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Arson Problem in Pennsylvania; Waht Kids Want the President to Do; Slumdog Millionaire
Aired January 25, 2009 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN, ANCHOR: Suspected arsonist targeting homes apparently at random after fire destroyed a dozen homes just last night. Residents are fearful their property may be targeted next.
New construction for those with cash to spend. Buying a piece of the American dream, but this is not America.
And we know what Democrats and Republicans want from President Obama. But what about the kids? See what they are asking from the new president this hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Hello, and good afternoon, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Fredricka Whitfield today.
All right. So stepped up police patrols, arrests, cash rewards, so far though nothing has stopped an arson epidemic that's terrorizing a small town. Today, a state of emergency was declared in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. After yet another fire overnight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN (voice-over): It was an all too familiar sight. A seven-alarm fire in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. A city of just 11,000 people, west of Philadelphia. Residents got out safely, but they could only stand and watch as their homes burned down.
FRANCIS DORSHEIMER, COATESVILLE RESIDENT: I just came home from picking up by sister and my aunt from work. And we came home, just getting ready to settle down. I go in my room and everybody tells me we have to get out of the house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my daughter's house on fire. I'm just glad my grankids weren't in there.
Yes, she's just coming home from work. Got a call coming home from work that her house was on fire.
NGUYEN: By the time it was over, 15 row houses had been destroyed. An arson is suspected. Last year, there were 15 suspected arsons in Coatesville, including a fire that killed an 83-year-old woman. There have been 14 more suspicious fires just this month.
JANET JACKSON, COATESVILLE RESIDENT: It's really scary. I mean, it's just been going on like every other week or every two weeks. I mean, we're all afraid to even be in our houses right now.
ERIKA CANNON, COATESVILLE RESIDENT: You can't get a good night's sleep because you don't know.
NGUYEN: Police think the fires may be part of a gang initiation. Three people were charged with arson in December. They are still in custody. But the fires have continued. There's a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible.
BERNICE JACKSON, COATESVILLE RESIDENT: A lot of people were getting hurt over this. A lot of people are getting out of their houses with nowhere to go. Need to stop this.
BEVERLY RIVERA, COATESVILLE RESIDENT: I never thought Coatesville would be on the map for something like this. It's just awful. This is awful.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Yes, it is. And take a look how awful it truly is. This is new video coming into CNN. These are some of the homes that were caught on fire last night in Coatesville. As you can see a lot of them just gutted. 15 homes total were damaged in these fires. And police do believe arson is involved. But this is not the first of the fires that Coatesville has seen.
As we talked about, there have been 14 other fires since the beginning of this month. So you can see why a lot of people living in this area are very worried. We also heard from the Coatesville Police Chief William Matthews just a short time ago about the efforts to stop the arsons. He said a curfew is a possibility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF WILLIAM MATTHEWS, COASTEVILLE POLICE: We do have a curfew for juveniles that we're enforcing. In terms of some sort of curfew for the city, that's something that we'll have to discuss. That's a very drastic kind of procedure to take. But we have placed nothing off the table in terms of how to deal with this matter. And how to move forward. So, of course, that's also going to be discussed, has been discussed in the past. But, you know, Christian made a comment about citizens helping us, and there are 11,000 citizens here in this city, and that's 11,000 more - 22,000 more eyes than we have.
On the police department or the fire department. And it's vitally important that everyone participate. It costs 76 cents a week to keep your porch light on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And that could be money very well spent. Especially in this state of emergency as they've called it. Well I spoke with the Coatesville spokeswoman just a little bit earlier, her name is Kristin Geiger. Here's what she had to say about the fires.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF KRISTIN GEIGER, COATESVILLE CITY SPOKESWOMAN: The fire marshals for this one, as of yesterday, is determined suspicious in nature. And just that it's consistent with other fires that have occurred earlier this year. They haven't released any specifications too how it was started, which residence specifically it started at other than where the flames were visible and how quickly it spread.
I think our first concern is our residents, which is why we declared a state of emergency today. We want to do whatever we can to, number one, ensure their safety and to make sure that we capture this person or persons as soon as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And here's some more information. Officials say it took 155 firefighters three hours to put out last night's blaze. One firefighter suffered a broken ankle.
