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Job Creation Plan Details; Subway Rescue; Blagojevich Case
Aired January 24, 2009 - 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: President Obama not taking it easy this weekend, he is revealing more details from his plan to save Americans' jobs and homes.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Also terror happening at a nursery school of all places. A man goes on a deadly rampage and taking the youngest of victims.
NGUYEN: And as I mentioned, a rescue on the tracks, why inauguration day could have been one woman's last if it weren't for some quick thinking by a man right there on the D.C. subway. We're going to talk to that hero right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HOLMES: Well, it's still his first everything in office right about now. His first day in office, now we got his first weekend, Monday will be his first Monday at work, all kinds of stuff. But President Barack Obama still working and he will be working for quite some time, working through the weekend this morning talking about his economic plan, trying to get the economy back on track. First in his weekly address, he was talking about it. And in this hour, he'll be huddling with his economic team. That's expected to start right about now. Isn't that right, Elaine Quijano, who's with us at the White House? So have we seen those economic advisers and whatnot walking into the White House this morning?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well good morning to you T.J., we're keeping an eye out. We should tell you that no reporters are being allowed into that meeting so we'll wait to see what if anything the president's aides actually have to say once this meeting wraps up. But it is taking place of course, this meeting with President Obama and his economic team taking place in the midst of the financial crisis and it's also coming as you know T.J. on the heels of his meeting yesterday, those economic talks with congressional leaders here at the White House. We should also tell you that of course just days from now, President Obama himself is scheduled to head up to Capitol Hill to try to basically convince skeptical lawmakers, particularly republicans to get on board, that his plan will in fact jump-start the economy, at least that's what he's hoping to argue when he heads to Capitol Hill in a few days. T.J.?
HOLMES: He'll be talking about the economy there, he'll be talking about the economy this morning, also talking about it in his weekly address. Did we hear anything, did he make some news for us or is he just continuing to push this plan?
QUIJANO: He's continuing to push the plan T.J., but he also laid out some specifics, but the overall message basically is urgency, the president in his first weekly address, it is both a radio address and a YouTube address stressed the need for the United States to act boldly and swiftly saying that a bad situation could become dramatically worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Our economy could fall a trillion dollars short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. And we could lose a generation of potential as more young Americans are forced to forego college dreams or the chance to train for the jobs of the future.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: But republicans are still skeptical particularly of the $825 billion price tag. They also question whether or not some of these projects will actually jump-start the U.S. economy. Here is house republican leader John Boehner.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
JOHN BOEHNER, (R) OHIO: Their plan also provides government funded paychecks disguised as tax cuts for those who don't pay income taxes. Also the plan would spend a whopping $275,000 in taxpayer dollars for every new job it intends to create. Saddling each and every household with $6,700 in additional debt paid for by our children and grandchildren.
(END OF AUDIO CLIP)
QUIJANO: But the White House insists the plan can work and saying that it will create or save up to 4 million jobs over the next few years. T.J.?
HOLMES: All right, Elaine Quijano for us from the White House. Thank you so much this morning, Elaine.
NGUYEN: The economic stimulus package is very much a work in progress. Democrats on the senate finance committee are proposing $275 billion in tax cuts, hundreds of billions more in spending. Their plan is quite similar to a house version. Both include tax credits for workers and parents and more help for the unemployed. Now the biggest difference is this. The senate panel wants to give a $300 bonus to social security recipients. Expect more debate on all of it on Tuesday.
