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Obama in Chicago; Rescue Operations in Haiti; Job Fairs
Aired November 08, 2008 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Josh.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, hello there everybody. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM on this 8th day of November. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: And good morning everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks for joining us today.
You know the president-elect is in Chicago and we are going to get a live report from CNN's Suzanne Malveaux. But first, this --
HOLMES: This is not just any church service, this is Ebenezer Baptist Church, Martin Luther King's church on election night, I was there. You'll yet my impressions just a little later.
NGUYEN: Job fairs -- we drop in on one and ask how the hunt is going. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HOLMES: We do want to start in Haiti this hour, rescue workers feverishly trying to dig out children trapped in the rubble of a collapsed school. The bodies of 82 people have now been pulled from that concrete building that collapsed yesterday. Officials say as many as 700 children were inside when this thing happened. The U.S. is sending a search and rescue team from Fairfax, Virginia to help in these rescue efforts. Help is also coming in from around the world.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
VOICE OF CLARENS RENOIS, HAITI PRESS NETWORK: Help is coming from the United States, France and Jamaica. (INAUDIBLE) more money down here to help the Haitian police and united mission peacekeepers in Haiti that are trying to clear the path. People are still under the concrete, under the wreckage.
(END OF AUDIO CLIP)
HOLMES: Haiti's president says buildings around the country are at risk of similar collapse because of shoddy construction and oversight.
NGUYEN: The Cayman Islands are getting lashed right now with high winds and heavy rain from Hurricane Paloma. It's now an extremely dangerous category four storm with winds up to 140 miles an hour. Forecasters expect Paloma to barrel towards Cuba later today. Let's get the latest on Paloma and where it's headed and how long it's going to remain this strong cat 4 storm. Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf joins us with that. Hey Reynolds. REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOLOGIST: Hi guys. This thing is churning like a giant saw blade through the northwestern parts of the Caribbean. Right now it's starting to take stock on parts of Cuba. It's beginning to leave the Cayman Islands in its wake but still it's getting hit by the back side of this system, not the strongest winds but still plenty strong. I'm telling you there are some still back in the Cayman Islands, people that are without power, without water. A lot of damage that's been reported across the island and what they're going to be dealing with at least tropical storm forced winds as the storm pulls away. But next up is Cuba, the storm expected to intensify. Right now winds are at 140 miles an hour. It is a category 4 storm, a major hurricane. The latest path from the National Hurricane Center brings it to a category 2 by landfall early tomorrow. But then notice, hardly any movement as it drifts south into the Bahamas. So as we go from say Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, not much movement at all. It's going to drop anchor and stay there and eventually die out.
Now one of the reasons why this storm is not expected to cause any problems in the United States is actually pretty simple. You have an area of low pressure and pulling right along with that is a frontal boundary and that frontal boundary is going to provide plenty of sunshine for the southeast but it's also going to create kind of like a wall. Think of a giant windshield wiper on a screen, and Paloma being like a bug on the windshield wiper. This being the blade pushing everything right off deeper into the Atlantic. So that is certainly some good news for us. Meanwhile though, not so good news for people along parts of the eastern seaboard hoping for a dry day. Scattered showers are going to be the name of the game for you. Maybe a boom of thunder in upstate New York. But back out we go into the pacific northwest. We have another storm system that is deemed to gear up. Not only will we be seeing some scattered showers near Great Falls in the higher elevation, and a touch of snowfall. Back over to parts of Portland right along I-5 into Tacoma and Seattle. A rainy time for you out by the space needle. We're going to keep a sharp eye on the Cayman Islands and show you what can be expected for Cuba. It's going to be an interesting time especially within the next 12 to 24 hours.
NGUYEN: Cuba has been hit several times this year already.
WOLF: No question, it has been just a battering ram. They have had a rough time.
NGUYEN: Thank you Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet guys.
