independent, has wonderful fresh ideas to try to re-engage the discussion about the Middle East. I've known him, really, before he went for Omaha, Nebraska. And then, we wet 1996, and he was interested before he ran for the Senate to learn more from me. I grew up in Israel and it was born there. And he was an amazing relationship, it started developing in the last 20 years, and I think that I support him wholeheartedly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Coming up at the half hour, more on the man President Obama is expected to nominate as his next Secretary of Defense, from serving in Vietnam to a career in Capitol Hill. A look at the life and career of Chuck Hagel.

President Obama has more spots to fill in his cabinet, treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is planning to leave sometime around the inauguration. The frontrunner to replace Geithner is considered to be White House chief of staff, Jacob Lew.

And there's a vacancy at the CIA since general David Petraeus stepped down in the wake of sex scandal. A source tells CNN a short list to replace Petraeus includes counter terrorism and homeland security adviser John Brennan as well as acting CIA director Michael Morrell, the man wearing the red tie in the video.

The attorney for one of the two Ohio teenagers charged with rape wants a judge to postpone and move his clients' trial. The 16-year-old high school football players are charged with sexually assaulting a girl last summer. The alleged attack took place at several parties over the course of the night.

Adam Nemann, the lawyer for defended Trent Mays told CNN he wants the case moved out of Steubenville.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM NEMANN, TRENT MAYS' ATTORNEY: Given its publicity and what we perceive as threats to individuals, perhaps witnesses and also defendants and defense council, we're concerned about safety issues at this point. And secondly, I'm concerned about whether or not the kid should be tried in this area. Perhaps the fact that it is in the Steubenville area is it's going to prohibit certain people from wanting to come forward and testify.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Ma'lik Richmond's lawyer said his client would file similar motions. Last night I talked to him about some of the evidence that's turned up on social media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FEYERICK: It is not a question the fact the photo is making its way around the Internet. The problem is that the photo exists at all. If it weren't for sort of this the evidence, the tweets, the postings and the various social media, this case wouldn't be getting the attention it has got so far. Does your client admit to having sex with the alleged victim?

WALTER MADISON, MA'LIK RICHMOND'S ATTORNEY: In this case, those particular facts we have to allow the court to examine and so, that they can be fully examines. You know, one of the things that really troubles all parties here, is that we're all looking for justice. And that's what this system is designed to do. And the fact that, you know, the ultimate question of whether or not there was sex in this state there are multiple ways other than a traditional concept of sex, that one may be accused of rape, you know. So there could be digital penetration, there can be oral penetration or that with an object. I'm not specifying which is the allegation or which method of this allegation. What I'm saying at this point, what I'm saying is that there are is that there are more than one way that a person may assume constitutes rape, and more than one of those ways may be at issue in this particular case.

FEYERICK: Correct, sir, and I understand that, but the prosecutors are charging your client with sexual assault of this young lady who they say was either too drunk to know or by that point had passed out and didn't know what was going on. So sort of technicalities aside, the question is, has your client admitted to being there and admitted to being with this young woman on that night?

MADISON: Well, subsequent to the photograph, there's evidence that she was conscious and she was capable of making decisions and speaking and exhibiting, you know, decision making activities. So again the photo is out of context, and those are the things we must wait to see. You know, thus more, all we've done in this case is had a hearing on the issue of probable cause.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Lawyers for both defendants have said their clients are not guilty of the charges.

Finally, some relief is heading to the victims of super storm Sandy. We'll have much more, much, much more is need.

And living in fear, trying to escape and suffering from more than just war inside a camp for Syrian refugees that is still in harm's way.

(COMMERCIAL BEAK)

FEYERICK: Help is on the way for people who lost so much during super storm Sandy. President Obama signed into law today a $9.7 billion Sandy relief package. It was the first legislative action of the new Congress. A large to Sandy aid package will have to wait. Lawmakers will consider a $51 billion relief bill on January 15th. Some people were outraged that house speaker Boehner, John Boehner, cancelled a vote Tuesday on the entire aid package. Sandy devastated parts of the northeast more than two months ago.

