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Obama Returning To U.S. After Mandela Tribute; Carter: Obama- Castro Handshake "Significant"; 35 Years Of TV History On Videotape; Revealed: The Coldest Place On Earth; Lululemon Chairman Resigns After Gaffes

Aired December 10, 2013 - 14:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Bottom of the hour. You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

President Obama, I can tell you, is already now on his way back home to the U.S. after delivering that heart-felt eulogy to Nelson Mandela. The president and first lady headed up this American delegation that included three former U.S. presidents, a number of dignitaries, making this one of the largest gatherings of heads of state in modern history.

And just look at the VIP section here. You have George and Laura Bush chatting up the Clintons. All the while the rain is coming down. Even celebrities of the likes of Bono and Charlize Theron making the long journey to pay their respects.

At times with the singing and the dancing, it just felt like a revival with American gospel singer, Kirk Franklin, just pumping up the crowd ahead of President Obama's remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I am not a saint, he said, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying. That was precisely because he could admit to imperfection, because he could be so full of good humor, even mischief, despite the heavy burdens he carried that we loved him so. He was a man of flesh and blood, a son and a husband, a father and a friend and that's why we learned so much from him, and that's why we can learn from him still.

For nothing he achieved was inevitable. In the arc of his life, we see a man who earned his place in history through struggle and shrewdness and persistence and faith. He tells us what is possible not just in the pages of history books but in our own lives as well. Mandela showed us the power of action, of taking risks on behalf of our ideals.

Perhaps Mandela was right that he inherited a proud rebelliousness, a stubborn sense of fairness from his father, and we know he shared with millions of black and colored South Africans the anger born of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities, a thousand unremembered moments, a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people, he said. But like other early giants, Madiba disciplined his anger and channelled his desire to fight into organization and platforms and strategies for action so men and women could stand up for their God- given dignity. Moreover, he accepted the consequences of his actions. Knowing that standing up to powerful interests and injustice carries a price.

I have fought against white domination and I've fought against black domination. I've cherished the ideal of a Democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve, but if need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: And just listen to the crowds responding to the president amid the pomp and the pageantry of the ceremony there in Johannesburg. One act seemed to capture Mandela's spirit of reconciliation like no other. As President Obama made his way to his seat, he stopped and shook hands with Cuban leader, Raul Castro.

Now the White House says this was not planned. After decades of frosty relations between the two countries, people like former President Jimmy Carter, says he saw it as a glimmer of hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I think it was something significant. I've known Raul Castro quite well for a number of years. I don't hesitate to visit Cuba when I want to. I've known his brother, Fidel as well. That was the first time I believe that an incumbent American president has shaken hands with the leader of Cuba. I hope that going to be an omen for the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A Princeton history professor, Julian joins me along with CNN's chief political analyst, Gloria Borger. So welcome to both of you. Gloria, let me begin with you. Just quickly off the top, was the handshake a glimmer of hope, was it just much to do about nothing?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, where you stand depends on where you sit. I mean, we've just gotten word that Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen in questioning Senator John Kerry today said that when the leader of the free world shakes the bloody hand of a ruthless dictator like Raul Castro, it becomes a propaganda coup.

BALDWIN: Gloria, let me stop you. Michael, play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN (R), FLORIDA: Mr. Secretary, sometimes a handshake is just a handshake. But when the leader of the free world shakes the bloody hand of a ruthless dictator like Raul Castro, it becomes a propaganda coup for the tyrant. Raul Castro uses that hand to sign the orders to repress and jail democracy advocates. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And let me jump in, Gloria, before you finish, just add to that. We also heard from Marco Rubio today, a senator Republican in Florida not directly criticizing Obama, but saying maybe he should have lingered, pressed Castro a little bit more when it comes to human rights. Please continue.

BORGER: Look, I understand what she's saying. I know where she comes from and how she comes at this and what Marco Rubio is saying. This is a funeral. This was a long line of people the president was shaking their hands. Had he stopped and pressed Castro on human rights at this particular moment, I think it might have created more of a stir --

BALDWIN: Not appropriate perhaps?

BORGER: Look, I think they try and orchestrate these things as well as they possibly can, Brooke. I think if we were given a choice, he would rather Castro would not have been in that line, but there was nothing he could do about it.

BALDWIN: Julian, to you. I just want to hear and let's also be clear, I've watched this video ten times today. You see the president as he's walking by. He shakes Castro's hand then the president of Brazil's hand. It's like he's going down the line. What did you think?

JULIAN ZELIZER, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR: Look, when it comes to diplomacy, handshakes do matter, whether a president intends to or not. There are many famous handshakes, Carter and the shah of Iran. There's a whole history of these. In our current political environment, it's impossible to extract this from politics.

