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Putin Cancels Holiday Break for Government; Christine Romans' Family Roots
Aired December 26, 2014 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: She gave it to us, too. Christine Romans, this is an amazing story, her roots, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to NEWSROOM. Time now for the five things to know for your new day on this Friday.
Number one, the NYPD is on heightened alert after seven people were arrested for making threats against officers allegedly. A public wake is being held today for Officer Raphael Ramos, who was murdered last weekend.
And in Iraq, a Christmas Day air strike killed the ISIS appointed governor of Mosul. He lasted just over three weeks in that position. His predecessor was also killed by a U.S.-led air strike.
And online gaming networks, PlayStation and xBox Live, starting to come back online after being the target of a hack attack on Christmas. The networks are run by companies with a hand in streaming the comedy "The Interview."
Former President George H.W. Bush spent his third night in the hospital. The father of George W. Bush was hospitalized Tuesday complaining of shortness of breath. Aides say doctors are keeping him only as a, quote, "precaution."
And 'tis the season for returning. Many of you are probably racing to the malls today to return and exchange some of those holiday gifts. Well, retailers saw about a 4 percent jump in holiday sales compared to last year.
Of course, we're always updating the five things to know, so go to newdaycnn.com for the very latest.
Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you, Pamela.
Government employees in Russia might say President Vladimir Putin is the man who stole Christmas. He's canceled holiday vacation for the kremlin because of the sorry state of Russia's economy. The move even came with a rare touch of humility from Putin. Our Erin McLaughlin is live in Moscow with more details.
Good morning.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.
That's right, there's this joke making the rounds here in Moscow that the ruble, the currency here, is so low that these government ministers couldn't afford to party anyway. But jokes aside, Russian President Vladimir Putin's latest announcement really does highlight the critical state of the Russian economy.
Now, traditionally, Russians celebrate the holiday season between January 1st and January 12th. The celebrations really kicking off with the new year. But yesterday, in a televised speech, President Putin announced that he's canceling holiday leave for members of his government so that they could keep working on the economic situation which, by all accounts, is pretty dire.
In mid-December, the ruble reached a record low, in part due to western sanctions and in part due to falling oil prices. It's managed to rebound somewhat since then, but inflation here in Russia persists, and ordinary Russians tell me they're struggling to make ends meet. They tell me they want their government to focus on solutions. So, President Putin's announcement seeming to play well here in Moscow.
Christine.
ROMANS: Indeed. Erin McLaughlin, every day a loaf of bread gets more expensive and that is something people feel, no question. Although Vladimir Putin's approval ratings are still very, very high. Erin, thank you for that.
HARLOW: And quite an about face for him saying, look, part of this is on us as well.
ROMANS: Yes.
HARLOW: You didn't hear that even a week ago.
All right, coming up, my favorite part of the show, how did one woman's brave journey across the ocean help bring Christine Romans to us. What she found looking into her past that brought her to tears. That story, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right, welcome back to NEWSROOM. Happy holidays, everyone.
You know, this year, some of CNN's anchors were given the opportunity to discover our roots, and I had the opportunity to go on an emotional journey to trace my history back to Denmark. I uncovered the story of my great, great grandmother. She left everything behind. She was 20 years old. She left everything behind to start her life over in America.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: This is Iowa. This is where I'm from, corn fields and family. And every few years, we all get together --
(SHOUTING)
ROMANS: -- all the grandkids and great grandkids and my grandma.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: This is a picture you gave me.
SHIRLEY JEAN PETERSON, GRANDMOTHER OF CHRISTINE ROMANS: That's a lot of years ago.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: How old do you think you were?
PETERSON: Probably 17.
ROMANS: My grandmother's name is Shirley Jean Peterson. She remembers her grandma, Ana Peterson, someone they called Bedstemor, the Danish word for grandmother.
I know how much you loved your grandma. And I loved my grandma. So tell me what your Bedstemor meant to you?
PETERSON: She was a second mother. She was a great grandma. I just loved her dearly.
ROMANS: We've grown up with a lot of stories about Ana Jacobina (ph) Peterson, an ordinary young woman, very simple means, who took a chance and has basically built my family. I would have nothing. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for a chance a poor girl in Denmark took 150 years ago.
We followed in the footsteps of your grandmother, and I wanted to show you the book we made.
It's here in Iowa with my grandmother where I reveal what I learned about Bedstemor, something I could only find out by going back to her homeland.
Good-bye, New York, we're going to Bedstemor's town, Denmark, here we come.
This is in Copenhagen. April and I.
I couldn't visit Ana's country without my younger sister, April.
(MUSIC)
ROMANS: A place central to our family history.
Delicious?
SISTER OF CHRISTINE ROMANS: I like that one.
ROMANS: Our people were sustained by this.
SISTER OF CHRISTINE ROMANS: I like that one.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: But it's here inside the Danish National Archives where I learned the most.
This is the former royal hall of curiosities in the Danish archives and they have all of the information there. This woman walked us through.
Charlotte Jenson works in archival development.
CHARLOTTE JENSON, ARCHIVAL DEVELOPMENT: The archives can help us also find the past that we didn't know existed. Let's take a look.
ROMANS: Let's take a look.
JENSON: This is actually her baptism in Steenholler (ph) parish.
ROMANS: Ana, spelled A-N-E in Danish, she was baptized in 1866.
Look at the lights inside.
In a beautiful church about an hour outside of Copenhagen, Denmark's rich countryside where she would spend the first 20 years of her life.
JENSON: The church was built in 1100, the oldest parts of it.
ROMANS: It's beautiful.