Well, a house exploded this morning in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Take a look at these pictures. The owner is a police officer who was injured in that blast. A neighbor actually had to pull him out of the debris and he was taken to a Boston hospital for treatment. The home, as you can see was destroyed. Authorities are trying to determine whether a gas leak is what caused that explosion.
This is a story that you don't hear about often, and unfortunately, we have to tell you about it. A wake, of all things, ended in deadly gunfire in Kansas. Police say two people were killed and seven wounded in Wichita last night. All of the victims were adults, and police say they don't know how many shooters were involved but say some of the shots came from outside the house where the wake was being held. Officers say they are having trouble getting information because many at the scene do not speak English.
There is still no suspect or motive in a shooting in Miami that killed two teens and wounded seven others. Police say a man armed with an AK-47 assault rifle opened fire on a corner dice game late Friday night in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood. Survivors describe the scene as total chaos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW JACKSON, GUNSHOT VICTIM: The boy came around the corner. Like get down. And he just started shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A witness, laying there with his face looked like it was completely tore off and his eyes was all I could see and he had a grip on some money and he's gasping and trying to lift his head up to say something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: What a description there. Police were asking anyone with information to get in touch with them.
A deadly accident at a ski resort in Turkey to tell you about. An avalanche slammed into a group of 17 hikers killing ten of them. Rescue workers struggled through deep snow to carry the injured off the mountain. Two of the hikers were hospitalized, I should say, but five walked away unharmed.
Spain is mourning four young boys killed when hurricane-force winds blew the roof off of a sports center outside Barcelona. Several other children and at least two adults were injured. The boys, ages 9 through 12, were playing baseball when the storm hit. That same storm system is blamed for at least eight other deaths in Spain and four more in France.
Well, wildfires back here at home blamed for at least one death in Texas and dry, windy conditions across the state aren't making it any easier for firefighters. Thousands of acres have gone up in flames in the past few days. Near Abilene, a wildfire destroyed several homes Friday in the town of Holly forcing residents to evacuate. Just look at all that smoke. More than 2,500 acres were burned. Farther south, a grass fire near Austin killed a 53-year-old man. That blaze broke out near one of several homeless camps on the outskirts of town.
Well, it is dry in Texas. Wet and bitter cold elsewhere. Let's go to meteorologist Jacqui Jeras who is in the severe weather center. Boy, it's all over the map when we look at these temperatures.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. A lot of cold, especially up north, you know, in the nation's midsection. It's been kind of bottled up here. Trying to make its way southward. Unfortunately as that cold air makes its way into the southern plains states, it's going to hook up with a lot of moisture and then some warmer air in the midlevels of the atmosphere.
And what happens when all of those elements come together is that we can get some really nasty ice storms. And by ice I mean freezing rain. And by freezing rain, I don't necessarily mean ice coming out of the sky. I mean liquid coming down and freezing on contact so it just coats surfaces with a sheet of ice. It coats things like trees, like power lines, like the streets, like your car, where you wake up in the morning.
You are trying to, you know, get that ice off of there and scrape it off and it doesn't work very well. A quarter of an inch of ice or more can cause some very serious damage. So power outages are going to be very likely and they may be widespread here and travel very, very difficult.
Bridges and overpasses always ice up first. This is going to be taking place throughout the day tomorrow. Probably not starting until the afternoon and then continuing throughout much of Tuesday. The moisture is already out west. We've got winter storm warnings in place, especially across the higher elevations.
The snowfall totals have already been hefty. This is still going to go into tomorrow morning. Check out some of these numbers. Well over a foot in parts of Utah and Colorado. And speaking of Colorado, we've got some great pictures to show you from Breckenridge.
Our i-reporter Thomas Harrop from Golden, Colorado, was there for the snow sculpting championship and took these great pictures. I guess five-person teams had 65 hours to sculpt 20-ton 12-foot high pieces of ice. And look at that. It's really fancy with this. This is one of the fiancest i-reports I think I've ever seen.
NGUYEN: That is beautiful. I wonder how long it takes to make one of those. I mean, they're pretty intricate.
JERAS: Well, they had 65 hours to make them, I guess.
NGUYEN: Really. All right. Oh, boy.
JERAS: A couple of days.
NGUYEN: It's going to take me much longer than that. I can't barely make a snowman.