HOLMES: 22 months of non-stop campaigning has meant 22 months of non-stop reporting for our Suzanne Malveaux. She is still reporting this weekend where President-elect is taking some down time at home. Monday, Barack and Michelle Obama are going to be visiting their new home and what a new home it is. Suzanne, he's taking down time, why aren't you?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know, no down time for us T.J. We just keep on going and going. Barack Obama is with his wife, Michelle and their two daughters, Sasha and Malia, spending the weekend together. Earlier today he did deliver the democratic radio address, but they had quite a week this week. The transition team rolling out some personnel announcements. Barack Obama yesterday meeting with his transitional economic team, some 17 very powerful individuals, some former treasury secretaries as well as the CEOs of Google and Time Warner and Xerox, and even the billionaire Warren Buffett. All of them trying to get a sense of how to handle this financial crisis. We heard from Obama yesterday really pushing for his $175 billion economic stimulus package, trying to push congress to actually pass that before he becomes president. But certainly saying it is something he would work towards when he becomes president. That was something, T.J. that was very interesting. He really tried to say that he is focused on the economy but at the same time, quite differential to President Bush saying that there is very little that he can do at this moment until he takes office. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT-ELECT: The United States has only one government and one president at a time. Until January 20th of next year, that government is the current administration. I've spoken to President Bush. I appreciate his commitment to ensuring that his economic policy team keeps us fully informed as developments unfold. I'm also thankful for his invitation to the White House. Immediately after I become president, I am going to confront this economic crisis head on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hard-working families and restore growth and prosperity.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, T.J., it really is kind of a balancing act because on the one hand, there are great expectations for Barack Obama. There were a lot of promises that he made over the last 21 months so people are expecting a lot from him. At the same time, he needs those 70 plus days to prepare, to transition. To figure out who is going to be in his cabinet and also not to step on the current president, President Bush. You mentioned Monday, that is where Barack Obama is going to be, he and Michelle are going to be at the White House visiting with President Bush and the first lady. They are going to get a tour of the residence but also Obama is going to sit down with President Bush and they're going to talk about how do we handle this financial crisis, what do we do about the war in Iraq, all those serious matters as well. T.J.?
HOLMES: Just quickly here, Suzanne. You said he is getting some down time with the family. Do we have any idea what they're going to be doing, they're just going to hang out at the house and just try to get some alone time? Do we have any idea what they might be doing?
MALVEAUX: Some alone time. I don't think we are going to see them on camera or out in public very much this weekend. I think they are all a little bit tired of us. They all want to just spend some quiet time at home. T.J.?
HOLMES: They are tired of you, are you a little bit tired of them, Suzanne? You don't have to answer that, I'm kidding.
MALVEAUX: Of course not.
HOLMES: I'm kidding.
MALVEAUX: I'm going to follow them to the White House.
HOLMES: Suzanne Malveaux for us, always good to see you. Thanks Suzanne.
NGUYEN: You just had to ask her that. I bet they are looking for that dog of theirs that they are going to pick.
You know candidate Obama rarely slipped but President-elect Obama wasted no time. At his first news conference reporters asked if he had spoken to the former president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: In terms of speaking to former presidents, I have spoken to all of them that are living, obviously. President Clinton -- I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about doing any seances.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Ok. Well, Mrs. Reagan drew ridicule as you remember for consulting an astrologer about her husband's schedule. Now 87 years old and frail, Obama phoned Mrs. Reagan to apologize for what his staff called a quote, "Careless, off-handed remark."
This reminder, CNN has a special edition of Campbell Brown, No Bias, No Bull, Transition to Power. Campbell looks at the defining moments from this historic election. That is tonight, 8:00 eastern only on CNN.
HOLMES: Two more banks to tell you about going belly up. Federal regulators seized Houston's Franklin Bank and L.A.'s Security Pacific Bank last night. Most customers however will notice little change except for the name. The Texas bank reopens Monday morning as part of the Prosperity Bank family. Pacific Western is taking over that California bank. The FDIC says the cost of these failures to taxpayers, $2 billion.
Meanwhile, unemployment now at 6.5 percent. That is a 14-year high. 10 million Americans are out of a job. That's the most since 1983. Experts expect the trend to continue well into 2009. 15,000 jobs were cut this week alone. Companies that cut across the economic spectrum, take a listen to them. Electronics retailer Circuit City, money managers Fidelity, toy-maker Mattel, even Lazy Boy cutting. As our Ed Lavandera shows us, a new job is hard to find when they are disappearing at such a fast clip.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If there is a silver lining to unemployment, this is it for Alan Cannefax, helping coach his son's football team. Cannefax lost his job as an internet creative director six months ago. The severance package runs out next month. He and his wife are making a list of what will be cut from the family budget. The stress is building.
ALEX CANNEFAX, UNEMPLOYED WORKER: A couple of days ago, I just went through a bout of anxiety and thinking, you know, oh my gosh, where are we going to go, what are we going to do.
LAVANDERA: Cannefax created a website to showcase his work, thisduderocks.com. He networks and picks up freelance work. He has only been invited to two interviews. He finds companies are laying off just as quickly as they might hire.