HOLMES: At least four boys dead and 16 others injured after a deadly roof collapse that we heard about this morning, this happened in a suburb of Barcelona, Spain. These kids had been playing baseball when hurricane force winds forced them to take refuge inside a sports complex. So they thought they were seeking shelter. It turns out the metal roof and part of the building's cement siding collapsed on them. We do know also that two other people have been killed in Spain from wind-related accidents. Winds that have been clocked at up to 100 miles an hour. NGUYEN: Let's take you now to Belgium where the suspect in a bizarre knife attack at a nursery school has been charged today with killing two babies and one adult. Police say so far the man isn't divulging a motive for yesterday's rampage, which also injured a dozen people, mostly kids. Our Atika Shubert has the latest now. Atika, tell us what you know about this man, because absolutely this is one of the more bizarre stories that we have heard as of late.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is very bizarre and there's very little information. Police say he is a 20-year-old man, they have identified him as Kim D. According to Belgian law they are not releasing his last name or any other photos. They say that he was living alone and unemployed in a town nearby. He has given no motivation for the attack. In the words of the police, he has said not a word under questioning. What we do know is that inside the crime scene, actually just behind me in this daycare center is where they found two knives they believe were used in the attack and when they arrested the suspect, he had a knife on him, an ax and a fake gun. He was also wearing a bullet-proof vest. Police say that indicates a very well planned attack.
In the meantime the town is in shock. You can probably see behind me here, people have been streaming in all day to put toys, flowers, lighting candles, leaving messages of grief, photos. This has really disrupted, broken the peace of this idyllic suburb of Brussels Dendermone. It's clearly a town in shock and in mourning. Betty?
NGUYEN: Atika Shubert joining us live. Thank you for that Atika.
HOLMES: A manhunt is underway this morning for somebody who shot nine people. This happened in Miami. At least two people have been killed. This was in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood last night. One of the victims that we know of is still in critical condition, again, nine people shot all together, two of them killed. Police say not clear what the shooter's motive may have been. Although we had the police chief of Miami on a little while ago this morning, who said this might actually have started after the person who did the shooting was involved in a craps game and actually lost some money and came back and opened fire. You may have heard of this neighborhood, Liberty City. This is an area that really has an infamous history, known for its severe poverty, also it's a place where a deadly riot took place back in the 1970s and also in the 1980s.
An elderly Minnesota woman may have become the latest victim in that nationwide Salmonella outbreak. We do know now this could possibly be the seventh person who has been killed because of this outbreak. Nearly 500 people we do know have been sickened by this stuff. A Georgia peanut butter plant is the focus of an investigation by federal authorities. Production has been shut down at that plant. The Peanut Corporation of America made peanut butter and peanut butter paste that was sold to long term care facilities, schools and food companies which make peanut butter products. We do need to emphasize we're talking about peanut butter paste, this stuff was sold to companies who make things like ice cream and cookies and things that have peanut butter in them. But as far as the federal government knows, if you go into a store and buy yourself a jar of peanut butter, that is not the stuff that has been infected and they say that is ok.
NGUYEN: So the jars of peanut butter are ok, but the cookies and the other things made out of peanut butter, those are the items that you need to look for. And all of that is on a website, the government website so you can find out the companies involved.
One of Chicago's best known lawyers quit Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's defense team. Ed Genson says he is resigning as counsel in the governor's upcoming trial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED GENSON, GOV. BLAGOJEVICH'S ATTORNEY: I never require a client to do what I say, but I do require them to at least listen to what I say. I believe in this case it would be better off and I intend to withdraw as counsel in this case. I wish the governor good luck and god speed.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, Genson quit after Blagojevich called his impeachment trial a sham. That trial begins Monday but the governor vows to boycott it because he says he won't be allowed to use some of his witnesses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH, (D) ILLINOIS: There was an old saying in the old west, there was a cowboy who was charged with stealing a horse in town and some of the other cowboys, especially the guy whose horse was stolen were very unhappy with that guy. One of the cowboys said let's hang him. And the other cowboy said, hold on, before we hang him, let's first give him a fair trial and then we'll hang him. Under these rules, I'm not even getting a fair trial, they're just hanging me.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: That's one way to put it. Blagojevich is facing federal corruption charges including allegations that he tried to trade or sell the senate seat vacated by President Obama. You can hear the governor's own side of the story right here on CNN. He's going to be talking to "Larry King Live" Monday night, don't miss it, 9:00 p.m. eastern.
Meantime, though, an alleged extortion plot targeting John Travolta. This is quite a story. Suspect possibly asking for millions. But what did they have to bargain with?