But the president really didn't have a choice, and if he didn't shake his hand, I think it is correct that that too would have caused all kinds of fury and fire storm. I think that's what he had to do. Whether this is significant, we'll see what comes of it with Cuban- U.S. relations.

BALDWIN: Well, let's talk about the substance of this. Julian, let's stay to the point of handshakes do matter. You have to talk about Cuban's-American hostage. Do you think perhaps that this symbol, this handshake, might that be the catalyst to a thawing of relations or am I taking that too far?

ZELIZER: Well, you could be taking it too far, but it could happen. Look, sometimes the discussion about the handshake could in fact shift political momentum. There's already been a little bit of a thawing because of economic developments, and it could be that the fallout of this is not to harden Cuban-American relations, but to open a dialogue of how we can move forward and how we can improve the situation. So it's likely this could backfire on some of his critics and open the door for their diplomacy. We'll have to see.

BALDWIN: Gloria, you get the last word. BORGER: Let me point out what the president said in his speech though. He shook Raul Castro's hand, but at the same time, when he delivered his speech, he talked about there are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Mandela's struggle for freedom, but do not tolerate dissent from their own people. So he may have shaken his hand but slapped him in the face at the same time in his public remarks. Not only Castro, by the way, but other leaders sitting there who might have had the same criticism aimed at them. So I think there are a couple of ways of reading this.

BALDWIN: OK, Gloria Borger as they always are, right? Gloria Borger and Julian Zelizer, thank you both very, very much for coming on today. I appreciate it.

Coming up, scientists have found the coldest place on earth. Can you guess where it might be?

And which metal gods played a concert there in a giant plastic dome?

Plus, 35 years of news on nearly 140,000 videotapes. One woman spent her life recording and saving news broadcasts. Now after her death, the question is, what happens to all those tapes? I can tell you today something very special is in store. That's coming up. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin. This story hits home with us news junkies. Every single frame of network news, cable news, assorted local news, every news broadcast for 35 years is about to be preserved for posterity, 35 years. And for that we have this woman to thank, the late Marion Stokes. Marion Stokes hit record way back in 1977, wars, earthquakes, sports reports, weather.

She didn't stop until December of 2012. She was rolling on Iran during the hostage crisis, rolling in '89 when communism collapsed. She was rolling in 1990 for the release of Nelson Mandela. Still rolling on 9/11, 2001. Marion Stokes missed Sandy Hook. She missed the mass killing at Sandy Hook Elementary School because that is the day that Marion Stokes died, December 14th, 2012.

One year later, all of that history, 140,000 cassette tapes' worth, all of that history arriving today by truck at an archive in San Francisco from Stokes' home in Philadelphia. So with me now from Philadelphia is Marion Stokes' son, Mike Metelits. We are also joined by Roger McDonald of the Internet Archive in San Francisco.

But Mike, my goodness, let me just begin with you because I'm wondering first, did you help your mom do this, record 35 years of TV news?

MICHAEL METELITS, MARION STOKES' SON: Well, certainly I was involved at the beginning of it. I don't think anybody really visited the home without being drawn into the vortex. This was a kind of consuming passion. So yes, I was around for the beginning of it and on periodic visits back home. Of course, you'd help out and you'd see the scale of the operation.

BALDWIN: Mike, to use your word, let's talk about the vortex. Walk me inside of your mother's home. Did she have multiple televisions, multiple VCRs? Are we talking VHS tape?

METELITS: My mom started out with beta. She understood the difference between beta and VHS. She really preferred the beta tapes. I think Roger can confirm, when we watched a couple of the tapes from the '70s and '80s, the beta held up a little better. So she started on beta and was forced to VHS sometime in the mid-'80s.

Yes, there would be about four or five cassette recorders. She usually sat in a room with two TVs going, usually with ideologically opposing cable channels kind of blaring at each other and recording all of them pretty much at the same time. Yes, I think -- imagine piles of video cassettes precariously balanced near several machines. I think you have the gist of it.

BALDWIN: I'm thinking maybe some of the offices around here at CNN looked like that with the various televisions. I have to come back to you and ask you why she did this, but first Roger, to you. You run the TV portion of the Internet Archive in San Francisco. Just tell me how rare is this collection from Marion Stokes and also in terms of worth? Did I read its estimated worth is in the millions?

ROGER MACDONALD, THE INTERNET ARCHIVE, SAN FRANCISCO (via telephone): Well, it's hard to estimate, but it's an exceptional collection, really an unprecedented collection. I'm actually standing in front of one of the two -- one of the four containers with Sean Fagan here at the Internet Archive. Before me stands row upon row upon row of cartons, inside of which are hundreds of VCRs and VHS tapes.