JENSON: That's where she was baptized, plus this is from 1650.
ROMANS: 1650.
JENSON: Yes.
When the baptism is finished, then I say the prayer (SPEAKING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE). Amen.
ROMANS: Amen.
Tell me about how, when you would pray together, you would sleep with her and you'd pray together.
PETERSON: We would get on our knees by the bed and we'd both say our prayers. And Bedstemor one night said -- I was about 10 at this time -- she said, "Lord, I'm ready to come home, call me any time." And I'm sitting beside her with my hands folded and I'm saying, "Not tonight, not tonight."
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: She was ready to go to the Lord and you were not ready to have her die in your bed. (LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: This is the kind of house she would have lived in.
PETERSON: Yes. Yes.
JENSON: They would have rented a little room there.
This is a laborer's home.
JENSON: Yes.
ROMANS: All right. Let's go inside.
JENSON: Yes.
ROMANS: So this would be typical. This would be the kitchen over here, and everyone would eat and sleep and dress all in one room.
JENSON: Yes. Yes.
Something like a table, an oven, a bed, a cupboard, stuff like that, very basic things. They didn't have much.
ROMANS: She would have had a Bible and a candlestick probably for sure.
It's like going back in time.
JENSON: Yeah, but if you want to do time travel and really go back to the 1800s, we need some accessories.
ROMANS: Let's do it.
JENSON: You put that on first, we don't want you to get cold. Now you are ready to go back to 1880.
Then we have a wonderful dish of cold porridge. Here you go. You might have had a little look, a little warm milk if you had milk, if you have milk.
(CROSSTALK)
JENSON: Or a hot beer.
ROMANS: I could use a hot beer.
(LAUGHTER)
PETERSON: Honestly.
ROMANS: They had fresh vegetables in the summer but they didn't have much.
PETERSON: No, they didn't.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: I love this story, it's a great one and it is not over. More of Christine's family journey straight ahead after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right, welcome back to NEWSROOM. We're taking a look at the story of my roots and learning how my great-great-grandmother's generosity and risk taking inspired my family to get where we are today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: This was her school. This was her teacher.
This is where Ana would have gone to school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that was the school of Ana. It is almost like it was at that time. The school was made so they could work, also. Sometimes they had to work half a day and go to school, but you would be taking care of the geese.
ROMANS: When she was 5, she lived with the neighbor people to take care of the geese, keep the geese out of the garden.
PETERSON: Can you imagine that?
ROMANS: And she told me the geese would get her down and slap her with their wings and she would cry for her mother.
PETERSON: But it was a tough life then you know.
ROMANS: We learned a lot about Ana's brothers and sisters. We know from the census list from 1860 to 1890, she had 10 brothers and sisters. Three of them died when they were very young.
PETERSON: Oh!
JENSON: It's a little tragic story.
They died almost on the same day. They died one day after another and were buried in the same way. They died from the croup.
ROMANS: Oh, they both got sick --
JENSON: Both died.
ROMANS: Ana would have been 10 years old.
PETERSON: Bedstemor never told me that.
ROMANS: This is more about Ana's father.
By the time Ana was 12, Danish records show, her father made a living by breaking stone.
JENSON: Breaking stone is not making a career.
ROMANS: Hard labor. Day labor.
JENSON: Very hard labor and not very well paid and not very well looked upon. It was the kind of job you would get if you couldn't really get anything else.
We can also see this person actually got welfare.
ROMANS: So this explains to you why in 1886 his daughter, Ana, left the country. She had to go make a living for herself.
Here is her immigration paper.
Ana arrived at the port of New York on October 14th, 1886, when she was just 20 years old, two weeks before the dedication of the Statute of liberty.
She was a single female. She had one bag with her.
PETERSON: Can you imagine coming with one bag to a new world? I can't.
ROMANS: My great, great grandmother eventually settled in western Iowa and married Hans Olson, this guy with the handlebar mustache.
Hi, it's so nice to meet you.
MICHELLE ERCANBRACK, HISTORIAN, ANCESTRY.COM: Nice to meet you.
ROMANS: Back in New York, Michele Ienbrock, at ancestry.com historian, found the most moving document of all.
ERCANBRACK: We talk about, still, after all these years, the identity of her buying tickets.
ROMANS: They called it best and worst traveling ticket. She saved her money and would send a ticket back to Denmark.
PETERSON: They had to come and stay at her house and learn English and learn a trade and then they returned the money for the ticket and another ticket went to Denmark.
ROMANS: Asks, who paid your passage?
She recovered a 1930 passenger list for Ana's nephew. Carl Peterson's ticket to America, paid for in full by his aunt, Ana. Proof of her generosity for years to come.
Wow. That's so -- you always heard about the ticket for all those years, but then to see it.
Do you think Bedstemor, do you think Ana would be proud of the family that has grown up behind her?
PETERSON: Oh, she would be very proud. I often wish she could see my kids. (SHOUTING)
ROMANS: Ana lived to be 92 years old.
As a reporter, as a journalist, I interview and write about newsmakers all the time. But in my family the real newsmaker was just an ordinary girl who had the courage to leave everything she knew and start all over again in America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: That's an amazing story.
ROMANS: History books are full of poor, young people who are risk takers and built this country, and built, you know, their family behind them and I'm just really proud to be part of that.
HARLOW: And it meant so much to you to get to do and to your grandma.
ROMANS: Merry Christmas, grandma.
HARLOW: Merry Christmas, everyone. Thank you for being with us. NEWSROOM returns after a quick break with Randi Kaye in today for Carol Costello. Have a great weekend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
