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Chandra Levy Case; Buffalo Crash Memorial Service; Obama's Popularity; Madoff Fallout; Sharks MRI; CNN Hero: Roy Foster; Catwalk Boot Camp
Aired February 21, 2009 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: And every day more bailout billions. But what's the total cost? Hello, again, I'm Fredricka Whitfield and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
There's a murder mystery that gripped the nation until the trail went cold. Now, eight years later, there may be a break in the Chandra Levy case. Levy was a 24-year-old federal government intern who disappeared in 2001. Police questioned then-Congressman Gary Condit, who reportedly had an affair with Levy but denied anything to do with her disappearance.
Levy's body was found in a Washington park in 2002. A year after she was reported missing. Now reports say police are seeking an arrest warrant in the case. CNN affiliate KGO-TV identified the target as 27- year-old Ingmar Guandique. Already serving time for assaulting two other women in the same park. CNN has not been able to confirm that report but Levy's parents say they had been informed that an arrest is imminent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN LEVY, CHANGRA LEVY'S MOTHER: We want justice. It is truly apparent, there is no justice. We have a life sentence not having our child, knowing what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Cornell Barnard of CNN affiliate KXTV has been covering the Chandra Levy investigation since the beginning. Cornell back with us again here on the phone. You talked with Chandra Levy's parents. Where are they hoping this investigation will go? How much more information do they feel like they will need from investigators before they feel convinced?
CORNELL BARNARD, KXTV (via telephone): Well, at this point, Fredricka, they do know that there was a possible break in the case, a possible suspect, and keep in mind that Ingmar Guandique is a name they are pretty familiar with. This was a name that was swirling around after their daughter's body was found in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. in 2002. He was questioned by the FBI. He denied any involvement, despite the fact that he was convicted for attacking other women in the very same park around the very same time that Chandra disappeared.
So at this time he reportedly confessed to other inmates at the federal prison where he is serving time that, yes, he did murder Chandra Levy. So they are puzzled, but at the same time, they are hoping that after all of this time, that there's going to be somebody brought to justice.
WHITFIELD: So, Cornell, you're saying the parents are familiar with that name. They heard it swirling around before. This time when they hear reportedly that this is a name they associated one more time, what was their initial reaction to that?
BARNARD: Well, again, they've run the gamut of emotions. There have been false alarms before many times. They've gotten their hopes up. But they hope that finally some charges will stick. He reportedly took a polygraph examination eight years ago, but the results were inconclusive. So they are holding out hope. They have some trepidation that this is indeed the man.
But, again, they feel like this could possibly be the break that they've been waiting for. So Mrs. Levy told me last night that she feels like this is a bittersweet time but she can't help but feeling more bitterness.
WHITFIELD: In your conversation with the parents, they've expressed some frustration from D.C. police about information, lack thereof. What kind of dialogue and how regular a basis had they been looking to D.C. police for?
BARNARD: Well, to hear them talk, it's been rather combative. They really have gotten no information. They were hoping for some updates, at least, monthly if not weekly. They haven't heard anything from the D.C. police for a very long time. It's been frustrating for them.
WHITFIELD: OK.
BARNARD: And, you know, they were pretty much resigned to the fact that there would never be a break in this cold case. In fact, she told me a couple of weeks ago that she doubt that there would ever be anybody brought to justice, but that was two weeks ago and it looks like things could be changing here.
WHITFIELD: Cornell Barnard, KXTV, thank you very much for your time and we appreciate it all of the reporting you have been doing on this story for the last eight years now.
Meantime, two hours from now, Chandra Levy's mother, Susan Levy will be joining us to talk about the latest developments. That's 5:00 p.m. Eastern in the newsroom with Don Lemon.
There's been a shocking crime in western Pennsylvania. A pregnant woman found dead in her home by her 5-year-old daughter. An 11-year- old boy has actually been charged with the murder, 26-year-old Kenzy Marie Houk was eight months pregnant. The young suspect has not been identified by name. The police won't say whether he was related to the victim, he is jail however, charged with criminal homicide of Houck and her unborn child.
Memorial services were held today for two victims of that plane crash outside Buffalo, New York. Family and friends filled a middle school auditorium to remember Vietnam vet Doug Wielinski. He was inside his home when Continental Connection flight 3407 crashed into it and burst into flames. His wife and daughter managed to escape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL WIELINSKI, BROTHER: Kim, Lori, Jessica and Jill, your aunts and uncles will always be there for you. While we can never replace your father, we will continue to guide you in the ways that he would approve. Karen, you married into the Wielinski family. You will always be a Wielinski, no matter what. You -- you know we always will love you. We love you, Doug. We will watch over your girls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: A memorial service was also held today for Beverly Eckert. She was a September 11 widow who had become a powerful advocate for the victims' families.