JERAS: Maybe there a week.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Jacqui.
All right. So if the first few days are an indicator of things to come, President Barack Obama could be in for a smooth ride. At least with the American public. A new gallup poll shows the president is enjoying a two-thirds approval rating. And historically, only President Kennedy garnered a higher job performance poll number. Now, the polls also found that 12 percent of Americans disapprove of President Obama's job performance.
For context here, back in 1993, President Clinton had an initial disapproval rating of 20 percent. George W. Bush in 2000 was slightly higher at 25 percent.
President Obama's high approval ratings could swan dive quickly if he and fellow Democrats can't fix America's troubled economy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she hopes to bring the president's proposed $825 billion stimulus package to a vote soon. But she's denying GOP claims that Republicans are getting shut out of the budgetary process.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: It will take some (inaudible). We will judge them by their ability to create jobs, to help turn the economy around, to stabilize the economy and to see how much they cost. But we're open to them and we'll review them and it all has to be done right away because our bill has to come to the floor this week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: House minority leader John Boehner is predicting little, if any GOP support for the proposed stimulus plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Our concerns about the plan we see from Democrats on capitol hill is just - it has an awful lot of wasteful spending and slow-moving spending. That won't create jobs and won't help preserve jobs in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: Former GOP presidential candidate Senator John McCain is quoted today as saying he won't support the Democratic stimulus plan as it's currently written citing the lack of jobs that it would create.
Well, he may soon be out of a job, but embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich isn't going quietly. Accused of trying to auction off President Obama's former Senate seat, Blagojevich says he won't be on hand tomorrow when the Illinois senate is expected to begin his impeachment trial. Blagojevich says the trial rules are unfair and stacked against him.
Yet the governor cited the story. Hear from him right here on CNN's "Larry King." He'll be talking to Governor Blagojevich on "Larry King Live." That is tomorrow night again right here on CNN. 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 p.m. Pacific.
Court action in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race is just hours away. The contest between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman is still undecided. Franken has a 225-vote edge, but Coleman is disputing the recount. A three-judge panel begins hearing his lawsuit monday, and it could be tied up in court for weeks.
Well Nascar fans, you'll want to listen up. Is your sport about to become a victim of this economic crisis? One popular race not on the Nascar circuit is already taking a hit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: President Barack Obama begins his first full week of office tomorrow and his focus the economic stimulus bill. CNN's Elaine Quijano is at the White House and she joins us now live. All right, Elaine, the president wasnts a plan on his desk by mid February. So what does he plan on having inside this grand, I guess, answer to our financial situation?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We'll get to that in just a moment. But first, President Barack Obama is expected to head to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to try to pull some Republicans on board with that massive economic recovery plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): When President Obama continues his pitch for his massive economic recovery plan -
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: And experts agree that if nothing is done, the unemployment rate could reach double digits.
QUIJANO: He'll face deeply skeptical Republicans, wary of the $825 billion price tag.
BOEHNER: It has an awful lot of wasteful spending, and slow-moving #spending that won't create jobs and won't help preserve jobs in America. QUIJANO: Some of that spending they question includes billions for college Pell grants, head start and millions of the National Endowment for the Arts, leading the "Washington Post" editorial page to ask, all of those ideas may have merit, but why do they belong in an emergency measure aimed to kickstart the economy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would disagree with "The Washington Post." I think spending to respond to the extra burdens on financial aid, putting money into the economy for financial aid for college students is a good investment.
QUIJANO: Ahead of the president's Capitol Hill visit, his team fanned out on the Sunday talk shows to stress the urgency of the economic situation.
VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, UNITED STATES: It's going to get worse before it gets better.
QUIJANO: And to argue government spending under President Obama will be transparent.
DAVID PLOUFFE, FORMER OBAMA CAMPAIGN MANAGER: When this act passes, the American people are going to be able to track every dollar that's spent. And I think that's very important to rebuilding trust.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: Republicans, meantime, are pushing a plan of their own, one that includes deeper task cuts for businesses and individuals.
NGUYEN: All right. But even as this grand plan gets through the house, how are things shaping up in the Senate?
QUIJANO: Well, it's likely that it will run into some opposition there as well, according to Senator John McCain who of course ran against Barack Obama. In fact just today, Senator McCain said that unless there are some changes made to this package, he will not vote for it. He like his fellow Republicans, wants to see more cuts when it comes to businesses and individuals. And he said that he also would like to see those Bush tax cuts made permanent. Betty?