HOLMES: Also a story out of Washington, D.C., inauguration day, a lot of people were turned to -- had all eyes on President Obama and the historic day, but there is a woman who could have had a deadly day. She ended up on the tracks of the metro system there. But quick thinking and a little open space saved her life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: I like this story. Danville, California, absolutely, we need them to change the mood. Especially with all this economic news. This is a good one, folks, Danville, California, throwing a huge welcome home party for a hero today. It's for the pilot who safely landed a damaged US Airways jet in the Hudson River more than a week ago.
HOLMES: They're claiming him now, he's their hero. This is Captain Chesley Sullenberger, also known as Sully, he's going to be honored today by the city's mayor, town council, his congressman and everybody else in town. Of course as you know 155 people were aboard that plane when it came down in the Hudson, that plane that he was piloting and credited with landing safely. Everybody on board survived. We'll have live coverage of Sullenberger's homecoming coming up today at 4:00 eastern time.
NGUYEN: But you know when flight 1549 went down it lost its left engine. Take a look at this, investigators have now pulled that engine from the freezing waters of the Hudson. Officials say it's being shipped to the manufacturer along with the right engine. Now the National Transportation Safety Board will examine each engine as part of the investigation into the crash.
I want to show you this, new video of what happened seconds after the plane splashed into the river. Ok you see it there in the water. You'll see some steam rising, now watch the left-hand side of your screen. The emergency hatch opens and then people start to crawl on to the wings of the plane. Here's a better view. The video was captured on surveillance camera by gas and electric company Con Edison. Wow!
HOLMES: Still getting new video, I'll say it's new, stuff we haven't seen before because there's so many cameras up there in New York. A lot of surveillance cameras and people there are just finding out that they even caught the stuff on camera and it's starting to be released. So a lot of different angles of what happened up there on the Hudson.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: The U.S. government has approved the world's first known embryonic stem cell trial in humans. The study is aimed at spinal injury. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen spoke with the CEOs of the biotech company that will conduct this study.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Your company has made paraplegic mice walk again using these human embryonic stem cells. Do you think you can make human beings who are paraplegic walk again using this treatment?
DR. THOMAS OKARIVIA, PRES. AND CEO, GERON CORP.: Well that's obviously our hope. What we actually expect to see is modest improvement in patients with so-called complete injuries who are paralyzed for life. Slight improvements in sensation, bladder control, locomotion could be amplified with physical therapy. So we're trying to fit their frame shift outcome from one of no hope to one of progressive rehabilitation.
COHEN: So if people are hearing this and are thinking, oh, wow, with this treatment, paraplegics are going to hop out of their wheelchairs and walk again, you're telling us right now be a little more realistic?
OKARIVIA: Exactly. And also the first set of trials will be limited to patients who had their injury within 7 to 14 days of the injection. So in our animal work, we have shown that these cells do not work months after the injury.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: All right, a lot more to come on that. Bottom line here is what you need to know, the research will actually help people who don't even know yet that they'll need help. The study is set to begin this summer.
NGUYEN: This story is awfully sad, a Brazilian beauty queen whose hands and feet were amputated in a month-long battle to stay alive, well unfortunately she has died. The executive director of Ms. World Brazil tells CNN that aspiring model (INAUDIBLE) de Costa passed away early this morning. Doctors say De Costa had Septicemia, a blood disorder thought to have been triggered by a bacterial infection. De Costa was 20 years old.
HOLMES: Three weeks after the sudden death of John Travolta's 16 year old son Jett, police in the Bahamas have charged a former island lawmaker and have two other people in custody in an alleged extortion plot aimed at the family's tragedy. Here now CNN's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Calloused and cold hearted, but police in the Bahamas say its true. Bahamian police tell CNN they are investigating an attempt to extort money, possibly millions of dollars from John Travolta and his wife Kelley Preston as they mourned their teenaged son. Police would not confirm details of the alleged extortion plot. 16-year-old Jett Travolta died suddenly January 2nd while on vacation with his family in the Bahamas. He had a fatal seizure and struck his head on the bathtub. He'd suffered from seizures for years, medication didn't help.
The Bahamian assistant police commissioner tells CNN they have two people in custody who are assisting them with the investigation. A source close to the investigation says the two are considered suspects.