Earlier I spoke with our political regulars, L.Z. Granderson and Ana Navarro. Both are CNN contributors. L.Z. is a senior writer for ESPN, Ana is a Republican strategist. We talked about the fiscal cliff and the strategizing that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich did this morning on "Meet the Press." He said the process has become a complete diversion from what's really important.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to spend 60 days or 90 days totally fixated on the media on the next big crisis. And the crisis will go down to the White House, and it will be secret meetings, and then at the last minute, we'll once again produce 2400 pages that no one will have read. It is exactly the opposite of healthy (INAUDIBLE).

FEYERICK: You know, it is interesting because he called it a distraction. Newt Gingrich was criticizing the process. No one really seems happy with what happened or how it happened. Is this how things are going to get done in Washington these days? Governing by crisis? Let's start with you, Ana.

ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, you know, I agree with that part that he just said, this is absolutely not healthy governing,. But, you know, and I love Newt Gingrich, let me say that. In fact, he was in Miami over the holidays, so he was having a little diversion himself.

But you know, and I suspect that when he was speaker he didn't like criticism of the type he's giving right now. Newt Gingrich is a great ideal guy. Some of his criticisms are valid. We're not doing this in a healthy, wholesome constructive way. And are -- we seemed to be going from crisis to crisis to crisis which is part of this destructive cycle. That being said, this is not a diversion, this was a real cliff, a real problem, I think John Boehner deserves a lot of credit for having put so much into it. For having tried so hard to make a deal. For having herded his cats, it was not pretty, it was not the straightest line between and b but it got done. And I think he deserves a lot of credit even from his predecessors.

FEYERICK: Another thing that's really sort of troubled me about how it all played out. That was President Obama's handling of negotiations. John Boehner took a lot of criticism and as Ana said, he was able to herd his cats, it was like making sausage. He made some tough decisions. They knew how much John Boehner wanted a great decision. Mr. Obama couldn't make a deal like that, even when it would have made the president look good, the grand bargain.

So L.Z., did Mr. Obama miss a critical opportunity to extend an olive branch to the Republicans, specifically John Boehner as a gesture of conciliation because what's missing is a picture of the president with the speaker. That doesn't even exist. This is sort of a deal.

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, I read Peggy's peace, I think it's entitled there's no I in Kumbaya. And I thought it was an interesting title. And I got sort of what she was trying to say, but at the end of the day, she really sounds as if she has sour grapes over the election.

The fact of the matter is that, it's not about extending olive branches, it's about doing your job. I was really sick and tired of seeing both sides talk about how brave they were, and how courageous they were. No one else in America is as brave and courageous as much of these politicians for doing the very basics of their job.

This whole conversation we've had not raising taxes on the middle class is something that was resolved in the Senate months ago. So, she wants to talk before parties not actually doing what they should have been doing, the Senate voted for a bill to not allow the taxes to go up on the middle class back in the fall. So, the reason it went this long is because of Boehner, because of his party and because of his sort of destructs politics that they have been doing, the obstructionists.

FEYERICK: And very quickly, Ana, do you think that in fact it would have gone a long way for the Republicans if President Obama, rather than taunt them at the press conference he had, basically said, we know how hard it was and thank you? Conciliation, trust bill.

NAVARRO: I think it would have gone a long way not only for the Republican. I think it would have gone a long way for President Obama. Listen, we're just at the beginning of this, we have four more long years. He's got a legacy he wants to build. He's going to have to work with Republicans and it works better when you try to invest in building relationships, when you put some capital and some time and some resources and real resources in investing relationships in Congress. That's what Bill Clinton did, and that's why he was able to get some things done. So, that's why I hope that President Obama does in this second term.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Ana Navarro and L.Z. Granderson, thank you.