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Elaine Quijano at the White House for us. Thank you, Elaine.
So is the nation's financial crisis putting the brakes on race fans? Well the Rolex Point 4, an endurance race, kicked off speed week at Daytona this weekend. And that's an annual event that culminates in the running of the Daytona 500 on February 15th. But tough economic times means fewer fans are at the track. Saul Saenz with CNN affiliate, Central Florida news 13 has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAUL SAENZ, NEWS 13 REPORTER: Signs like these welcome race fans, but a sign of bad economic times means there are fewer to welcome to Daytona Beach. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Usually this is full.
SAENZ: this race fan sees plenty of open space where in the past he's seen rows of campers rode for the Rolex 24, the official kickoff to speed weeks.
CHRIS DAUGHTERY, RACE FAN: Definitely starting on the Saturday morning, fewer people than normal. We've been out here every year for the past ten years and definitely fewer.
SAENZ: A small amusement park is set up inside the track to keep the fans from leaving, although crowds dwindle as the 24-hour race rolls into the night. Businesses along international Speedway Boulevard hope those fans will go from the track to their shops and restaurants, but even they admit there are fewer to go around.
RON PEDRICK, EMPLOYEE: I'm seeing a lot less this year than last year, at the present time.
SAENZ: How does this affect the bottom line?
PEDRICK: I don't own the place, but from what I see, they're going to know it.
SAENZ: Business owners along International Speedway Boulevard are hoping that the economic downturn is cyclical. That once the economy improves, more race fans will return to the races.
DAUGHERTY: I think the economy has a lot to do with it. A lot of people are staying closer to home and taking their vacations at home nowadays. And just not having the money to come out to the races.
PEDRICK: If that improves, the economy picks up, this will pick up. Like anybody else. Hopefully. Hopefully, he adds, before the end of speed weeks. In Daytona Beach, Saul Saenz, News 13.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: From cars to your gas tank. And filling up is actually getting cheaper. AAA reports the average price of regular gasoline fell 0.2 cent today. It's $1.84 a gallon. That is the second consecutive drop and a world away from just six months ago when the average price was $4.11 a gallon. Boy, we remember that well, don't we?
Well a sprawling slum in the heart of Mumbai is not just a movie. It's actually life for more than a million people. We're goingto bring you one young man's story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The 17th Annual Trumpet Awards just getting under way this hour in Atlanta. Now, each year the Trumpet Awards honor the achievements of African-Americans and honored this year in the hero category, the Tuskegee Airmen. The Trumpet Award for living legend that goes to Earvin "Magic" Johnson and in the entertainment category, actor Chris Tucker is being honored. The honorees are chosen not just for their individual achievements but also for the achievements they inspire in others.
And you can also catch all the glitz and glamour of the 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. It airs tonight on our sister networks, TNT and TBS. The show starts tonight at 8:00 Eastern.
Meantime, though, surviving and trying to get ahead. Maybe you've seen the Oscar-nominated movie "Slumdog Millionaire." Well, CNN's Malika Kapur introduces us to a young man born in the same slum and working his way out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To a never-ending maze of narrow alleys and muddy lanes, past open drains and tiny, crowded rooms, Devendra Tank take us to his family home.
Dave as he calls himself, lives in Dharavi, sprawling slum in the heart of Mumbai. More than a million people live here, squeezed into an area half the size of New York's Central Park. The Tanks, all six of them live in one room. The kitchen and bathroom are here. Utensils are piled up from the floor to the ceiling. It's 225 square feet, barely 20 square meters.
TANK: Yes, three of us sleep here. I sleep at this place, and then two of my sisters, we sleep facing the television and three of us, my mom, dad and the youngest sister of mine, they sleep facing towards the door.
KAPUR: Dave comes from a family of potters. Instead of following in his father's footsteps, Dave says his parents encouraged him to do something else. We decided to give our children an education, says his mother. We wanted to give him what we never had. Years of studying in the corner near the TV paid off. Dave, now 22 is the only person in his family to graduate from college. College prepared him for the next step, a job. Thanks to on-campus recruiting, Dave clinched a job at a leading international investment bank.