(On Camera): A senior police official told reporters those in jail include a Bahamian senator, and ambulance driver Torino Lightbourne. Lightbourne shared Jett's final moments with the tabloids, including personal details about how John Travolta was crying and praying as he fought to save his son's life. He said Travolta performed CPR on his son and cradled him in his arms after he died. (Voice-over): Travolta's friend former Bahamian Minister of Tourism Obie Wilcohmbe was reportedly also at the police station to help authorities determine what to charge the suspects with. After Jett's death, Wilcohmbe told CNN he escorted Travolta to the morgue.
OBIE WILCOHMBE, TRAVOLTA FRIEND: His words were, that is my son. And then he asked for some moments, he and his wife to spend with Jett and they stayed in the morgue for several hours.
LISA BLOOM, ATTORNEY: It can be hard to prove because usually what we're talking about are words, words that are just uttered verbally, there maybe different witnesses, conflicting as to what those words were.
KAYE: The actor's lawyers did not return calls but reportedly told a Bahamian newspaper, "Regrettably in a time of such terrible grief, there are often a few individuals who attempt to make false claims in hopes of making millions of dollars. We will never let that happen." Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Goodness. Well, in another story, closing down the prison at Guantanamo Bay. The order coming with the swipe of a pen. But that was the easy part.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, the action not just on the courts at the Australian Open, what you're seeing here, police telling us that tennis fans of Bosnian and Serbian descent going after it after a couple of players went at it on the court. There were some back and forth volleys if you will on the court. You can actually see with the chairs here. Lawn chairs, you got bottles, you have insults thrown around as well. Just about anything they could toss, they tossed. Had a few injuries that were reported but dozens of people did have to be ejected from the Australian Open. Two people charged, another five on the spot for riotous behavior.
NGUYEN: We have seen people kind of go wild at soccer games and some of these other sports. But I don't ever believe I have seen it in the world of tennis.
HOLMES: If I ever see them go crazy on the golf course I'm dropping sports all together.
NGUYEN: Don't start it, we don't want to see nothing new there but who knows.
All right we're going to move on to this because Pakistan is the latest country applauding President Barack Obama's order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. But the planned shuttering of Gitmo is already proving to be easier said than done. CNN's Susan Candiotti explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Typical beauty shots of Guantanamo are censored, crashing waves are ok and so are some carefully cropped tips of the coastline but no government buildings are allowed to be seen.
(Voice-over): The military is happy to show you an open air sample of homemade migrant boats intercepted at sea. But the only detainee camp we were allowed to revisit, camp x-ray that closed seven years ago, after only four months of housing the first suspected enemy combatants. Fresh access to Camp Delta and other areas denied. File tape would have to do.
(On camera): As always, the most interesting part of the visit was watching the now endangered military commissions in action.
(Voice-over): Sketch by Janet Hamlet, she tries to capture a moment in time, from behind the glass partition, I was fascinated by 9/11 defendants boldly bragging they're proud of the attacks. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad boasting he pulled off 9/11, not Osama bin Laden.
(On camera): I watched the defendant talking with and passing notes to each other. But of course the big news and not unexpected came during the presidential balls. Word leaked that President Obama ordered the defense secretary to suspend the commissions at Guantanamo and the next day, the order to shut down the detention camp within the next year. All 245 cases will be reviewed. Human rights groups also on the trip were cheering.
GABOR RONA, HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST: Here's the most important part, where and that could be and should be in a federal criminal court that is the standard American judicial process.
CANDIOTTI: The prison camps have caused the U.S. unending worldwide criticism amid accusations of torture and unfair procedures. 9/11 victims' relatives there to witness what was an historic hearing that may be the last were beside themselves.
DONALD ARIAS, VICTIM'S BROTHER: So whatever process is speedy and expedient and efficient, that's used to dispatch these people to hell, is worth much more than they deserve.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): In the coming months we'll find out who's going where and whether because of tainted evidence, some defendants including the 9/11 accused plotters can be tried at all. Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Guantanamo's planned closure is today's topic in our legal briefs. Hear what attorneys Richard Herman and Avery Friedman have to say about it. That's coming up at noon eastern right here in the NEWSROOM.