Well, police have stopped what could have been another school massacre, this one had homemade explosives. And wait until you here where investigators say this guy learned how to make them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Police in Alabama may have prevented what could have been another school tragedy. This after a disturbing find at a teenager's house, dozens of homemade explosives and a journal full of plan to carry out an attack. It began when a teacher at Russell County high school near the Georgia state line found the journal and called police. 17-year-old Derek Shroud is facing a felony charge of attempted assault. Police discovered dozens of tobacco containers, as you see there, filled with shrapnel and holes drilled for fuses. Investigators say Shroud was one step away from turning them into live grenades. And that if would not the journal. The plot may have not been discovered until it was too late.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEATH TAYLOR, RUSSELL COUNTY SHERRIFF, ALABAMA: The journal contains several plans that look like potential terrorist attacks and attacks of violence in danger on the school. And in particular, there were six students, specifically named and one teacher.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Needless to say, many classmates are shocked by the discovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUINTIN HOBBS, RUSSELL COUNTY HIGH STUDENT: I'm just crazy. I didn't think anything like that could happen at Russell County. I thought that's something that happens everywhere else. His crazy to worry about his deal and maybe he has friends that want to do it, you never know.

JAVON ROGERS, RUSSELL COUNTRY HIGH STUDENT: He could have got me in school for real, if he wanted to. He couldn't have gotten out of there at once if he wanted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: CNN affiliate, WTVM reports the earliest entries in the journal were written three days after the massacre in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Police say Shroud is a self-proclaimed white supremacist and believed he learned to make the explosives through research on the Internet.

The man charged with last summer's Colorado movie theater massacre goes to court tomorrow morning. 25-year-old James Holmes will likely face some of the victims of the Aurora shooting during the preliminary hearing. The former doctoral student faces more than 150 counts including first degree murder and attempted murder.

CNN's Casey Wian revisits the crime scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Aurora, Colorado just after midnight July 20th, 2012.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 315 and 314 first shooting at century theaters. There's someone shooting in the auditorium.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He came down with his gun in my face. He was three feet away from me at that point. And I, instead, I honestly didn't know what to do. I was terrified.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need rescue inside the auditorium, multiple victims.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guy is standing by the exit, just firing away. He's not aiming at a specific person, he's just aiming everywhere. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a child victim. I need rescue at the back door, theater nine now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was just thinking, we have to get out. I just have to get out the doors. And if I had just fall dead, get my kids out of here, it was horrible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suspect, black camo, outfit, believed to be wearing a vest, gas mask and multiple long guns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have the right to remain silent.

WIAN: That suspect, 25-year-old James Holmes is charged with killing 12 people and wounding dozens more. Prosecutors are expected to call scores of witnesses before Arapahoe County district judge William Sylvester. He'll determine whether the evidence is sufficient for Holmes to stand trial on more than 150 counts including murder, attempted murder and weapons charges.

Weapons included explosives, allegedly used to booby trap Holmes apartment. His attorneys are expected to present a diminished capacity request.

RICK KORNFELD, FORMER PROSECUTOR: The government is going to say this guy isn't crazy, he was crazy like a FOX, he was conniving, he was premeditated, he was methodical. And that may all be true, but at the same time, you could be all those things and have a mental disease or defect.

WIAN: He had been seeing a psychiatrist at the University of Colorado where he was a doctoral candidate in neuroscience. He will be dropping out in June. His attorney say, he was hospitalized in November after repeatedly banging his head into a jail wall.

The preliminary hearing is expected to last several days. The judge has issued a sweeping gag order. So, this may be the first time the public hears much of the evidence against Holmes.

Casey Wian, CNN Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Well, is there an ATM near the Vatican? Well, there needs to be. We'll tell you why one of the world's top tourist attractions can't take plastic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: If you're going to the Vatican, take cash. Cash, that's right. All credit cards are temporarily useless there. Right now, tourists can't even charge it when buying religious keepsakes or visiting the sustained chapel. The bank of Italy yanked the Vatican's credit card service since January 1st due to concerns about financial sight in the Vatican. The independent reports found the Vatican is still falling short of international standards to tackle money laundering and other international crimes. Now, to the big stories in the week ahead from the White House to Wall Street, our correspondents tell you what you need to know. We begin tonight with the expected nomination of Chuck Hagel to be Defense Secretary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Athena Jones at the White House.