CANNEFAX: It's tough. Once the door you see is open, all of a sudden, you walk up to it and then it is suddenly shut.
LAVANDERA: Business doors across the country are closing. Tens of thousands of jobs disappearing, leaving workers everywhere feeling desperate, like at this job fair.
CANNEFAX: My usual response that I'm getting these days is that my resume looks good but people don't have money to hire me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have already consoled myself to the fact that I'm not probably going to be able to find the same type of paying job.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Many people looking for work say they are amazed at how many different types of people are hurting. And those who do have jobs say they constantly worry that they will be the next victims of the latest rounds of cutbacks or lay-offs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know it might have to been entry level.
LAVANDERA: Ashley Porfilio has seen her commission-based income cut in half. She works in the mortgage industry and even with a master's degree, the job hunt is dismal.
ASHLEY PORFILIO, LOOKING FOR WORK: I am not hearing back from anybody. I have applied for 150 jobs.
LAVANDERA: Alan Cannefax says he will look for temporary retail work this holiday season. Until the next job comes around, Cannefax will enjoy football season.
CANNEFAX: Connor, Connor, Connor, you have got to wait. That's ok, son. Come on.
LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: U.S. troops in Iraq, will President-elect Barack Obama keep a campaign pledge and bring them home soon or look for some wiggle room?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Militants were claiming responsibility for killing two alleged U.S. spies along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. Two bullet riddled bodies were found in northern Waziristan, which is a tribal area. We noted that one of the bodies, actually a note on one of the bodies accused each man of being a spy for the U.S. Both are believed to be from a neighboring Afghan province. An analyst says the killings are an indication that Taliban and al Qaeda insurgents are on the lookout for spies. The region has been the target of recent American missile strikes against suspected insurgent hideouts.
HOLMES: Barack Obama's opposition to the war in Iraq was a major plank in his presidential campaign. Now that he is the president- elect, Obama is expected to carry out his pledge to bring all U.S. troops home within 16 months of his inauguration. But as Jamie McIntyre explains, Obama is leaving himself a bit of wiggle room.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. has been sweating the failure of the Iraqi parliament to approve an agreement to allow U.S. troops to continue to operate in Iraq and feverishly working on a fallback. An extension of the U.N. mandate that expires at year's end. But that was before this.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Barack Obama, 47 years old, will become the president-elect of the United States.
MCINTYRE: Suddenly, Iraqi politicians aren't so worried about nailing down a firm departure date for U.S. troops because President- Elect Barack Obama seems to be on the same page. During the campaign, Obama promised to pull all U.S. combat forces out of Iraq in 16 months. By withdrawing the remaining 14 brigades roughly 100,000 troops, by the summer of 2010. The Iraqis want a commitment for the U.S. troops to withdraw from their cities by mid 2009 and be gone entirely by the end of 2012. But Obama gave himself some wiggle room, he wants to leave an unspecified number of U.S. troops, perhaps as many as 50,000, to fight al Qaeda and back up the Iraqi forces.
OBAMA: We have to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in.
MCINTYRE: To that end, Obama has pledged to consult U.S. commanders and adjust as necessary. If he doesn't know it already, Obama will soon discover the new American commanding general in Iraq, Ray Odierno, is every bit as cautious as his predecessor, David Petraeus. Both advocate a go slow approach to troop cuts. Contacted by CNN, General Odierno through a spokesman provided this statement about speeding up the drawdown.
"What we have learned from our conditions-based approach is that we have the possibility of actually moving faster than we initially expected." But, he also stressed, "We want to ensure we redeploy our forces in a careful manner."
(On camera): Already one army brigade is coming home two months early in part because the Iraqis insist they are ready to step up. Whether that turns out to be true, will determine how easy it will be for President Obama to fulfill his campaign pledge. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: A lot of people go to church on Sunday, Sunday nights, Wednesdays oftentimes. Not a lot of people spend their Tuesdays at church. But this was election night, this was a lot different. I will show you and introduce you to thousands of people really who went to church on Tuesday night and it was exactly the place to be. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: There were cheers, there were tears. That's how millions of people greeted the news of Barack Obama's election as president. I was with a couple of thousand who greeted that news at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church. That's Martin Luther King's church where he used to preach from the pulpit. Supporters gathered there to watch history being made, take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): I have visited countless southern black churches in my lifetime. I have never been bored in one. Southern black churches are known after all for the energy and enthusiasm of the parishioners in the pews and the preacher in the pulpit. But I have never seen anything like this. This wasn't a Sunday service but a Tuesday testimony. Election night at Ebenezer Baptist.