HOLMES: Not waiting at all and how can you wait to get to work when you are the president? President Obama making his mark, talking about the first 100 days, we're checking in on his first 100 hours. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's half past the hour and happening right now across the world, this hour, President Obama is meeting with his economic team. The president painted a bleak picture this morning in his weekly address, indicating economists say unemployment could reach the double digits if congress doesn't take action. The president is pushing congress to pass this $825 billion stimulus plan.
A man who went on a deadly stabbing rampage inside a Belgian nursery school is behind bars charged with murder and attempted murder. But listen to this. Police say the 20-year-old killed two babies and a woman. 12 others were seriously injured.
And a deadly roof collapse outside of Barcelona, Spain has killed four boys and injured 15 other people. The boys were playing baseball when hurricane force winds caused them to take refuge inside a sports center. The center's roof collapsed on them.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Pundits, the public, media, everybody's watching President Obama right now trying to see what he'll accomplish in his first 100 days. What about his first 100 hours? Jim Acosta watching the clock.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Less than 100 hours into the job, President Obama is off to the races, signing executive orders at a furious pace.
OBAMA: Guantanamo will be closed no later than one year from now.
ACOSTA: He's broken in his economic team and selected new hot spot envoys for the Middle East and Afghanistan. He's even had an oath of office do over after the first one was flubbed at the inaugural.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was there, far easier to get tickets for this one.
ACOSTA: Democratic leaders are also sprinting, urging congress to work quickly on an economic stimulus package.
NANCY PELOSI, HOUSE SPEAKER: I don't think we can go fast enough.
ACOSTA: But there are calls to slow down. Government watchdogs have launched a website readthestimulus.org, demanding that lawmakers read the plan's fine print. Some republicans are also asking what's the rush, on issues from Guantanamo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we bring them into our borders, do we release them back into the battlefield?
ACOSTA: To the approval of Treasury Secretary nominee Tim Geithner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In previous years nominees that had made less serious errors in their taxes than this nominee have been forced to withdraw.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now they could push anything through and it looks like they're trying to push everything through.
ACOSTA: Clinton administration press secretary Joe Lockhart says there's good reason for all the urgency.
Is there a danger in doing too much too fast?
JOE LOCKHART, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think there's a danger in looking like you don't have a plan. But they have been very deliberate here in setting these things up into issue areas and they are able to move on multiple fronts.
ACOSTA: Mad magazine captured the frenetic Obama pace with its cover the first 100 minutes. But as senior Obama adviser David Axelrod told me before the inauguration, there's one thing that won't happen overnight, fixing the economy.
DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: We're talking about years to turn around some really profound economic problems here.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, struggling mortgage giant Freddie Mac is using the b word again as it asks for another infusion of cash. Hammered by loan delinquencies Freddie Mac says it needs between $30 billion and $35 billion. The government gave Freddie Mac 14 billion last year after federal regulators seized control. The government took over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae after both suffered devastating losses from the housing bust. Fannie Mae hasn't asked for more money.
With billions of taxpayer dollars being spent here and there in a bid to stabilize faltering banks. What's going on with your money? Well our Joe Johns goes behind scenes of one bailout.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Those pesky Wall Street bailouts, $20 billion here, $20 billion there and suddenly you're talking about real money, your money in fact used for a giant bailout that's now endangered two of the nation's biggest financial companies. The fed's contributed $20 billion to help pay for the marriage of Bank of America, the nation's biggest bank with the financially devastated Merrill Lynch, the nation's biggest brokerage. But then it turned out Merrill lost another $15 billion last quarter alone and shareholders didn't find out until after the deal was done. Now, Bank of America stock has nosedived. Stockholders are suing and some are saying the federal government should have kept its nose out of the deal.
PETER MORICI, ECONOMIST, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: Well the fed and the treasury wanted Bank of America to acquire Merrill Lynch to sustain stability in financial markets. What no one told Bank of America was just how sick Merrill Lynch really is. How large its losses would be and what kind of liabilities it would bring.