Another plane crash deeply etched in the memory of all Americans. United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. The heroic crew and passengers who overpowered their hijackers, forcing the plane to crash in a rural Pennsylvania field, killing all 40 people on board. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and other members of Congress say they may well owe their lives to the crew and passengers of Flight 93 if you recall the hijackers may have been planning to crash the plane into the capital or perhaps the White House. Officials yesterday signed a letter of intent to build a permanent memorial at the crash site.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ED RENDELL, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: I was struck by everyone's determination to make sure that we not only had a memorial to those 40 people who were the first soldiers of war against global terrorism, but that, that story would not fade from memory in this country. And everyone's commitment to the concept of having a memorial that 50 years hence, people could come from all over the world and hear about that story and what those 40 brave people did on that day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Groundbreaking for the memorial will take place in November.
Firefighters across Oklahoma have had their hands full battling wildfires fueled by high winds, warm temperatures and low humidity. The flames have threatened homes and businesses in parts of the state, and they have damaged some barns and vehicles. So far, no reports of any homes damaged or injuries, despite recent rains, much of Oklahoma is extremely dry. Just yesterday the National Weather Service extended red flag flier warnings to 41 counties in the state. Jacqui Jeras in the Weather Center. Boy, it's a bad way there.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A little better today. They still have gusty winds but things are still extremely dry. So that's not good news to fighting those fires for today. We're looking for a little more humidity to try to creep in there over the next couple of days. Right now, Oklahoma sits behind the cold front. So they are in that dryer, cooler air mass today and ahead of it, we're looking at the wet weather and some milder temperatures in a few areas as well.
We have a lot of snow to talk about. This is the big weather story of the day for you travelers across the Midwest a lot of ugliness out there. Check out the live picture that we have for you out of Minneapolis-St. Paul at this hour. Showing you, yeah, that snow is coating the air. For the most part, you're done with it, maybe a couple flurries now. That's after four to seven inches of snowfall on the ground. My dad was driving through Minneapolis this morning and said it was a real nightmare as he drove through Wisconsin.
WHITFIELD: Was that a Freudian slip, like he was driving so fast, as he flying?
JERAS: He was striving to be flying. Actually, he was going to catch a flight. Got ahead of myself there. We have ugly weather there in Wisconsin as well. Right now Milwaukee is where one of the worst areas is where the snow's coming down so heavy. Visibility is down to a quarter of a mile and the winds are gusting around 30 miles per hour. We do have a ground stop now put into effect at Mitchell Field until 2:15 Central Time. Use a lot of caution if have you to travel today and just a big heads up. But that system is heading into the northeast tomorrow.
WHITFIELD: Good warning. Thank you very much, Jacqui. We appreciate it.
President Obama, promising to fatten your paycheck within weeks. It's part of his economic stimulus plan. CNN's Kate Bolduan is at the White House. Kate, what can you tell us about what you're hearing about the plan?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Fredricka. During the president's weekly address, President Obama said Americans can expect to see results from this economic stimulus plan soon. At least the individual tax cut portion of the stimulus, and that could come as early as April 1st. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: I'm pleased to announce this morning the Treasury Department began directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks. Meaning that by April 1st, a typical family will begin taking home at least $65 more every month.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: The focus quickly shifting to the coming week. A busy week for the president. On Monday he will be meeting with a group of Democratic and Republican governors from across the country. They're here in town for their annual winter meeting of the Governors Association that kicked off today. And then the president will be addressing a joint session of Congress Tuesday. The topic, the economy, as expected. And later this week, looking more longer term, the president will be unveiling the 2010 budget that will be definitely closely looked at by people across the country. Today in the Republican response to the president's address, Republican Congressman Dave Camp argued that after signing off on this massive $787 billion stimulus plan, if the president -- he says if the president is serious about reining in spending, it will need to show up in the budget, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kate Bolduan, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Right to the court of public opinion now. We have new polls showing how you really feel about the economic stimulus plan. Earlier today, CNN Deputy Political director Paul Steinhauser delivered some results.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: We did this poll on Wednesday and Thursday. The stimulus was signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday. You can see six out of ten favor it; only four out of ten oppose it. Check this out, when we asked will the stimulus package do what it's supposed to do, and that's basically pump up the economy, improve the economy, you can see the numbers drop a little bit there, Fred, down to 53 percent.