REP. JOHN LEWIS, (D) GEORGIA: I want to thank Martin Luther King Jr., he must be looking down from heaven saying, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!
HOLMES: The same church where Martin Luther King, Jr. preached, became the place where thousands celebrated the fruits of King's labor.
REV. BERNICE KING, DAUGHTER OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: With me there is an overwhelming sense of joy and sadness. Sadness in the sense that I wished my mother could have been here.
HOLMES: King dreamed aloud of the day his children would be judged by not the color of their skin but the content of their character. Those children were here Tuesday night, daughter Bernice and son Martin III. These weren't the only children King was talking about. He was talking about every black son and daughter out there, including the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya.
REV. AL SHARPTON, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: He will be able to persuade all Americans that he is their president and that's who elected him tonight, millions of whites voted for him. He could not have won just on black votes. He could not have won just in one community. So he must serve all. HOLMES: The sanctuary was at capacity, filled with young and old. Parents kept their kids up late on a school night to be a part of history. People cheered. They cried. Talking to people here, there wasn't much suspense about the night's outcome, given the way the campaign and the polls looked in the closing days. But the lack of suspense didn't take away from this moment when the words, Barack Obama elected president were flashed on the screen!
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: The energy was alive there that night.
HOLMES: You got chills. No matter where you are on the issues, republican, democrat, everybody still could respect and understand what the country saw, a bit of history being made. So everybody at least could respect that. But certainly those folks in that place, in Martin Luther King's church on that moment, it was something else.
NGUYEN: What an assignment for you to be there on that night. That had to be special for you.
HOLMES: It was. And one of the most special things in there was to have John Lewis, the man who was famously beaten in Selma, Alabama. He was marching and a lot of people don't even remember, he was marching for voting rights. That was the point. So being there with him that was something special.
NGUYEN: What a treat.
Throughout this race, we have kept hearing that turnout could be huge. It could be historic. We did see long lines for days and thought that could be a sign that predictions were right.
HOLMES: But not necessarily was the case. Josh Levs checking in with a reality check. Josh?
JOSH LEVS: Yeah, a little bit surprising to a lot of people here. Check out this headline right behind me. This has been the most respected analysis in the country and this is it, much-hyped turnout record fails to materialize. It comes from the Center for the Study of the American Electorate at American University. Let's go straight to the breakdown, I have a graphic for you. They are estimated that between 126.5 million and 128.5 million total people voted. That would be a record if it's true. In 2004, it was just over 122 million. But the U.S. population has been growing and the study says the turnout percentage barely moved at all. Take a look. They are estimating it was exactly the same level as in 2004 or at most, one percentage point higher. Between 60.7 percent and 61.7 percent of eligible citizens. It was 67 percent back in 1960. Democrats did increase their turnout this year but the study says republicans kind of made up for it by showing up in smaller numbers. The study says McCain's choosing Palin turned out to be quote, a singular failure. Republicans were discouraged about the race and democrats had the enthusiasm factor going for them. That's why it kind of evened out there.
NGUYEN: Yeah, well you know some states had early voting. Did the early voting results mean higher turnout in those areas?
LEVS: And actually, no. Again, it's surprising. The study looked at what they are calling convenience voting, it includes early voting, more lack standards for absentee voting, mail in ballots, also Election Day registration. Check out these numbers. I have one more graphic for you on that. Of the 14 states with the biggest turnout increase, only six of them had any kind of convenience voting. Of the 13 states with the biggest drops in turnout, all but one had some form of convenience voting. The places where the numbers did go up were particularly in the south, North Carolina and Georgia, South Carolina and Mississippi. And I really like this, check this out, this is a map we have at cnn.com, you can see it right now. You can click on any state. You can see the turnout this year and back in 2004. There is North Carolina, 66 percent this year, 56 back in 2004. Let's go up here see Virginia, you can see the numbers for any state. You can see how your state faired in that picture. Betty?
NGUYEN: A lot of talk has been around the youth vote. Were they actually going to turn out. You're going to be looking at that a little bit later.
LEVS: I am. Yes stay tuned for that. I will tell you how big a role the youth vote did or did not in the end play in this election.
NGUYEN: Ok, thank you Josh.
HOLMES: Barack Obama has an important appointment on Monday with the man he says has not been doing a good job over the past eight years. Yes, he is going to be talking to President Bush and they have little bit to talk about.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Half past the hour here on this Saturday morning. Here is what's happening. In Haiti rescuers still pulling the living and the dead from the rubble of a collapsed school building. Hundreds of children were inside when tragedy struck yesterday outside the Haitian capital. This morning, the death toll has risen to 82. Authorities are uncertain exactly how many victims may be trapped still.