JOHNS: On top of that Merrill Lynch paid out $3 to $4 billion for early bonuses just before the merger and Merrill Lynch's CEO reportedly sank $1.2 million into redecorating his office, including a 35,000 commode.
(On camera): When Merrill's true financial picture started becoming clear and Bank of America started asking whether the merger was such a great idea, it went forward, but the feds gave them another $20 billion, plus $100 billion in loan guarantees. The bank explained on an investor conference call.
KEN LEWIS, CEO, BANK OF AMERICA: We just thought it was in the best interests of our company and our stockholders and the country to move forward with the original terms and the timing.
JOHNS: Keeping them honest, we asked former bank regulator Garry Townsend about it. He says it's clear the feds were trying to avoid yet another big brokerage house failure that would further damage the global economy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last thing that the government wanted was another catastrophe.
JOHNS: But economist Peter Morici says the government would have been better off if it had handled the problems at Merrill without making the deal.
MORICI: Merrill Lynch should have been fixed. It shouldn't have been forced into a shotgun marriage.
JOHNS: The Treasury Department told CNN it did not force the deal, that it was Bank of America that decided to acquire Merrill Lynch, though there's little dispute that the government helped sweeten the deal. Treasury says rescuing the nation's financial system has always been the point of its bailout. Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: So how is the recession affecting your children? That's the focus of a special hour of CNN NEWSROOM today. It starts at 4:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.
HOLMES: While President Obama was being sworn into office, there was a heroic rescue taking place underground in D.C. You've got to stay tuned for this one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHELLE CAREY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): -- to expire there are other options.
NILOU MOTAMED, TRAVEL LEISURE: There are plenty of things you can do with your miles these days. Including hotel upgrades, car rentals or even purchasing products.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, a 4,000-person fight is what we're going to see.
NGUYEN: What?
HOLMES: We might have video of this tomorrow, Betty. But this is a fight that's going to happen.
NGUYEN: You're not instigating this, are you?
HOLMES: No, somebody else did already. Blame it on Facebook. However, it's a snowball fight at a campus up there, they are hoping it will be the biggest one ever. They're trying to set a record but they're going to have it this afternoon at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The students when the whistle blows are just going to start going at it. Invitations to this went out through Facebook, organizers hoping to beat that record that was set by a rival school, I think it was the Madison School of Technology. I'm sorry I misplaced their name, name of your school.
NGUYEN: Well let's hope it's loosely packed snow and no one gets hurt because that can hurt sometimes.
HOLMES: But they're saying it might not set the record because you don't have that good snow and you need that to have this kind of snowball fight. They'll also have medical personnel standing by.
NGUYEN: Just in case, yes.
HOLMES: For hypothermia and if somebody gets hit in the eye, whatever.
NGUYEN: Snowballs, they can be dangerous, right Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You have to be careful because you can put your eye out. There's no question. All it takes is someone getting a rock and putting it in --
NGUYEN: Don't even put that out there.
WOLF: I'm saying not that it would be -- obviously it would be a bad thing.
NGUYEN: But if you're gathering it and you don't know what's in there.
WOLF: Absolutely, accidentally. You know you reach down on the ground to get some snow and you accidentally pick something else up, it could be bad.
NGUYEN: We're just taking the fun all out of it aren't we?
HOLMES: Kind of, yes.
WOLF: We're sounding like a bunch of parents, aren't we? Go figure.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: So on inauguration day, while all eyes were on Barack Obama, something really remarkable was happening underground.
HOLMES: Yes, a woman actually fell on to the tracks. All right, before a subway train came along. Imagine that, you're on the -- the train's coming.
NGUYEN: You hear it. You can almost feel it.
HOLMES: And an officer saved her life even though he couldn't get her back on the platform in time. So she didn't get out of the way, really if you will or off the tracks in time. Josh, explain that.
JOSH LEVS: Yeah, isn't that incredible? They weren't able to reach down and pick her back up, and yet she still totally survived because he had just learned the trick for how to help her survive. One of our iReporters is the one who alerted us to this story, sent us photos, you're about to see them. So we then got on the phone with the hero who saved this woman's life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF OFFICER ELIOT SWAINSON, HOUSTON METRO: She had fallen off into the track line and people were hollering and screaming and bringing it to my attention. I rushed over to that location there, and another patron was trying to help move her from the track line as the train was coming into the station. I assisted with him to try and push her up off the platform, as you see there, it was quite a bit of a fall there.