When we asked specifically will the stimulus package help improve your financial situation, only three in ten say yes. So I think the scene here is they like it overall. It's got tax cuts and it has spending on things they like, bridges, tunnels, roads, hospitals, schools, but they don't think it will specifically going to help them out, Fred.
WHITFIELD: And then apparently these polls broke it down by party but I think most people have a general idea how it breaks down by party. Go ahead and elaborate for us. We can't forget the most recent vote, right?
STEINHAUSER: Yeah, it's reflected quite right here. No surprise. Nine in ten Democrats support it; independents are split and only two out of ten Republicans, one out of five, support the plan. We saw that in the vote in Congress. Not one member of the house on the Republican side voted for the stimulus and only three Republicans in the Senate came over.
WHITFIELD: All right. Approval rating, we are already talking about the president's approval rating even though it has barely been a month in office.
STEINHAUSER: Right now, two out of three Americans are definitely giving him the thumb's up. Take a look at that, 67 percent approve of the way President Obama is handling his job as president. Three in ten disapprove. That's down slightly when we asked a few weeks ago, mainly from Republicans who have detracted and jumped to the other side. But two out of three, any politician would love to have that approval rating.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Paul. All right. Looking ahead to next week, President Obama expects to hold a fiscal responsibility summit with lawmakers on Monday then Tuesday night; he addresses a joint session of Congress. The economy, not surprisingly, is expected to be a major focus of that speech. Of course, we will be carrying that live here on CNN.
All right. These days everyone seems to be worried about their job and keeping their home. America's housing crises is the topic of a CNN newsroom special next hour and we want you to be a part. E-mail us at Weekends@cnn.com and tell us your story. Have you lost your home? Are you about to? Is your mortgage company working with you? Send us your questions and perhaps your comments. We'll pose them to the experts and have answers and advice all next hour, and you can e-mail us right now Weekends@CNN.com.
The U.S. and Syria had far less than cordial relations under former President Bush. Now there are signs of a thaw.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In the last and most crucial stop of her tour of Asia, U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton broached a touchy subject as she held talks with Chinese leaders. Clinton brought up the human rights issue at a meeting in Beijing with China's foreign minister. But she emphasized that the human rights issue cannot overshadow more pressing issues including the global financial crises and climate change. Clinton also met with President Tao and other Chinese officials. President Obama is expected to meet with the Chinese president at the G-20 Summit in London, and that is in April.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is also in Asia this hour. She met earlier with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai. During their talks in Kabul, Pelosi pressed Karzai on several issues of concern, including security and corruption among government officials. Just last week, President Obama announced he's sending 17,000 more American troops to Afghanistan. U.S. Commanders say the troops are needed to fight a resurging Taliban.
After years of tense relations, the U.S. and Syria appear to be exploring closer ties. One sign of that, several members of Congress have visited Damascus in recent days, including Senator John Kerry. We're live today.
CNN's Cal Perry reports.
CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, well today's visit by Senator Kerry may mark a sharp thaw in relations between the United States and Syria; we actually have seen in the past two years the two countries moving in a different direction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY (voice over): It was the former president, Jimmy Carter, who first pushed the boundaries of U.S. Diplomacy with Syria. Not only meeting with President Assad but also with Hamas' external leadership, which resides in Damascus. Visiting on multiple occasions since 2007, he was virtually disavowed by the Bush administration.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: Photo opportunities and/or meetings with President Assad lead the Assad government to believe they're part of the mainstream of the international community. When in fact they're a state sponsor of terror.
PERRY: Only last October the U.S. military breached Syrian air space from Iraq, attacking, they say, foreign fighters. Eight were left dead. In the days after the raid, thousands took to the streets across Syria in protest. Many demanded that all U.S.-funded projects be shut down. The Embassy was closed for a short time because of security concerns. Now Syria has seen a steady stream of U.S. delegations to Damascus. The shift in diplomacy perhaps foreshadowed by Obama's inauguration speech.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward based on mutual interests and mutual respect. For those leaders around the globe who seek to sell conflict or blame their society's ills on the west, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.
PERRY: What a difference an administration makes. High-profile visits continue. Most recently this weekend, Senator John Kerry headlining a delegation to Damascus. The U.S. State Department, too, is shifting its policy, resuming diplomatic talks with Syria with high-level meetings set to take place next week between the state department and Syrian ambassador.