TANK: Yes, it makes me feel different.
KAPUR: Dave says balancing the two worlds is a challenge. After all, Mumbai residents sometimes refer to Dharavi as Asia's largest slum.
TANK: It would be very good if that tagline goes out for the coming generation and for the people like me who aspire to become, you know, who want to become something in the life.
KAPUR: It's this ambition that drives another young man to make it out of Dharavi.
Jamal's story, the subject of the film "Slumdog Millionaire" is winning critical acclaim and turning the spotlight back on this slum where much of the film is based. Dave hasn't seen the movie yet, but he knows all about it. TANK: Somewhere down the line, I think it's part of my life story because even I live in slum. So let's see, I hope something like that goes in my life also.
KAPUR: Dave says he hopes his journey will lead him out of the slum, but he never wants to give up the one-room apartment here. Dharavi, he says will always be like home. Mallika Kapur, CNN, Mumbai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well from the slums of India to this, not what you'd expect to see in a war-torn country. It is a housing boom. Buying a piece of the American dream in Iraq.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Happening right now. A state of emergency has been declared in a small Pennsylvania town hit by a wave of arson fires. Coatesville officials say the latest and 14th this month burned more than a dozen homes causing nearly $2 million in damage.
Let's take you to Miami now. A gunman armed with an automatic assault rifle is still on the loose after opening fire on people Friday night killing two teens and wounding seven others.
And Illinois embattled Governor Rod Blagojevich says he won't be on hand tomorrow when the state Senate begins his impeachment trial. He contends lawmakers and court rules are stacked against him.
Pakistan wants the Obama administration to stop U.S. missile strikes inside Pakistani territories. Officials admit that eight suspected militants were killed in Friday's strikes on al Qaeda strongholds, but they say civilians were also killed. Despite the Pakistani protests there is no sign that the missile strikes will end. Here's CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Just as President Barack Obama was sworn in on Tuesday, General David Petraeus was in Pakistan pressing top officials yet again to crack down on militants. The first sign the Obama administration did not going to ease up on the hunt two CIA missile strikes Friday killed more than a dozen people in the tribal region. There have been some 30 strikes like these over the past year. The new president is making clear that deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan will get more attention.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: This is the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism.
STARR: CNN has learned from a top U.S. official the missile attacks are authorized under a covert program which has been briefed to Mr. Obama. The reason for the program's existence, to target and kill senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders and keep survivors on the run. Suspects may be tracked for weeks before strikes are called in. Under George Bush, the president did not have to approve each strike beforehand. It's believed Mr. Obama, for now, has the same arrangement, according to U.S. officials. Even during the campaign, candidate Obama made clear he wouldn't hesitate to cross Pakistan's borders.
OBAMA: If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf will not act, we will.
STARR: In an interview Friday with Wolf Blitzer, Musharraf, now out of office, said Pakistan doesn't expect the U.S. strikes to stop.
PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, FORMER PAKISTANI PRESIDENT: Nobody in Pakistan is comfortable with strikes across the border. There is no doubt in that. Public opinion is very much against it.
STARR: The latest missile strikes came one day after President Obama named a new envoy to the region and promised renewed diplomatic action. But many people in the region say these strikes are doing little more than antagonizing an already tense part of the world.
Barbara Star, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well getting down to business right away is President Barack Obama's new envoy for the Middle East. Two administration officials tell CNN that George Mitchell will be leaving for the region tomorrow. After being named to the spot on Thursday. The Israeli foreign official confirms Mitchell is do there later this week for talks between Palestinian and Israeli leaders. Other stops on his trip include Egypt, the Palestinian territories, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Well, Israel's government today took action to protect its military from possible war crimes charges. The government appointed a legal team to defend its soldiers against any charges that could come from its 22-day war against Hamas militants in Gaza. Several human rights groups have called for a war crimes investigation. Israel's Prime minister says the country will, quote, fully back those who acted on its behalf.
Want to tell you about a building boom. No it's not here in the United States. Rather in a country devastated by war. Now thirsty for investors. CNN's Arwa Damon takes us there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's a vision of suburban America. Spotless homes and pristine lawns, sprouting out of a hillside a long way from the United States. For between 250 and $600,000, Iraqis can own a piece of the American dream. It's called the American Village, and it's in Iraq.