President Obama plans to announce former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel as his pick to replace Leon Panetta as Secretary of Defense on Monday. We're on the lookout for more cabinet nominations that could come as early as this week for Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State and CIA director.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alison Kosik at the New York stock exchange where investors are getting ready for the first full week of trading of 2013. Analyst survey by CNN Money expects the S&P 500 to climb about five percent this year.

Earnings season also kicks off this coming week, and as always, aluminum giant ALCOA is first reporting fourth quarter results on Tuesday. And keep an eye on the consumer electronics show this week. The annual event held in Las Vegas is where major products like the VCR, the x-box and Blue-ray discs and were unveiled.

A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: I'm "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" A.J. Hammer and here's what we are watching this week. Award season, of course, officially kicked in a high. People's choice awards being handed out on Wednesday. Academy award nominations will be announced on Thursday, and we'll have your coast to coast coverage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Thanks everyone.

Well, it's back to work for the first time in a month for outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, President Clinton is looking to fill another cabinet post with a former Senator and Republican. Sounds like an easy appointment, right? Not so fast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Half past the hour now, let's take a look at the headlines.

Back to the office, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is returning to work tomorrow morning. It will be Clinton's first day back since she was sidelined by a stomach virus, followed by a concussion, and blood clot in her brain. She was released Wednesday from a New York hospital. According to her schedule, Clinton will meet with her assistant secretaries tomorrow morning, that meeting will be her only event of the day.

A former Vietnam Veteran and U.S. Senator will take the spotlight Monday. CNN has learned President Obama plans to nominate former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel to be the next Secretary of Defense. The administration official say, the announcement is expected to tomorrow. A source familiar with the process tells CNN, the White House spent time today calling Senators to try to build support for Hagel's nomination.

Parents in New York are making backup plans tonight, waiting to hear if their children will have to find other ways to get to school in the morning. The union representing the city's school bus drivers is threatening to strike. They're concerned about a new contract that could mean drivers could lose their jobs. If there is a walkout, the city will provide some bus riders with free metro cards for public transit. In other cases, parents can apply for reimbursement if they drive their children to school or send them by taxi.

The help is on the way for super storm Sandy victims. President Obama signed into law today a $9.7 billion sandy disaster relief package. Some lawmakers were outraged at house speaker Boehner cancelled a vote Tuesday on what would have been a much larger aid bill. Sandy devastated parts of the northeast two months ago, lawmakers will consider the rest of the package, a $51 billion aid package January 15th.

The college football season is down to its final game and it's a big one in tomorrow night's BCS championship. Undefeated Notre Dame will take on Alabama in Miami. The fighting Irish are undefeated, the crimson tide have just one loss.

Let's get more now on the man we expect President Obama to nominate as his next Secretary of Defense, former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel. He's known as someone who's not afraid to chart his own course around Washington, a habit that comes with political risks.

Here's CNN Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chuck Hagel's view of the world today was changed when he served with his brother tom in Vietnam. Hagel recalled being burned in a land mine attack.

CHUCK HAGEL (R), FORMER NEBRASKA SENATOR: The pain -- and we didn't have any medics there with us. We did have some guys that, again as I said, were in pretty bad shape. So, the morphine, everything was used for them.

STARR: The brothers saved each other's lives in combat.

HAGEL: Thinking to myself, you know, if I ever get out of all this. I am going to do everything I can to assure that war is the last resort. That we -- a nation, a people calls upon to settle the dispute the horror of it, the pain of it, the suffering of it.

STARR: After coming home, Hagel worked briefly as a newscaster, then, had a career in business, before entering public service as a Senator from Nebraska from 1997 to 2009. Most recently he's taught at Georgetown University while co-chairing the president's intelligence advisory board. What everyone who knows him well will tell you, Chuck Hagel has independent views on national security. It's caused him problems. To the dismay of fellow Republicans, Hagel opposed the troop search in Iraq as did President Obama, but then, opposed Obama's surge in Afghanistan.

He has called for deep cuts in defense spending. Reshaping spending, dealing with Iran's nuclear programs and being ready for potential involvement in the war in Syria are all top priorities this winter. That means the political buzz saws are out again. Like Hagel, William Kohn was a Republican Senator before he was Bill Clinton's Secretary of Defense.