GORDON DUGLIO, STATE DEPARTMENT SPEAKER: Syria can play a role and a positive role in the region by trying to help bring peace and stability to the Middle East. So I think the Syrians understand that they can do that. That is what the U.S. would like to see all nations in that region do.
PERRY: And while Barack Obama may really want to sink his team into a broader Mid East peace, the United States may find Syria in a helpful position. For starters, they share a border with Iraq, which will be key to any major U.S. withdrawal, and Syria holds the key to Hamas, which may open the door to a broader Mid East peace.
Fredricka.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Thanks, Cal.
Well the government's big bailout is probably more expensive than you think.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, do you like beating the mall crowd by going early in the morning or late at night? A sign of the times, you may have to change your shopping habits. As of March 1st, that's when almost all Westfield malls are cutting hours to save money and it means fewer hours for mall employees as well. Westfield runs 55 malls in a dozen states.
Another bank goes under. Silver Falls Bank is the second bank in Oregon to fail in a week, and it's the 14th nationwide this year. Customers won't be shut out, however. Citizens Bank and the FDIC are now taking over.
Well, it seems every day we're talking about another bunch of billions that the government is handing out to try to get us all out of this recession. How much is this all adding up to? Our Josh Levs has that and this whopping figure. I think we're all losing count.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I couldn't believe it when the CNN Money folks told me how much it totaled, it's incredible. I will show you how far back it goes. Remember a year ago, we were already hearing we were going to get stimulus checks around tax time? If you're looking at the length of recession, it goes back to December 2007. Let's zoom in on the board. I'm about to show you all of these projects that the government's undertaking, what it adds up to dating back to December 2007.
I will scroll down and then we will break it apart a little bit. Check this out, Fred, the amount the government has allocated is at $10.8 trillion. The amount that's already been spent is at $2.1 trillion. That includes everything, the whole mix of everything you keep hearing about, T.A.R.P. and latest stimulus bill and everything. So $2.1 trillion spent, $10.8 total already allocated. There's a lot of ways that I can contextualize that for you but here's what I like to do. Let's zoom back in. The current official debt of the United States is right here. Total debt --
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. Way too many digits.
LEVS: $10.8 trillion. It's the same figure. $10.8 trillion is technically our debt right now and $10.8 trillion is also the amount we have allocated for all of these different projects. I will have a graphic here, a few of the latest ones that are contributing towards that total. We keep track of it as they go. $200 billion for Fannie and Freddie there at the bottom. And $75 billion the president's plan to help homeowners. But that came from money previously allocated in T.A.R.P. The big mega stimulus bill, $787 billion.
So, Fred, those are pieces of the massive pie. When you look at it on that list, you can see it's just incredible. We will keep updating it pretty much every single day. Stay on that CNNmoney.com and you will see where it goes.
WHITFIELD: This is all kinds of stuff if people want to watch those figures and understand the whole accountability thing; this is where recovery.gov comes into play, right?
LEVS: Recovery.gov is one great place to look. So is CNNmoney.com. Recovery.gov is awesome, can be awesome if the info is there but it obviously comes from the White House. The reality check stuff will be at CNNmoney.com.
WHITFIELD: Thanks, Josh. I know you will be playing with us again later on in the next hour when we talk about the housing crises, mortgages, what to do, how to navigate. Thanks, Josh. Appreciate it.
President Obama has been in office just over a month now. Are his huge approval ratings holding up? Find out what the latest polls are showing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Just past the half hour. Here are some of the stories we are working on in the newsroom. The parents of Chandra Levy's say police are about to make an arrest in connection with their daughter's murder. A federal government intern, Levy disappeared back in 2001. Her body was found in a Washington, D.C. park one year later. One report says the suspect is already in prison for two other assaults in the same park.
And there were disagreements today as the nation's governors gathered in Washington. The hot topic at their winter meeting, how to use federal stimulus money. Some Republicans say the package is bloated and wasteful.
You can expect a fatter paycheck, however, in about six weeks. That promise today from President Obama who says tax cuts in the new stimulus law will benefit 95 percent of working families. The president says lower paycheck deductions will kick in April 1, saving the typical family at least $65 every month.
President Obama has been in office just 33 days now. Is his popularity holding up? Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider has new poll numbers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): President Obama is a month into his honeymoon. Is the love still there? Yes, it is. Mr. Obama's approval rating is still very high, 67 percent. When's the last time President Bush had an approval rate that high? You have to go back to March 2003 when the initial fighting ended in Iraq.