DAMIEN DEGUELDRE, CFO, SIGMA INTRL. CONSTRUCTION: For sure there's a gamble. But I think all over Iraq, there's one key need that has been showed up in the last five years. Its housing. DAMON: Damien Degueldre and his partners at Sigma International an American company with adventurous spirit saw an opportunity and went for it. Despite the risks.
DEGUELDRE: The smaller business entity today if you are not here ahead of the big ones, well, once the big ones are coming in they crush you. Their potential income and investment is so much higher and -- than yours that you don't have a chance.
DAMON: And with construction booming all over Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdish north big ones aren't far behind.
Welcome to Virginia Street. And as American suburbia as this may look, it's still in northern Iraq and doing business out here is nothing like doing business in the United States. The problem set and risk factors involved are of an entirely different dimension. This part of the country run by the KRG, the Kurdistan Regional Government has not been plagued with the levels of violence that have devastated the rest of Iraq. But security is still a factor to be taken into consideration. As are the realities that come with doing business in a part of the world that's been dealing with corruption for decades.
HERISH MOHAMMED, BOARD OF INVESTMENT: We are trying to pass on messages to the international community that there might be some part of -- areas that could be corrupted or there might be. But we are not corrupted, in general. We are trying to talk about transparency while trying to tell them that we need to learn. We need to access the information that were missed in this country.
DAMON: Without that knowledge or a strong financial infrastructure, doing business here can be a challenge.
MOHAMMED: The absence of a decent banking system is one of that. Which is a classic one for the absence of insurance.
DAMON: Mortgaging and financing for buyers doesn't exist here.
DEGUELDRE: But at the same time, it's an adventure because you are starting from scratch. Everything is possible.
DAMON: Maybe that's why the American dream-style homes here are selling.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Erbil, Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: It's a tall order from little children. Young Americans speak out on what they want from President Obama.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Have you seen them? Two new dolls on the store shelves. They are called Sweet Sasha and Marvelous Malia made by Ty, the company that makes Beanie Babies. The dolls have the exact name as the Obamas daughters; Ty insists the dolls are not based on the girls. Well, the White House is not convinced. And Michelle Obama has made it very clear that she is not happy about the dolls. The first lady's press secretary released this statement saying, quote, we feel it is inappropriate to use young private citizens for marketing purposes.
Many Americans are hoping to see big things from the new president. Economic stability and nations safe from terrorism, the end of war. But what do the kids want? Well, some of them have been sharing their wishes with our Don Lemon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Millions were inspired by this moment.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear --
LEMON: Just like these preschoolers at Atlanta's Primrose Academy. All across the country, some of the youngest among us are beginning to sound a lot like him.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): If I were president, I would say no bad people to scare the little kids.
OBAMA: Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end.
LEMON: Teachers were blown away when 3 and 4-year-olds started talking about the president-to-be and the changes he can make.
JO KIRCHNER, PRES. AND CEO, PRIMROSE SCHOOLS: Children really hear and learn what their parents are talking about.
LEMON: So they came up with an empowering plan. Record students from Primrose schools nationwide, offering their wishes to President Obama and send them to him, the new secretary of education and several U.S. governors.
KIRCHNER: And we are actually sending in a little box like a little music box, the 200 wishes. That's to raise the awareness of children understanding the importance of education.
LEMON: And the students didn't stop there. They held their own election from start to finish. Campaigning, voting, and inauguration, even a parade. A good reason to celebrate. Especially if their wishes are granted.
(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): My wish is for everybody to be happy.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): My wish is to let the kids have a lot of food in the kitchen.
(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): My wish is to be happy.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): My wish is for everyone to get along.
(STUDENTS) With liberty and justice for all.
LEMON: Wishes from those with wisdom far beyond their years echoed now by America's new leader.
OBAMA: Honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism.
LEMON: Words as patriotic as America's song. Sung by a whole new generation.
Don Lemon, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right. So ready, aim, fire. Yep, find out if this snowball fight made the record books.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: What the heck is going on here? I'll tell you what it is. It's mayhem in Madison, Wisconsin. Two snowball-throwing teams faced off at the University of Wisconsin. Their goal, to break the world record for the biggest snowball fight. Even though the crowd was impressive, it was not big enough to break the world record. A fight with 3,700 people.