I just randomly pulled some. In front of me, random now, November 22nd, 1993, CNN throughout the day. And May 12th, 1993, Fox News, NBC News, McNeil Lair. It's remarkable.

BALDWIN: Mike, why? This is really the question. Why did your mom -- was she fascinated by history? Did she have a love of television, a tad eccentric, all of the above, tell me.

METELITS: Certainly all of the above. My mother had been a political activist in the late '50s, early '60s. She understood the power of media to shape public opinion. She knew this would have an effect. She wanted to record it all. She really also had a kind of deep abiding faith in people, that if people had access to a wide range of information, they'd make good decisions.

She wanted to make sure that as much information from as many sources as possible was kept. The Internet Archive's vision is very, very synchronous with my mom's vision. We're very delighted to be working with them.

BALDWIN: I am sorry about the passing of your mother, but what a fascinating treasure-trove that your mother has really left all of us. Mike, thank you very much. Roger Macdonald, send me a picture of those crates of VHS tapes. I'd love to see that as well. Thanks to both of you.

Coming up next, we're showing you the coldest place on earth. Scientists have found it, and just this weekend a heavy metal band rocked it. They even played in a transparent dome. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Heavy metal band "Metallica" has now officially played on all seven continents. A little "Wherever I May Roam." Metallica rocked Antarctica. No speakers, because that would have been an environmental no-no. Fans heard the show through headphones. Metallica called the show freeze them all. Speaking of frozen, Chad Myers, I hear it's gotten pretty cold in Antarctica, shocker.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, exactly. It's basically, you know, cold air drainage into a valley, into a funnel. Think about opening your freezer, Brooke. You open up your freezer, if you have a top-loading freezer. What's to all that steam and smoke? It fog rolls down to the bottom. This is what's happened to a valley in Antarctica. No one has ever really been there to measure. This was measured by satellite, so it's not official breaking any kind of record.

But it's a really, really cool kind of record, 135.8 degrees negative Fahrenheit. The old record, 128, this is 7 degrees colder and that little spot right there. There's a plateau, kind of a ridge in this area. That ridge now has cold air on top. Well, if it was cloudy, that cold air would be kind of kept in. It wouldn't get too cold. In this instance, it was completely clear. So all the heat, like taking the covers off at night, you get cold. The atmosphere got cold.

Then on top of this ridge, all of the sudden you have this cold air that has to go somewhere. Just like opening the freezer door, all of this cold air drained right into one valley. And at that exact moment, a satellite flew over the top, measured it with a thermometer and we got to 135.8. I don't even know what your body would do at that point in time.

Even when you're minus 80, they are they have snorkels these people have to breathe through that breathes through warmer air so you don't breathe through 138 negative into your body.

BALDWIN: I would have gone to the Metallica show. I have friends going to the North Pole. Why not Antarctica? Chad Myers, thank you very much.

Coming up, the CEO of Lululemon stepping down, did his comments that prompted this have anything to do with it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sad. I'm really sad. I'm sad for the repercussions of my actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That's coming up. Stay right here. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Some big news today in the world of yoga wear. The founder and chairman, Chip Wilson announcing that he is stepping down, this comes just a month after a big apology. Lululemon had some problems with some of their yoga pants being a little too transparent. Chip Wilson said, well, the company's pants don't work for, quote, "some women's bodies." But he did quickly walk back those comments, and today Chip Wilson is resigning as chairman.

Zain Asher joins me from the New York Stock Exchange with more on this. So do the comments, Zain, do they have anything to do with his departure?

ZAIN ASHER, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE/BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we reached out to Lululemon. We haven't heard back. The company is being very hush, hush about this. All they're saying is that Chip Wilson decided to resign as chairman of Lululemon effective next summer. Obviously, these comments did not help. They're hugely controversial comments. He's known within the company as being somewhat of a loose cannon.

So after those see-through yoga pants were recalled earlier this year, he effectively blamed the customers. Here's what he said, and I'm quoting exactly. He said, some women's bodies do not work for it. It's really about the rubbing of the thighs and how much pressure there is. Obviously, a media fire storm ensued. He did apologize.

BALDWIN: The rubbing of the thighs. Yikes. Zain Asher, thank you.

And we roll on, hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me. First, I want to get you up to date on this family who decided to head out to this remote part of Nevada to play in the snow. The thing is, they have not been seen since.

Now, as it is bitter cold and temperatures are dropping, this frantic search is underway to find them. James Glanton and Christina Macantee disappeared Sunday, but along with them, these precious faces, Glanton's two children and Macantee's young niece and nephew, their ages, between 3 and 10 years old.

Joining me now CNN Casey Wian with more on this search, so Casey, tell me about -- I know teams are out there looking for them, has to be hampered by bad weather out there.