Meanwhile, the nearby Cayman Islands getting whipped by a late season hurricane. Hurricane Paloma now a powerful category 4 storm slamming the small island chain as it tracks toward Cuba. The latest from the CNN hurricane headquarters coming up in just a few minutes with Reynolds Wolf.
NGUYEN: The president-elect and his wife visit the White House on Monday. A social call but the incoming and outgoing president also have some serious stuff to talk about. Here is White House correspondent Elaine Quijano.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Democrat Barack Obama and republican George Bush will come together Monday, for the start of a time honored tradition of American democracy, the transfer of presidential power. This year, it is steeped in history. The first transition post 9/11. The first African-American president-elect.
BUSH: It will be a stirring sight to watch President Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their beautiful girls step through the doors of the White House. I know millions of Americans will be overcome with pride at this inspiring moment that so many have waited so long.
QUIJANO: Just as George Bush did with Bill Clinton in December of 2000.
BUSH: I am humbled and honored. I can't thank the president enough for his hospitality. He didn't need to do this.
QUIJANO: The incoming president will have a chance to seek advice from his predecessor.
BILL CLINTON: Get a good team and do what he thinks is right.
QUIJANO: This time as President Bush sits down with President- elect Obama in the oval office, the two will have a full agenda.
BUSH: We face economic challenges that will not pause to let a new president settle in. We are in a struggle against violent extremists determined to attack us and they would like nothing more than to exploit this period of change to harm the American people.
QUIJANO: The two leaders will also have the delicate task of balancing decision-making and consultation in the coming weeks, as President-elect Obama's views come into sharper focus.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's more complicated this time than ever before because we have an economic crisis on our hands and he may be called upon to make decisions about priorities and about policies during the transition.
QUIJANO (on camera): Monday's meeting will also allow the current and future first ladies to meet. As their spouses confer in the oval office, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama will tour the private residence. A chance for Mrs. Obama to get a closer look at the place that will become home for the Obama family. Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: President-elect Obama looked ahead to Monday's visit with the president and Mrs. Bush in the democratic radio address today.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
VOICE OF SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT-ELECT: This week, I spoke with President Bush who graciously offered his full support and assistance in this period of transition. Michelle and I look forward to meeting with him and the first lady on Monday to begin that process. This speaks to a fundamental recognition that here in America, we can compete vigorously in elections and challenge each other's ideas, yet come together in service of a common purpose once the voting is done. That is particularly important at a moment when we face the most serious challenges of our lifetime.
(END OF AUDIO CLIP)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, to get the U.S. economy from train wreck to back on track, that job falls to the president-elect's economic transition team. CNN's Kelli Arena reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Offices are set aside. Phones hooked up. Treasury officials stand ready to work with the president-elect's economic transition team.
TONY FRATTO, DEPUTY W.H. PRESS SECRETARY: Secretary Paulson I know is very interested in how the next administration will deal with the economic plans that he is putting in place for every important reasons.
ARENA: Instead of bailing out early, which is usually the case, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's top deputies have agreed to remain in their jobs through January 20th to assist in the presidential transition. That includes Neil Kashkari, the man who was overseeing the $700 billion economic bailout plan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Transitions are always complicated. We are going to do everything we can to make sure this one is absolutely seamless.
ARENA: Kashkari and his time are not only dealing with the transition, they are busy implementing their plan to invest $250 billion of new capital into the banking and financial sectors. But officials are also crafting other parts of the rescue plan, including a proposal to provide relief to as many as 3 million homeowners about to foreclose. Wall Street experts say it's important that Paulson make decisions with some input from the new team.
JOHN MONTGOMERY, INVESTMENT ADVISER: I think the market is extremely concerned that things might change. They want some sort of stability as to what's going on.
ARENA: But it's a fine line to walk.
OBAMA: I am not the president and I won't be until January 20th.
ARENA: If the new team is too involved, it could be blamed for any missteps. If it keeps its distance, it may get stuck with policies it hates.
(On camera): Still Wall Street experts say it's crucial that the president-elect's team be put together early. So far, Obama has not said who his pick for treasury secretary is and those standby offices remain empty. Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: There is something else that is making news and it is extreme weather. Hurricane Paloma is the name and it is battering the Cayman Islands.