Still, 67 percent approval is nine points lower than two weeks ago. Two-thirds of that decline came among Republicans. For them, it's over.
SEN LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: If this is going to be bipartisanship, the country's screwed.
SCHNEIDER: It's the stimulus plan, isn't it?
Overall, public support for the plan is strong, 60 percent of Americans favor it. But the stimulus plan has become a real cause of contention. Nearly a quarter of Republicans support it, but more than three-quarters of them don't. Won't work, they say.
SEN JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: It has hundreds of billions of dollars in projects which will not yield in jobs.
SCHNEIDER: Will, too, say Democrats, nearly 90 percent of whom support it.
REP MAXINE WATERS (D) CALIFORNIA: It is going to stimulate the economy. It's going to create jobs. In the state of California, we're going to get almost 400,000 jobs.
SCHNEIDER: Is there anything people think President Obama can't do?
Yes. The public is not sure he can end the partisan gridlock in Washington.
Do they really want him to?
Yes. Most Americans say they would rather see Mr. Obama try to reach a bipartisan compromise rather than pass laws he thinks are right for the country, that are not supported by the Republicans.
In other words, they want to see more love.
(on camera): Has the Republican Party taken a hit because they opposed the stimulus plan? The Republican Party is still nearly 20 points behind the Democratic Party in popularity. That was true in December. It doesn't look like the Republicans have paid a price for opposing the stimulus plan, but they haven't made any gains, either.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, turning now to the fraud investigation involving Texas financier Robert Allen Stanford. Regulators in the Caribbean have taken over the banks that he owned in Antigua. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accuses Stanford and three of his companies of orchestrating a huge fraud that may have bilked investors of some $9 billion. No criminal charges, however, have yet been filed.
And on to disgraced money man Bernie Madoff. Now, amazingly, he's done it again, made his investors madder than ever. Investors -- investigators, rather, say Madoff didn't make any stock trades for his clients in his Ponzi scheme in over a decade.
Hundreds of them heard that bad news at an emotional meeting in bankruptcy court just yesterday. Investigators say that they are sorting through Madoff's assets to see what could be recovered. Nearly $1 billion has been recovered so far, but that still leaves $49 billion to find.
Lilian Kim with our affiliate KGO talked with a Madoff client in California. An elderly man who was enjoying retirement until he realized all of his savings are now gone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LILIAN KIM, KGO REPORTER: How much money did you lose?
IAN THIERMANN, MADOFF VICTIM: Over $730,000. KIM: And that was all of your savings?
I THIERMANN: Yep. That was all of our savings.
KIM (voice-over): Ian Thiermann is broke. The retirement fund he and his wife, Terry, have spent decades building has been wiped out. Like thousands of other people, the Ben Lomond couple put their money into what they thought what was a safe and incredible investment group, led by former NASDAQ chairman, Bernie Madoff. Instead, prosecutors say it was a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
I THIERMANN: It took my breath away, is all I could say. I, you know, owe, really? I mean, is that possible?
KIM: For the Thiermann, life as they know it is over. No longer can they devote most of their time volunteering like they had been doing since they retired 20 years ago. Instead, Ian, at 90 years old is back at work as a greeter at the Ben Lomond Market. The owner offered the $10 an hour job after learning about the couple's troubles.
I THIERMANN: I'm still healthy enough, as I say, to work.
TERRY THIERMANN, MADOFF VICTIM: I think he's amazing. Amazing.
I THIERMANN: I think she's amazing, too.
T THIERMANN: So I absolutely appreciate what he's doing.
KIM: Tough economic times have hit the tierman family committed suicide during the Great Depression. This couple, though, refuses to get depressed or even angry about what's happened to them. They say they are grateful for their friends and family who are offering help and support.
T THIERMANN: So if you, you know, run into depression or you sat around and moped and cried, all you get back is depression. Now that's not the way either of us have ever dealt with life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: That is heartbreaking.
All right, well these days, everyone seems to be worried about their job, keeping their home. America's housing crisis is the topic of a CNN NEWSROOM special, next hour -- and we want you to be a part. E- mail us at weekends@cnn.com and tell us your story. Have you lost your homes? Are you about to? Is your mortgage company working with you? Are you considering refinancing? Send us your questions. We'll have experts with answers and advice. It's all next hour. You can you e-mail us right now, however, weekends@cnn.com.