LEVS: You're talking about a woman who was on the tracks seconds before a train came along, right? This was really scary for a lot of people. This kind of thing, these tracks right here is the area in which this woman had fallen. It was pretty far down. Elliott, what you're telling me is that one patron had reached over to try to lift her back up and that wasn't working so you came over, right.
SWAINSON: Correct, two of us together then tried to lift her up and get her back on the platform.
LEVS: But you couldn't do it on time?
SWAINSON: No.
LEVS: So what did you do? How did you save her? SWAINSON: Being there for the inaugurals, Washington Transit had put on a little safety class for us the day before and gave us some information about the third rail. And told us as you can see there, there's a little cove underneath the platform that allows for a little safe haven. Instead of trying to lift her up, I just reached down and pushed her down and kind of tucked her up underneath the platform.
LEVS: Underneath the platform. Let's zoom back in on the screen one more time, I want to show everyone exactly what happened here. You have a woman who fell down to this area. The patrons and this officer were not able to lift her back up here. There's an area right underneath here, right underneath the platform, you're telling me that's just a couple of feet where you could kind of squeeze her in there just seconds before the train came along?
SWAINSON; Exactly. It's only 2 1/2, maybe three feet wide underneath the platform itself.
LEVS: So in the process of doing that, you have your arms down there, you're trying to push her under there before the train comes along. How many seconds between when you get her in there, you pull your arm out and the train comes along?
SWAINSON: Just from my recollection, it's just moments. Just within seconds there I got her down, pushed her up underneath there and she tried to move back out again. I pushed her back in, told her to stay there and the train came through.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: And you know what? We're told the woman is doing very well right now. And this story gets even more dramatic. Because the next day, the same officer, while still in Washington helping out around the inauguration, he helped people escape a fire the next day. Meanwhile he goes back to Texas, Betty's home state there, making everyone proud, where fellow officers gave him an award for his heroics on the subway. Great story, guys, no way to make that one depressing.
NGUYEN: So he helped more than one person, that's a good guy to have around.
LEVS: No kidding.
HOLMES: He saved a lady, he's just showing off now. He's just saving everybody now.
NGUYEN: He needs a cape with that award. All right, thanks, Josh.
So an inauguration day conversation. One of our i-Reporters got a one-on-one with controversial Pastor Rick Warren.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: Well people are still talking about the inauguration and the message, we wanted to show you a clip sent to us by one of our viewers, i-Reporter Joi-Marie McKenzie and her conversation with controversial Pastor Rick Warren who gave the inaugural invocation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOI-MARIE MCKENZIE: I felt like it was an inspirational moment that I want to tell my grandkids. Your mother was there. I had to squeeze my way in, and I was there.
RICK WARREN, PASTOR, SADDLEBACK CHURCH: I thought that it just -- the whole message just sang, you know? And it was kind of like a plane taking off and the more it went, the more it soared. I thought it was great.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: That's a great thing about i-Reports is that you can get them anywhere, any time. There are people all over the place and as soon as you get it, send it in to us.
HOLMES: We couldn't even land that interview.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: How do they do that?
LEMON: Fredericka, always good to see you, hello.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you all as well. A lot straight ahead. The noon hour we're going to carry the momentum that you all had all morning long. Yeah, I know, early, huh? Just rub it in a little bit more. Which means you actually started more like 3:00 a.m. Let's talk about straight ahead, noon hour. We're going to be dealing with our legal guys. They're going to delve into one of many legal topics we're going to be getting into that of Gitmo. What happens when and if it closes in that year span that President Obama wants. What happens to the detainees, what, 245 of them? Where do you put them? It's both the headache of the U.S. as well as the world. All eyes watching.
Also, 40,000 jobs lost in the third week of January alone. It's a very sad trend that we're seeing across the country, but one person's loss is another person's gain. We're going to be talking to an expert, a job placement expert who is going to help us figure out for those of us looking for a job. What do you do when you hear about all these jobs lost. Where do you find the jobs.