But Jacqui Jeras, those organizers are not giving up. They may hold another fight a little bit later this winter. So it's not over.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLIGIST: It wasn't that good packing snow. That was the biggest problem.
NGUYEN: There's still time, though. They don't call it madness for nothing.
JERAS: And listen to this.
NGUYEN: That is a bunch of folks that, you know what? I could never be a part of this group. I just couldn't do it. They are freezing for a reason, though. This is the good part of it. I couldn't do it. Maryland state police say as many as 11,000 brave souls' defied frigid temperatures and took a deep in the Chesapeake Bay Saturday. They took what is called the polar bear plunge. We hear about this all over to raise money for Special Olympics. And what an outpouring of support. You've got to be a die-hard to get into that water. The event, though, raised $2.5 million. Have you ever done anything like that?
JERAS: You know? I have been in very cold water, but it's not a true polar bear plunge unless you go under. Submerge your head. So some of those really didn't do it the right way.
You go up to your waist?
NGUYEN: That's cold enough. Dipping your toe in is enough.
JERAS: Probably not a lot of fun. Although they looked like they were having a good time.
NGUYEN: Some people are going to need to bundle up even though they're not taking the plunge. They'll feel like it when they step outside.
JERAS: A lot of cold air out there. That's going to set up the stage for a big ice storm. Coming up in the week ahead. We've had a lot of snow this weekend. In Colorado, check out these I-report pictures we have. These are coming from Matt Colver from Castle Rock. But he spent the weekend in Breckenridge to ski in some of that fresh powder. He was impressed to see some of these snow sculptures. They had a big championship there. Five-person teams from all over the world. Not just the country were there. And he said one of the really cool things about this contest is that you had to sculpt with your hands or just a manual tool.
Sometimes these people get out there with the chain saws and stuff. So thanks for those i-reports. I want to see some i-reports. You guys have an assignment. I want to see i-reports of this ice storm that is developing. It's going to make beautiful pictures but it's going to wreak havoc on many of the interstates and highways. We may see some power outages. Cold air coming in. We've got moisture coming in from the west and the south. Warm air overrides the cold air. We get freezing rain. Comes down as liquid droplets but freezes on contact. This is going to be developing, we think, tomorrow afternoon. Continuing throughout much of the day on Tuesday.
The places we're very concerned about include northern parts of Texas into Oklahoma. Here across much of Arkansas, southern Missouri through the boot heel on up into the tri-state region along the Ohio River. There you can see the watches have been posted. And looks like the Fayetteville area has just upgraded to a winter storm warning. Now watches means that those severe winter conditions are possible. And we think that the northern tier here in the watch boxes will more likely see snow rather than ice. Lots of snow has been coming down out west, and it's this system helping to bring in some of that moisture that way. This will be a real interesting, unfortunately, ugly scenario over the next couple of days.
NGUYEN: Jacqui, thank you.
President Obama has outlined what looks like a full plate for his administration in the years ahead. First and foremost, though, let's talk about the economy. Mr. Obama is pushing Congress to pass his $825 billion economic stimulus package. Mr. Obama also wants to double the nation's compasaty to generate alternative sources of energy like wind, solar and biofuels. Also to ensure American children can compete, the president wants to renovate and modernize 10,000 schools.
The president wants to lower costs and cut medical errors by computerizing the nation's health records. And President Obama wants to repair thousands of miles of America's roadways and provide new mass transit options. Many of these leading to an improved environment.
Another important issue the president has to tackle, that, of course, being the environment. Some environmentalists are asking, is President Obama green enough? Well, CNN's Rick Sanchez talked with longtime environmentalist activist Robert Kennedy Jr. This week about Mr. Obama's green agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Have you spoken to President Obama? Not as a president, but just in the past about environmental policy in this country?
ROBERT KENNEDY, JR., ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST: Yes. Yes, I have, and I've been very impressed, not only by what he said to me personally. I had written an article in "Vanity Fair" called Manifesto, and it was basically a blueprint of what the next president, be it McCain or Obama ought to be doing with our energy policy, to get us off of foreign oil and to get us off of carbon, to decarbonize our economy. And he told me that he read that article twice. He's consistently made statements that show a high level of sophistication about the environment. The appointments he's made, Lisa Jackson to lead the EPA and Carol Brown as the environmental energy czar have been both applauded widely by the environmental community. So I think we're going to see a real sea change from what we saw over the past eight years.