All right, recession putting a squeeze on you? A couple in Colorado is turning lemons into lemonade. We will share their recipes for success.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Peeking into the "Technofile", sharks are star attractions around aquariums around the world. But, if one gets sick, well, what are the signs? Doctors at the Georgia Aquarium hope technology developed for humans will also help provide some answers. Sandra Endo reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDRA ENDO, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So what happens to a 20-ton whale shark if it gets a belly ache? That's what scientists and volunteers at one of the world's largest aquariums want to know.
DR LILLY GOMEZ, VOLUNTEER: Well, what we're going to do today is try to see if we can use a human technology to try to apply it and use it for the whale shark.
ENDO: Dr. Lilly Gomez, a pediatric emergency room doctor, who volunteers at the Georgia Aquarium, held in her hand a tiny camera that transmits images back to a receiver. The MRI-like test will determine if the same high quality images useful in diagnosing humans could also be applied to large sea creatures.
GREGORY BOSSART, GEORGIA AQUARIUM: We have problems imaging gastrointestinal tract. We can't use x-rays because they're so big. So, this allows -- this technology, if it works, will allow us to image the GI tract, just like people.
ENDO: But, first things first. Gomez will swim with the camera in her hand to determine if the MRI signal can travel through water. And, yes, it will, but only about six feet. The scientists would like to see the signal travel further.
For the test to work, the camera would have to be swallowed by a shark or whale. The images would then have to penetrate up to three feet of organs, gills and skin. Another try, this time waterproofing the receiver and allowing Gomez to swim with both the camera and the receiver.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, there's the pill.
ENDO: So, did it work?
BOSSART: You know, we're starting to see some of the images come up here now.
ENDO: The verdict.
GOMEZ: The dive was good. We learned a lot of things. The capsule works really well at any depth. It doesn't matter if we're at the surface or down to 30 feet.
ENDO: Which could mean a whole new way of treating what ails these massive beauties.
Sandra Endo, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: A Colorado couple came up with a recipe for success after being hit hard by the recession. They turned a lifelong passion for food and dozens of family recipes into a cookbook. It's called "Just Recipes," and it's filled with dishes that can be made on a budget.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAREN FJELDHEIM, COOKBOOK CREATOR: I had to find new and creative ways of bringing in money and so we decided that we should take the accumulation of my recipes and make a cookbook.
BRENT FJELDHEIM, COOKBOOK CREATOR: We had the time, and we both have wanted to do it. We said why not right now?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, most of the ingredients are things that most people already have in their kitchen. Congrats to them.
All right, well trying to make ends meet is exactly what led my next guest into leaving her comfort zone. While she acknowledges that she reinvented herself to make life interesting, she knows this is something many people are being forced to do these days as more pink slips go out everywhere.
Kaitlin Kelly is a journalist and author , now also working at a retail store. She wrote about the experience in the "New York Times" and I spoke with her earlier this week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
What's interesting here is that it's not that you wanted to, I guess, throw away your work as a journalist or that you were fired, but instead you were a little bored? Do I get that right? And you wanted to mix things up so you decided, hey, why not seek a retail job, as well?
KAITLIN KELLY, JOURNALIST: It's a combination of things. I needed some extra income. I make a good living as a writer and lots of people do. But it's an indirect income. Sometimes it takes two to three months, four months, five months, for the checks to show up. And working alone at home, which people think oh, that would be so great, it's really lonely.
WHITFIELD: So, I wanted more people contact. I wanted a regular income and I need cash flow, because as everybody knows, especially if you lose your job, the bills don't stop coming and yet you need money every week to pay them.
WHITFIELD: Right.
KELLY: So a paycheck was a good thing.
WHITFIELD: Everyone can kind of impart a lesson from you, especially if they have lost their jobs, because it really means stepping outside your comfort zone.
KELLY: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: You had no experience in retail, but you thought, hey, wait a minute, I can use some extra money. Let me try this. And to your surprise, actually landed the job. How do you think you did it? What was the skill set that you think you presented to let them be convinced that your skills were transferrable?
KELLY: Well, you know, truthfully, I literally made a separate resume. I sat down and I very realistically thought, well, what is it I do as a journalist? I size people up within seconds, I make them comfortable and I engage them. And I did a one sheet. I said these are my skills. I speak fluent French, I speak Spanish. I'm an athlete, I work in a sporting goods store, an outdoor clothing store, I work for the north base (ph).