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: I think he'll face the same challenge in terms of people on the democratic side saying, wait, we have some pretty talented people that are -- could step in at a moment's notice and fill that spot. And the Republicans will say, why are you helping out a democratic administration?

STARR: One key Republican already is challenging Hagel.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I am concerned about many of the comments that he made and has made, like reference to a Jewish lobby, which I don't believe exists, I believe a pro-Israel lobby exists.

STARR: Others insist Hagel is not anti-Israel.

AARON DAVID MILLER, VICE PRESIDENT, WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS: He belongs to a sort of tough minded -- in this case Republican view of Israel that in fact accepts the reality that while the United States and Israel are very close allies and will remain close allies their views on every issue cannot be expected to co-inside.

STARR: And critics in the gay and lesbian community have turned around their opposition to Hagel. In 1998, Hagel opposed James Hormel, an openly gay man, to an ambassador's post. Hagel now says my comments 14 years ago in 1998 were insensitive. They do not reflect my views. I apologize to ambassador Hormel and any LGBT Americans who may question their commitment to their civil rights.

Whatever Chuck Hagel's views were, if he does become Secretary of Defense, he will have to fall in line with president Obama's policies on everything from defense spending to what to go about Iran's nuclear program.

Barbara Starr, CNN the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Child's play is turned into something resembling survival tactics with the daily threat of death from war and from the freezing cold. We take you inside one refugee camp along the Turkey-Syria border where children are seeking safety below ground. Getting there with the only tool they have, their hands.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: In Syria, a scathing speech today from President Bashar Al- Assad and more bloodshed throughout the country.

A Syrian opposition group says at least 101 people were killed today nationwide. Activists say 28 died in Damascus and the suburbs, 22 in Aleppo.

And as the bombs were falling and the bullets flying, the Syrian president lashed out at rebels during his first public speech in seven months.

Assad was affectionately mobbed by a crowd of adorning supporters in the capital. He told his people and the world that Syria is not undergoing the revolution and as long as terrorists are in the country they will not stand down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SYRIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This is a conflict between authorities at power or between the enemies of the homeland. This is a conflict those who wanted to take revenge against the people to fragment Syria. Those are the enemies of the people and the enemies of God. And the enemies of God will go to hell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Assad also laid out a plan to end the war starting with foreign countries ending their support for what he calls quote "terrorists." His speech drew immediate condemnation from leaders notice U.S. and Britain.

The dangers in Syria go beyond the violence. It is winter there.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports from one camp where adults and children fight every day for their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They fled this far, almost to safety in Turkey, but still they dig. To these boys dragged fast into manhood, it's not really a game. It's an air raid shelter.

We make it so if the jets come and bomb us, he says, we put children here to hide them. But of course, we will make it much bigger for 20 to 30 people.

The holes are so they can see outside when the bombs come, although they have already seen so much.

We were sitting suddenly and the rocket comes, making this noise, he says, a big explosion, an artillery shell. Here in Babal Salama (ph), 8,000 of them fled everything they had, hoping for something, but finding the new free Syria could give them little.

A 100 yards from Turkey, they are not allowed into its bustling camps.

Of course, 80 percent of those here, he says, came hoping to cross into Turkey but the Turkish government stopped hosting over six weeks ago. People are furious. We can't provide a lot of their daily needs. What was temporary in summer is now looking permanent in frost, the distant thud of shelling, a reason to endure even this.

Even though these people about 100 yards from the Turkish border, they still have to bring what little plastic tent shelter they have under cover because of the intense cold approaching. You can still hear sometimes the shells in the distance reverberate inside this open concrete hangar but the real enemy in the months ahead is going to be that bitter winter cold.

For Abdul's daughter, Sinaman (ph) the cold came too fast.

She wasn't sick, he says, she didn't have any problems at all. We were up late that night and playing with her. We woke up the next morning and her mother checked on her. She was curled into a ball from the cold. We buried her in the village. Her sister is afraid now of the cold.