HOLMES: It could be battering Cuba before long. Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf keeping an eye on this storm for us. Hello again to you sir.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hello guys. You know Cuba over the years has just been a punching bag for these tropical systems. They brew up in parts of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico and of course the Caribbean and many times this island nation just gets battered. Looks like today is going to be no exception. Let's take a look right here at the Cayman Islands. You have the Cayman Islands, you have Cayman Brock, Little Cayman. About 85 miles separates these islands, at least Grand Cayman from the other two small islands. This storm, Hurricane Paloma, has just drifted a bit to the east and to the southeast of these islands, now it's moving closer to Cuba. This is a raging powerhouse. They have winds of 140 miles an hour, some gusts up to 165 miles an hour moving east/northeast at nine miles per hour, expected to move right into the eastern portion of Cuba, just coming on shore like a buzz saw. It should weaken a little bit to a category two storm as you get into Sunday. Then Monday, all the way to Thursday, you will notice there is very little movement. This storm is just going to come to a crawl and settle right into parts of the extreme southern Bahamas. Now there is a reason for that.
The reason why it's going to pull up anchor is because -- or rather drop anchor is due to this frontal boundary that we see moving into the eastern half of the United States. It extends well over a thousand miles in the great lakes clear down to parts of north Florida and the I-10 corridor. Look at the result you are going to get from this weather system. To the top half we are talking rain and snow. Right in parts of the southeast high pressure is building in. The result is going to be plenty of sunshine. Meanwhile, back out to the Rockies, a mix of sun and clouds. Enjoy it while you can because snow will be on the way. Back out over parts of the pacific northwest, it has rained in the highest elevations. We are talking about some snowfall into the cascades possibly into the bitter roots of Montana and the extreme northern Rockies before all is said and done. And then into parts of the four corners, plenty of sunshine. But this morning, it is not sunny. It is a rainy story for you on much of the eastern seaboard. Also same story for upstate New York right along parts of I-81 and then back in the pacific northwest I mentioned right along I-5 into the straits of (INAUDIBLE) southward into Portland, into the (INAUDIBLE) valley it is going to be a rainy morning for you. Any drives along I-5, you're going to be using those windshield wipers. Keep that in mind throughout a good part of the day. That is a look at your forecast. We're going to keep you up to speed and keep a sharp eye on the tropics. It's a busy time.
NGUYEN: Thank you Reynolds.
HOLMES: Hundreds of people are combing a forest in Florida searching for missing 3-year-old Caylee Anthony. The search was launched by a Texas group which has looked for her two previous times. Caylee has been missing for months now. Her mother, Casey Anthony, is charged in her murder but has pled not guilty. No body has been recovered.
NGUYEN: In California, three people are under arrest after taking part in a protest march triggered by the passage of a state measure banning gay marriage. Last night, thousands of protesters took to the streets in San Francisco and Long Beach. The protests were mostly peaceful but lots of verbal clashes between gay rights activists and supporters of proposition 8. Police say they made the arrests after people tried to pass police lines.
Our i-Reporters are helping us tell the story. This video coming to us from Matt Hartman showing the protest at the Mormon Temple in Los Angeles. Opponents of the gay marriage ban blame the Mormon church for helping the measure succeed on Election Day. Send us your iReports by logging on to ireport.com.
HOLMES: Coming up here, we will have a very personal story from the streets that thousands of vets call home.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COL. PETER BLENDONOHY, U.S. NATIONAL GUARD: Hi, I'm Colonel Peter Blendonohy with the first of the 244th combat (INAUDIBLE). I want to thank everybody back home, Buffalo, New York, for the great support for our troops and all the love you're sharing with us. Happy Veteran's Day.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Tuesday is Veteran's Day. While we honor our vets with parades and speeches, consider this statistic. Last year, there were approximately 195,000 veterans living on our streets. That is a number provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. As part of our veterans in focus series, CNN photojournalist Emmanuel made one vet who with help found a place to call home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Veterans Day is always about lest we forget.