So, I had a lot of passions that really fit and my manager told me recently about two weeks ago, he said, you know why I hired you? You're engaging. You know how to talk to people. You know how to get them interested in a conversation. Once a customer feels comfortable and relaxed, they're going to talk to you, they are going to trust you, then you can actually move towards a sale. People don't want to buy from people that aren't interested in them. So, a lot was personality, I think, truthfully.
WHITFIELD: So, the great fringe benefit that came with this, too, turns out you love it, too.
KELLY: I do.
WHITFIELD: So, how has this really enhanced your life, kind of, you know, made everything real full circle and complete for you?
KELLY: I think it's been a really good experience for me. One of the things that I have to do as a journalist, day-to-day freelance, and it would be great to get another full-time job. My industry is pretty challenged. You have you to sell yourself.
Now, if I know I can sell a ski jacket, a pair of pants, some boots to a really impatient young child and his mother who just wants to get back to the car, I can sell anything. And I've learned that. My sales figures are fabulous, and I no experience. It's given me tremendous confidence.
WHITFIELD: You have just boosted the confidence of a whole lot of people who are kind of wondering, wait, I just lost my job. I can't find another job in my industry, but now you have kind of given a lot of incentive and great instructive advice how to step out of that and maybe try something else and it, too, might be that perfect fit.
Kaitlin Kelly, thanks so much and all the best to you.
KELLY: Thank you very much, I appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: And we're just minutes away from a special edition of the NEWSROOM. Next hour, we will be talking to experts about the foreclosure crisis. The president's new plan to deal with it and how that plan could affect you. Josh Levs will be joining us to take some of your questions, as well. A little sampling of what you're get something.
JOSH LEVS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I'll tell you, we're getting a lot of questions and no surprise, right? I mean, it's all things real estate, particularly foreclosure and it doesn't mean you have to be facing foreclosure, you might just be concerned you that might face foreclosure. You might be considering doing that process.
I will show you, there's a couple ways to weigh in. We have a graphic that will give you the question, here you can also weigh in at my FaceBook page, Josh Levs CNN. You can go ahead, we just posted this. Anything about foreclosure or real estate. You can be a part of FaceBook, just go Josh Levs CNN, and you'll be able to weigh in right there.
And also, let's just tell everyone, it's weekends@cnn.com. Weekends@cnn.com. Go ahead and send any of your questions right there.
And Fred, we'll be here starting at 4:00 sharp.
WHITFIELD: I know.
LEVS: And we will get as many of those questions we can, the whole hour.
WHITFIELD: Right around the corner. All right, so instructive and really good. All rigtht, thanks so much, Josh. Appreciate it.
All right, this too, this startling statistic. One in three homeless adults in America is a veteran. Today we introduce you to a man who is tackling the problem head-on. He's our first "CNN Hero" of 2009. And as you will see, he brings new meaning to the military mantra, "leave no man behind."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROY FOSTER, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: I actually joined the army right out of high school. I became introduced to alcohol once I was out. It was just simply drinking and drugging and I would then in the streets. I was looking for a safe haven. The places that I were introduced to were no better than on the street. It was humiliating. That's when the commitment in my heart, it was born.
How can I turn my back and walk away and leave you right here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can.
FOSTER: I can't.
Nationwide, veterans are neglected, homeless, unacceptable. What branch of service?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Army.
FOSTER: Army. So was I. We are brothers in arms, so no man left behind.
My name is Roy Foster and my mission is to help and empower homeless veterans. If you're going work for sobriety, you got to change. Stand-Down House provides services for veterans only, a safe, clean place to live, all of the meals, mental health services. The camaraderie, it is that internal glue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I got back from Iraq, it was difficult for me until I met Mr. Foster, who helped me.
(BEGIN GRAPHIC)
In 2008, 93 percent of eligible veterans in Roy's program found work.
More than 84 percent of graduates found independent housing.
(END GRAPHIC)
FOSTER: Tell him one of his brothers in arms came out looking for him, and let him know, yeah, we will be back.
They are the best and they deserve the best. What I do, I love. I love it.
What I do, I love. I love it.
ANNOUNCER: Tell us about your hero at CNN.com/heroes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, talk about high caliber hair. Police in Kansas City say a woman's tightly woven hair weave stop ad bullet. No kidding. Briana Bonds says her ex-boyfriend actually shot at her with a handgun while she was in her car. It shattered the back window, but she actually managed to drive away. And police later found the spent bullet in her weave. Needless to say, local hair stylists are quite stunned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM WALTON, WEAVE STYLIST: Never heard of weave saving anybody's life. Never. Never in my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, we can laugh about it, because there's a happy ending, here. Briana Bonds says that she did have a headache, but you know what, it could have been worse. She's all right. All right, runway wipeouts? Well, they're rare, but they really do get the flashbulbs popping when it does happen. So, how do models stay on their toes the rest of the time?