NGUYEN: We had some good news today because of the top 100 jobs. That list is out. 73 of them are actually hiring.
WHITFIELD: That's good. We'll pare it all down some more.
HOLMES: They're fading you out of the shot there.
NGUYEN: Bye, Fred. Bye, see you.
WHITFIELD: Later! Noon.
NGUYEN: Fred, she'll be right there. Don't go anywhere.
In the meantime though, let's play a little ball, shall we? One college basketball player leading by example, inspiring the kids.
HOLMES: But, yeah, just about everybody to him is a kid at 73 years old. He's still playing ball.
NGUYEN: True.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So we're talking about hitting the bucket instead of kicking it when the last time that you saw a college hoopster who not only has game, but also social security as well.
HOLMES: 73 years young, Ken Mink has both. He's the oldest player in college basketball history and he has some game, actually. CNN's Ray D'Alessio with his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
One, two, three.
Raiders!
Good work.
RAY D'ALESSIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By his own accounts, Ken Mink was a pretty good college basketball player.
KEN MINK, 73 YEAR OLD COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYER: I scored 21 points in my opening game in college.
D'ALEISSO: That was in 1956. Mink's freshman season at Lees College in Jackson, Kentucky. That same year, someone doused the coach's office and shoes with shaving cream. School officials didn't find the prank funny.
MINK: President Landau said that we had someone who said they saw you in that area or coming out of his office or something like that and he said you're out of here.
D'ALESSIO: Over a half century later the now 73-year-old Mink maintains his innocence as well as the desire to settle some unfinished business. While shooting baskets in a neighbor's driveway, Mink decided to give college basketball another try. After contacting eight schools and getting no response he was about to give up hope when the phone rang. It was Roane State Community College basketball coach Randy Nesbit.
RANDY NESBIT, ROANE STATE HEAD COACH: We can help somebody like him reach a goal that he had and give him closure to something that's bugged him for a couple of years, no, actually, 53 years, it's bugged him. D'ALESSIO: At first teammates treated him with kid gloves, but soon after, Ken became one of the guys.
KEITH BAUER, MINK'S TEAMMATE: We think it's hilarious having a 73-year-old talk about some of the stuff that like I would talk about with a teammate and some of the stuff that most of the time around an elder you wouldn't talk about.
RENARD FLOWERS, MINK'S TEAMMATE: We'll catch him with his shorts pulled up -- you know, up to his stomach, you know. Trying to make them a little shorter, you know.
MINK: They asked me if I can dunk one day and I said yeah, Dunkin Doughnuts, that's the only thing I can dunk.
D'ALESSIO: On November 3rd, Mink became the oldest player to ever score in a college game. His story has resulted in numerous talk show appearances and there's even some discussion of a possible movie.
MINK: I've gotten hundreds of responses from people around the country and around the world, actually from six different countries that have contacted me about, you know, I'm an inspiration for them and they are taking a new attitude toward aging because of that.
D'ALESSIO (on camera): Although his playing days at Roane State are coming to a close, technically, Ken still has two years of college eligibility remaining. And while he's already reached the majority of the goals he set for himself, Ken says he welcomes the chance to continue his inspirational story at another school. Ray D'Alessio, CNN, Harriman, Tennessee.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Great story. He does have game. He's pretty good.
HOLMES: I think he's going to enter the draft. That's why he'll stick around for his last two years.
NGUYEN: Do you think he's going to get used to the long shorts though because they are a lot longer these days than they were when he first started playing.
HOLMES: Looks like he hiked them up a little bit. Fredericka, that's a nice story to end on.
WHITFIELD: I love that. I think my favorite line of the day is the Dunkin Donuts. That is too sweet. All right, we know you're a big ball player too T.J.
NGUYEN: Yeah, T.J.
HOLMES: I don't play --
WHITFIELD: You can get out on the court with homie.
NGUYEN: You still got game? HOLMES: I still have a lot of eligibility left.
WHITFIELD: Well you all have a great day.