SANCHEZ: Let me ask you about that. Some speculate that there would be during an economic downturn, is not a good time to make she's changes. George Bush would argue that these types of changes, which he fought tooth and nail. I think everybody recognized that. Stifle business. And he was, in large measure there to protect business. Can they live together? Can they work together?
KENNEDY: Let me say this. Good environmental policy, 100 percent of the time, is identical to good economic policy if you want to measure the economy. And this is how we ought to be measuring it. Based upon how it produces jobs and the dignity of jobs over the generation, over the long term. And how it preserves the value of the assets of our economy. How it promotes long-term sustainability in our country. If on the other hand you want to do what the Bush administration was preaching, which is to treat the planet as if it were a business and liquidation, convert our natural resources to cash as quickly as possible, have a few years of pollution-based prosperity you can generate an instantaneous cash flow.
And the illusion of the prosperity economy, our children are going to pay for it in health and huge cleanup costs that will amplify over time and that they will never be able to pay. Environmental injury is deficit spending. It's a way of loading the costs of our generation's prosperity on to the backs of our children. One of the things that I've done over the past 25 years as an environmental advocate is to constantly go around and confront this argument, this right-wing argument that an investment in our environment is a diminishment of our nation's wealth. It doesn't diminish our wealth. It's an investment in infrastructure, the same as investing in telecommunications, road construction. It's an investment we have to make if we'll ensure the economic vitality of our generation and the next generation. SANCHEZ: I will tell you, you make a hell of an argument. You sound like a guy that could be an EPA administrator. Is that something you are interested in?
KENNEDY: I am very, very happy with President Obama's pick, Lisa Jackson, who was the EPA commissioner in New Jersey and did a wonderful job there. Worked very closely with the river keepers in New Jersey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Now among other things, Kennedy works as an attorney and officer for the environmental group called River Keeper.
And this just in to CNN. We've learned of a prison shooting near Orlando, Florida. Here's what we know. According to our affiliate WESH, ambulances and five medical helicopters were sent to Coleman Federal Prison around 3:00 this afternoon after shots were reported being fired there. And initial reports say 10 people were injured, including one man who was shot in the chest. Information is still coming in to CNN, but we have reports of a shooting at a prison near Orlando, Florida. We'll stay on top of that story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: So spring is still a few months away, but in Florida they are getting ready for baseball spring training. And our John Zarrella sizes up the heavy competition for the first all-male dance team in the majors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): More than 100 young women use every move they have. Auditioning to be one of the coveted Florida Marlins Mermaids. They dance at the baseball team's home games. While, hard to believe, this day, their tryout wasn't the biggest attraction. Meet the Manatee Wannabes. Last season the baseball team decided, hey, it's only fair. If you've got toned, athletic women dancing, why not a bunch of real tough men?
VANESSA MARTINEZ-HUFF, CHOREAGRAPHER: Unchartered waters last year. We did not know what the crowd reaction was going to be. And it was amazing.
ZARRELLA: So amazing, the guys will get more than free food this year. They'll also get paid 40 bucks a game. Most of last season's squad came to the audition. Tiny, Bulldozer, Mr. Mantastic.
Have you been working on that, the stomach and everything the off season?
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): I have been training. I've got to keep it maintained.
ZARRELLA: Perhaps just a few hot dogs away from stardom. (UNIDENTIFIED MALE): It was always my dream to make it to the major leagues. I guess this is as close to being a part of the majors as I'll get.
ZARRELLA: For the emphasis on personality anybody can make this team. Even me. With a little practice.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
ZARRELLA: I might need a few tips. Let's check with last year's Mermaids.
(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Stick out your belly.
ZARRELLA: And eating habits?
What do you do to keep the bulk up? A lot of cheeseburgers.
NELSON CLARK, "TINY:" Go to my grandmother's house and have sweet potato pie.
ZARRELLA: And now it is time. A lot of competition.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Yeah.
ZARRELLA: This is all freestyle here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(voice-over): At the end of the day, everyone made the team, except me. I broke a basic rule.
(on camera): If you can see your feet, you can't compete.
(voice-over): John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