Alina Cho is in New York. You know it's "Fashion Week."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Hey Fred, well you know, models make it look so easy, but waling on the catwalk is no easy feat.
Earlier this week I got a lesson from one of the toughest modeling boot camp instructor out there. I even got a couple of tips from supermodel Heidi Klum. And what I learned that modeling is not for mortals.
CHO (voice-over): It happens just about every fashion season. A catwalk tumble. Go to YouTube and you'll find the best of the trip- ups. Even supermodel Heidi Klum isn't immune.
HEIDI KLUM, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "PROJECT RUNWAY": In a dress that under my shoe, so I stepped on the dress and I couldn't go any further.
CHO: Klum took a fall while making this Diet Coke ad. So what's a model to do?
KLUM: Boom, boom, boom. The key in walking great is always like making big steps.
CHO (on camera): Big strides.
(voice-over): I wanted to find out for myself so I signed up for a high heel boot camp.
ANASTASSIA KHOZISSOVA, MODEL: One, two, three, four.
CHO: My instructor, Anastassia, a veteran catwalker. This Ralph Lauren muse even has a how-to video on modelenia.com.
KHOZISSOVA: One, two, three, four.
CHO: We met up at Milk Studios in New York for a one-on-one lesson.
KHOZISSOVA: Concentrate.
CHO: OK, I'm concentrating.
KHOZISSOVA: Concentrate.
CHO: Lesson one, balance.
KHOZISSOVA: And you're straight here, and you keep straight, shoulders straight. This is it. Head up.
CHO: Once that's down, we get to the walking. KHOZISSOVA: Your movement always comes from the hips.
CHO: Easier said than done. I've never been afraid of a high heel so I thought boot camp would be a breeze.
(on camera): It's hard.
KHOZISSOVA: Well, fashion is hard. Everything -- it's not easy to be a model.
CHO (voice-over): Anastassia's explanation for why models fall? Too much heel-toe on slippery runways.
KHOZISSOVA: I go like this.
CHO (on camera): Yes.
KHOZISSOVA: Right?
CHO: Right.
KHOZISSOVA: And I'm falling.
CHO (voice-over): So what's the key?
KHOZISSOVA: If you want to be great model, professional model, it's a job.
CHO (on camera): And like any other job...
KHOZISSOVA: Of course.
CHO: Practice makes perfect.
KHOZISSOVA: Practice, practice makes perfect.
CHO (voice-over): Klum adds don't obsess.
KLUM: I want to look powerful and I want to look sensual, I want to look sexy. I think more about those things, I don't think about, oh, my god, let's not fall, oh, my god, I can't trip.
KHOZISSOVA: Give me your best shot. Come on. Don't bouncing.
CHO: After an hour, how did I do?
KHOZISSOVA: That's almost perfect.
(on camera): Not so fast. You know, Anastasia told me I still need a couple more sessions. That's for sure.
Now, when you're at a fashion show watch these models it looks effortless. But, I found out it's far from easy. And Fred, as you well know, I am no stranger to high heels.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Oh, I know, Alina. You can wear them high heels like no one else.
All right, your paycheck, President Obama says it's about to get bigger courtesy of the economic stimulus plan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: America's housing crisis. It's our topic for the top of the hour at the CNN NEWSROOM and we want you to play apart. E-mail us at weekend@cnn.com and tell us your story if you've lost your home, if you're worried about losing it, is your mortgage company working with you? Send us your questions. We have experts with answers and advice just minutes away.
President Obama says the economic stimulus plan will pump up your paycheck within weeks. Withholding taxes will be reduced starting April 1. The president says more than 95 percent of working families are getting a break. For the typical household, an extra $65 a month.
So, another look at the top story right now, eight years after Chandra Levy disappeared in Washington, D.C., there may be a break into the investigation into her murder. Levy's parents say they were told an arrest is imminent. The 24-year-old government intern had an affair with then congressman Gary Condit. But Condit's lawyer says his client will be cleared of any lingering suspicion suspicions.
All right, embattled homeowners facing foreclosure and demanding help. This week the Obama administration promised to give it to them. For the next hour we'll be looking at the mortgage crisis, the administration's foreclosure relief program, and how it will affect you.