Among the homeless population, about 20 percent are veterans. My name is Samson Barres(ph), I'm the founder and executive director of Pathways to Housing. They are in shelters, they are in drop-in centers, they are in emergency rooms. They are in jails. They have never had a moment of privacy. It's all public space, crowded conditions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The hardest part about being homeless is trying to find a place to sleep at night. It could be a park bench, it could be anywhere. You have to sleep with one eye open and watch your back. I was hoping that somebody would end it for me. I finally found pathways to housing. They gave me a beautiful apartment but I have trouble being by myself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He needs assistance, because he had issues with rule following, such as sobriety or mandatory treatment. In order to get into most housing programs for people who need help, he would have remained on the street forever.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Psychiatric hospitals.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We figured out a way to quickly house them. Put them in housing first and then provide services for them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ever since I got my apartment, I feel like I can do anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Veterans have made that contribution and that as a society, as a country, as a government, we ought to honor that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the first time in my life, I'm happy.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: We have a picture here to show you. The big day for the relaunch of the Intrepid, this is the World War II aircraft carrier. The centerpiece for the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum in New York. The museum reopening this morning. It was closed for nearly two years for renovations and repairs on that ship.
It turns out that heroes aren't always that hard to find. Jazz great Winton Marsalis has one he wants you to meet.
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NGUYEN: You may be done voting for president but you can still vote for CNN hero of the year. More than half a million of you have already told us which CNN hero inspired you the most.
HOLMES: I don't know if I can say this, but Betty is one of our internal heroes. We do it here at CNN as well, it's an internal thing. We have a lot of employees here at Turner but Betty has been nominated, not nominated. She has won as one of our CNN heroes for the work you do with your organization in Vietnam to help the hungry. We know you share that with us when you come back every summer.
NGUYEN: Thank you.
HOLMES: But I just had to throw that out there. Give you a plug. Yes, you are a hero of mine if I haven't told you but, today, we are going to show you jazz great Winton Marsalis, he's telling us about a man who is dedicating his life to teaching jazz to young people.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN heroes.
The most essential thing for the development of kids are those things that they do that are not school-related. Talent shows at a young age. You can do whatever you put your mind to. I am Winton Marsalis and my hero uses jazz music to inspire the minds and souls of young folk.
Back in the '80s one of my visual arts students was killed due to his involvement with drug trafficking. To have an element of the street take a student that was so bright and so promising was a trigger for me to open up a music enrichment program to take young people and nurture them on their time. I really wanted to be able to see the students develop. We have a mentoring system of professional artists. Sometimes I wonder, am I really getting through. When I see that light go on in the student's face, that says I can wake up tomorrow and do it again. He is the next step of heroic action. He sacrifices but he actually is fulfilling himself. The students they don't admire him or look up to him, they love him.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: As you just heard James Earl Jones say, you can go to cnn.com/heroes. I love that announcer voice we have there. You can go there right now to vote for the hero that inspired you the most.
NGUYEN: They will be honored at an all-star tribute hosted by Anderson Cooper on Thanksgiving night right here on CNN. NEWSROOM does continue at the top of the hour, lots of good stuff on the plate with our Fredricka Whitfield.
HOLMES: Do I need to put my chair down? Ok.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Am I too high or am I too low? We have this problem sometime with adjusting our chairs, because we all want to be as one. At the same level. Ok, that's good. That's very casual. Let's casually talk.
Coming up, noon hour, two very different crowds, one in central Florida, hundreds of people are gathering to search for a little 3- year-old still missing, Caylee Anthony. It's been months now. We'll explain why now, why are they galvanizing this search. And then the complete opposite coast. Let's go to California now and look at this crowd, people gathering. People who are in the most part here in this crowd, very upset with voters saying no to same-sex marriages in California. Our legal guys are going to be joining us to talk about why now this vote is now heading to the courtroom. All of that straight ahead in the noon eastern hour.
HOLMES: It's like that battle will never end.
WHITFIELD: I know and this is almost like a normal Saturday again, afternoon, of course, we'll also have our 3:00 and our 4:00 eastern hours of the NEWSROOM, we're back, back in a big way. We love that "Ballot Bowl," but we are so glad to be back in the NEWSROOM, too.
All right. Good to see you guys.
HOLMES: Earlier today we told you that voter turnout was up in this election, but not in the huge numbers that many pundits were predicting.
NGUYEN: Now our Josh Levs joins us again to look at the youth vote. So Josh, how big of an impact was it because you know all of these young people said yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm going to come out, I'm going to vote, but did they?