Now, he burns plastic to keep warm. Wood is in short supply and expensive. In fact, they have stripped nature almost bare here. Even these plants cut down for food. Trash, plastic, gathered hungrily, its acrid, poisonous smoke cluttering a dense, wretched world. After 21 months of this war, this is the best the world has done for them.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN. Baba Salama (ph), Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Well, what is the most famous starship captain think of the new star trek series? William Shatner shares with Don Lemon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: It's like the fabled home of the future. Our Laurie Segall shows us now how you can control your home with just the touch of a button.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 10 below.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECHNOLOGY REPORTER: (voice-over): Warm up your car with your Smartphone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for flying with us.

SEGALL: Technology now possible and starting to take off.

ZACH SUPALLA, CEO, SPARK: You're starting to see more products connect to the internet. And I think over time, it's starting to create the sort of home of the future where everything talks to each other and things happen automatically like the Jetsons vision. SEGALL: So, what does the home of the future look like?

SUPALLA: I've got a button on my phone that I can press and when I press it, right away it's off.

SEGALL: Spark is a company building a product that connects items in your home with your Smartphone.

SUPALLA: Our first product is the socket and it's a little device that screws in your light bulb socket, it connects to the internet over Wi-Fi and lets you control your lights from Smartphone tablet, computer, wherever.

SEGALL: The idea started as a technology built for the founder's father who is deaf.

SUPALLA: If I text him and he's at home, he doesn't note if his Phone's not in his pocket. And so, I wanted to build something that would let his lights flash when he got a text message.

SEGALL: Spark is one of several companies looking to make your home more connected. A company called smart things lets users attach wireless sensors around your house that make everything from your window to your refrigerator Smartphone controlled.

DAVID TISCH, INVENTOR, SMARTTHINGS: What they're trying to build a hub in the middle of your home that allows hardware such as your scale, your stove, your door, your dog to talk to it and then software that allows you to be aware of what's going on. And so, it will send notifications, hey, your dog just went outside. Hey, you left your door open. The lights are on.

SEGALL: Why now? Is it just the technology's smart enough now.

TISCH: The platforms have been built. And so, there's connectivity both in your pocket, through Wi-Fi, through 3G and LTE, but there is also connectivity at home.

SEGALL: And major industry players are taking note. GE took the concept outside the home experimenting with sensors placing them on everything from wind turbines to measure efficiency to hospital patients to keep track of them in the building.

TISCH: You have this controller in your pocket that can enable you to do things that three, five ten years ago were wildly impossible.

Laurie Segall, CNN Money, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: William Shatner is on tour with his one man show, he took a break to talk with don lemon. Shatner was, of course, Captain Kirk of the original star trek. He talked to Don about the director of the newest version of star trek, J. J. Abrams.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WILLIAM SHATNER, ACTOR: The way he has brought a major audience into the franchise is to make a ride. So, the Star Trek becomes one of those rides with explosion and action, and the wonderful people they've got playing the roles. He has made star trek popular once again with a far larger audience. So, he seems to be doing the right thing. The Star Treks that we were in told a more personal story. Told a story that had more soul to it, if you will, but the large screen encourages and explosions and shoot them ups.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think what you guys did was more a journey of the mind. And you were, because you are on the presents on the beginning, you had to really stretch people's minds and imaginations.

SHATNER: Well, not only that, we had to do stories that caught your attention, because the special effects -- we had no budget for them.

LEMON: Right, right, right.

So, after Star Trek when star trek went off the air, you and your wife, Gloria, you split up. You were so broke that you lived in a camper, hooked up to a pickup truck. When you remember that time of your life, what comes to mind? Do you even think before that, or do you try to put it out of your head?

SHATNER: No, well, no, I think about it every so often in fear that that can happen with three kids. The nightmare that I see on news that you do, for example of people saying, I'm at the end of my unemployment insurance, I've got all these responsibilities, and I don't know what to do. I hear that phrase and I don't know what to do echoing again and again from people all across our country. I said those very things living in a camper shell doing summer stock and not knowing what to do next and having all the bills to pay. I think about that a lot.

And so I identify so sympathetically and completely with the statements I hear the people make to you, Don, of I don't know what to do next. Their house is gone, their benefits are gone, what am I going to do, and I hear that echo in my mind.