JOSH LEVS: The short version is that they were a big help to Obama, but not because they turned out in massive numbers. They didn't compared to what we were expecting. Let's zoom in on the board, I want you to see something. These are the numbers right here for this race. So in this race they made up 18 percent of the voters and they went for Obama two to one and that is something substantial, 18 percent. However, we're going to take you now back four years to the previous race when it was Bush versus Kerry. We'll take a look at how big a role they played at that time. Here you go, 17 percent, 18 to 29 year olds were 17 percent at the time. The difference is this year they went overwhelmingly democratic. If we scroll a little bit to the right, we'll see that four years ago they were split, 45 to 54. That's where you see the big difference here. It's not that they were much bigger pieces of the pie, it's that they went overwhelmingly to one candidate over the other one. I will mention there's an organization called Circle which pushes for youth involvement in politics and they are saying that they think there were more youth involved this year, maybe 3 million more than had been involved last time. If it turns out that that's true, there would be 23 million total young voters. But it's too soon to know. There's Circle right there. It's too soon to know if that's even accurate. All we know for now is that the piece of the pie that they were this year is really pretty similar. It's just that there were more people voting in general across the country. So when you put it in that sense, it's basically the same idea. They had about the same amount that they did last time, it's just they went heavily toward Obama and helped him big time.
NGUYEN: It's particularly true in those swing states, correct?
LEVS: Yeah, there were a couple of swing states. I want to show you. This is really interesting. Particularly in Indiana and also in North Carolina. Let's see if we can get over here. Indiana, basically lost all of the major age groups. Let's go over here, there you go. This is Indiana. Check it out. It's only among the younger voters that he won. Among the older voters he lost. There were enough of them going heavily enough toward him that he won. The same thing in North Carolina. If you look, 18 to 29, 74 percent, he lost all of the other age groups there, but it was enough of a margin to push him over. Young voters absolutely made a difference in this election, but again it's not by sheer numbers, it's by heavily being behind one candidate so Obama does indeed have a lot of young voters to thank for his victory guys.
NGUYEN: All right, thank you, Josh. We appreciate it.
We have the answer to election night's big mystery.
HOLMES: Who was that guy that Oprah was leaning and crying on?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So there were many touching and emotional scenes on election night and among them, one that actually spawned a mystery.
HOLMES: Yes. Who was that guy? There was an image of Oprah Winfrey crying on the shoulder of that guy. Who is that guy? Everybody was curious about this man. Well, Oprah was curious, too. Now our Jeanne Moos explains the mystery man has been revealed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No one present at the Obama victory speech is likely to forget it, but the guy Oprah Winfrey was leaning on really won't forget it. You know when you're in a plane or a train or somewhere and some stranger falls asleep on your shoulder? That's kind of what happened to the mystery man. He became Oprah's hankie.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT-ELECT: When there was despair and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself.
MOOS: Now lots of TV personalities cried over Obama's victory.
SHERRI SHEPHERD, CO-HOST: I can look at my son and say, no limitations.
MOOS: From Sherri Shepherd on "The View" to political pundits.
JUAN WILLIAMS, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: This is -- I don't care how you feel about him politically.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mother's --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take your time.
MOOS: Even funnyman, Steven Colbert seemed to wipe away a tear or two, but Oprah really let go on a stranger.
OPRAH WINFREY, TV TALK SHOW HOST: I don't know who this guy is. You know, friends called me around the country, who was with you? I said I don't know him.
MOOS: Neither did Jesse Jackson, but at least Jesse cried from a distance, not Oprah.
WINFREY: At one point I was just sobbing on his shoulder, mascara everywhere. Any way, thank you, Mr. Man, for letting me cry on your shoulder.
MOOS: So naturally, everybody started asking who was Oprah leaning on? One person posted, I'd send that phony, meaning Oprah, a bill for my dry cleaning. Others called it touching. Guess who Oprah touched on Friday's show?
WINFREY: Mr. Man! Sam Perry is an investor who's donated thousands to democrats and was communications director at Silicon Valley for Obama.
SAM PERRY, OBAMA SUPPORTER: This is the docket and you will see there is no mascara -- it was very good actually that the cameras were there because it's a lot easier to go home to my wife and say no, it really was Oprah.
MOOS: Jon Stewart joked about Oprah.
JON STEWART: Who had actually purchased this white man to lean on during the speech.
MOOS: For at least one night, Sam "the hankie" belonged to Oprah. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: You know, he is never going to wash that jacket again. Sam the hankie.
HOLMES: A human hankie.
CNN's Fredricka Whitfield is here with us now. She's going to take it over here in the NEWSROOM. Hello to you dear lady.
WHITFIELD: He's hoping that's indelible mascara, never to wash that jacket again. You all have a great day. We're going to begin with some very sobering and sad news, what will hopefully be a great effort to help. A school collapses in Haiti with people trapped inside and now a huge effort under way to try to get to what could be survivors. Hopefully, we understand, the U.S. military southern command is also now donating $10,000 in medical supplies to help there in Haiti.