LEMON: I don't know if you -- I remember you saying it, and Leonard Nimoy and also to George Decay (ph), when you were doing Star Trek, you didn't realize it was going to have the impact it did. So, I say that to ask you this next question, maybe you don't realize it. What does it feel like to be a legend? And do you feel like a legend?

SHATNER: No, I feel like I have to talk to you and tell people that they should go see the show, and I've got all kinds of things happening right now, and I'm anxious that they happen, and I'm anxious that they be successful and nothing is changed. I'm an actor who is vitally interested in what he's doing, and it can't end and I don't want it to end. And I'm running as fast as I can, every bit as much as I did when I was 21.

The salient thing, the thing that I never forget is that every human being has their story as we talked about earlier, has their need for respect. Has their spirit, their soul, right? And you can never forget that no matter what the person's circumstances are. They -- and again, a one-man show, I touch on this note. We're on that journey together. The journey through to death. And we don't know what's on the other side of that line of death, so we're locked in this embrace of the journey and the apprehension of what happens after we die. And it seems to suggest -- and I make this point in that show, that we should help each other to make that journey easier and more meaningful.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Love letters from World War II discovered during a home renovation. They were hidden and apparently for a very good reason.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Love letters sent to a World War II veteran were discovered by a Michigan man doing some home renovations. Hubert Sawyers found hidden, stashed about a heating duct in the basement. The love letters from two women were sent to a war veteran who used to live there.

Here's what one letter said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUBERT SAWYERS, HOMEOWNER FOUND WORD WAR II LOVE LETTERS: Sweetheart it was hard to see you go this morning, knowing it may be the last time I shall see you for a time. Which we don't know how long it is going to be before we see each other again.

When we saw this, we were hoping it was -- it would be a bag of bonds or money. But honestly, it was just really cool.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: The two women, Violet and Pat, wrote the letters to their soldier, turns out the World War II veteran later married a woman named Satty (ph), maybe explaining why the letters were hidden in the first place.

Finally, a touching moment this past week. Sandy Hook elementary students went back to school, three weeks after a gunman burst into their Connecticut school killing 20 classmates and six educators. Their new school is in the nearby town of Monroe, and I was there covering the story and talked with some of the parents and kids as the morning unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: By midmorning a mom told me the exactly parents and kids were doing great. She said it was an amazing day. She said the teachers greeted the children and the parents with great big hugs they took them to the classrooms. The kindergartners had circle time and talked about what they did on their Christmas vacation. While some of the fourth graders, they went on a scavenger hunt. They explore the new building. It has two floors, not just one. All of this was a way to establish some routine. To get the children back into sort of an ordinary day was like before the tragedy happened.

ANDREW PALEY, SANDY HOOK PARENT: They took the bus, so, you know, we had the normal routine of giving them breakfast and getting their backpacks packed and they went out, we went out and waited for the bus. As soon as the bus came, they didn't even look back. Bye guys, they waived and ran on to the bus.

SARAH SWANSIGER, MOTHER OF TWO SANDY HOOK STUDENTS: There were some emotional moments in the beginning of the day, but I think once everybody got there and saw the community and the way the school was all set and ready and everybody that was there for support, you couldn't walk around a corner without somebody asking did you need something, are you OK? Everything was set up for us. I think that made everybody feel at ease.

FEYERICK: Did you see any of the siblings of the 20?

SWANSIGER: No, I did not see any of them.

FEYERICK: OK. And so Abby, do you -- when you go back to classes, it's a new school, but you think the school's going to be OK?

ABBY SWANSIGER, SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY STUDENT: Yes.

FEYERICK: Yes? Are you nervous anymore?

ABBY SWANSIGER: No.

FEYERICK: You think you want your mom to come tomorrow? Or you think you'll be OK?

ABBY SWANSIGER: I think I'll be OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And a lot of people felt that way, the people of Sandy Hook trying to move forward and honor the lives who lost.

I'm Deborah Feyerick. Thanks so much, everyone for joining. Have a goodnight and a great week.

END