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Coming Snowstorm; Missing in the Gulf; Julian Bonds Speaks of Civil Rights Struggles

Aired March 01, 2009 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Right season, but the right place? This is what it looks like, all the way to Atlanta and beyond. Get ready for the northeast. You are next.

A developing story off the Florida Gulf coast. The search is on for four missing boaters and two of them are NFL players.

And retracing history. Civil rights icon Julian Bond shares his story. Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. And you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right spring is supposed to be three weeks away. But winter isn't ready to give up just yet. A big snowstorm is rolling through the southeast and heading north with a vengeance. Traffic backed up along interstate 40 in western Tennessee. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and the snow caused several traffic accidents in Birmingham, Alabama as well.

A winter storm warning stretches all the way into New England where they are predicting up to 15 inches of snow. Our i-reporters are getting involved as well. They're all over this story. Cindy Williams sent in these pictures to show us what the snow looks like in Phoenix City, Alabama. That's in the eastern part of the state, just across the border from Columbus, Georgia.

And the snow was deep enough in Smiths, Alabama, to make snow angels just like that right. There ironically, Smiths is just five miles from Salem, Alabama, where three possible tornadoes were reported yesterday.

And this is what it looks like in Memphis, Tennessee, right there. I- reporter Chris Stoner says he was snowing there - or he says it was snowing rather there for about 12 hours. All right. Well, that Tennessee snow may have been pretty, but it cause some real travel problems.

Laura McPherson is the public information officer for the Tennessee Department of Safety. She joins us now by phone from Nashville. All right. Paint a picture for me because you've had snow there almost all day now. We're looking at some of the recent images which shows the roads are clear but is that indeed the case?

VOICE OF LAURA MCPHERSON, TENNESSEE DEPT. OF SAFETY: Well it certainly is in West Tennessee. Things have improved greatly. I-40 in Haywood County which is near Memphis. It's in our Memphis district for the Tennessee Highway Patrol. It's back open and the captain in that district tells me that vehicles are going about 45 miles an hour or better, which is certainly an improvement to what we saw early this morning and overnight. There are still some stranded vehicles. Troopers out on the roads trying to assist those people who are stranded still.

WHITFIELD: Yes, because right now, Laura, we're looking at images on this roadway where it is bumper to bumper. It's a real mess. And you can see that on i-40 here, is what I understand there were also some fender benders as well. So for the most part cleared up, at least in that area?

MCPHERSON: In that area. We're now getting reports of having problems in east Tennessee. We have several state highways and -- that have been shut down. I-26, interstate 26 near the North Carolina border, they are having some issues because snow is falling pretty heavily in that area.

WHITFIELD: OK. Laura McPherson, thanks so much with the Tennessee Department of Safety. Appreciate it. And all the best with the snow.

All right. Well, the snow has certainly been coming down right here in Atlanta as well. All afternoon I was among those who was a nonbeliever. No way it's going to snow to this depth in Atlanta. But here we go. And look Jacqui Jeras is like, I told you so.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I know, you still haven't really apologized. You just -

WHITFIELD: I know, I apologized in the last hour. Good lord. I'm sorry for doubting you. The snow is here. We're all enjoying it.

JERAS: Isn't it beautiful, Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Yes, it is beautiful, Jacqui. And you are beautiful in it.

JERAS: Oh, I'm in my element. We'll tell you that. It's big. It's wet. It is slushy. And it has been coming down since about 11:30 this morning in the Atlanta metro area. It almost looks like big feathers falling from the sky. That's how big some of these flakes are. Because of the moisture content in this snow, it's really tough to estimate just how much we've had. But my educated guess is that we're looking at probably two inches in the downtown area here.

You know, take note that it's collecting on these surfaces. It's a good packing snow but it still kind of tough to make a snowman because a lot of this is still kind of melting. In fact, look at the table here. Look at how all of this was just white snow. And now it's just basically turning to slush. And one of our biggest problems is as our temperatures drop tonight, we're going to be dealing with some very, very icy roadways and yes, we're already having a lot of problem in terms of air traffic and this thing is going to be moving through the mid-atlantic into the northeast. This is a storm we're going to deal with for a good two days.

All right. Let's show you what's going on in terms of snowfall totals thus far, across as far to the south. Germantown, Tennessee. That's a suburb of Memphis. There's still over five inches of snowfall there. Columbus, Mississippi, three inches. And an inch in Huntsville. The heaviest of snow as we show you our radar map is still coming down right here in the ATL down toward La Grange, into Columbus and then southeast of the Montgomery area.

And we're seeing the snow also developing across the Appalachians chains. And we're going to start to see this change over to some snow across the Carolinas. The winter storm warnings have been posted in that area. Charlotte, looking for four to eight inches. And by the way, here in Atlanta, we've been upgraded to a winter storm warning from the advisory because we're expecting another one to two on top of what we already have.

All right. Let's talk about the next map here and show you some of these delays that we're going to be talking about. If you are trying to travel and talking about those temperatures. 23 will be the overnight low. So bridges and overpasses are going to be iced. Anything that's not treated will be very, very hazardous.

Let's talk about air travel now. We've had over 300 flights canceled by Delta. There's a ground stop in effect at the airport. Meaning you can't take off to get here at this time. Delays in the northeast corner already over an hour in Boston and Neward. And really we haven't see the snow begin there just yet. Let's go ahead and show you the northeastern radar. And the conditions there. We've had just a light dusting. There's a little wave of the first piece of energy pulled on through. But the snowfall accumulation map will show you just how heavy things are going to get.

We think the real show begins after midnight tonight. And we'll put our next map into motion and show you those accumulations. We think Philadelphia into New York City. Hartford into Boston. We'll see those heavier snows. Likely we're talking, you know, eight to 10 inches easy out on Long Island. Over a foot will be possible in Boston. So travel difficult today, Fredricka. But just wait until tomorrow in the northeastern corridor.

If you have travel plans, you might want to start thinking about rebooking your flight as we speak.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I'd say so. I think all the kids are going to be real excited here in the Atlanta area. We don't know yet but it looks like a snow day to me. It looks like me and little Johnny boy may do a little sledding tomorrow.

JERAS: I think it's going to be melting, honey. I think it's today or nothing.

WHITFIELD: We'll find a cardboard box or something. All right. Thanks a lot, Jacqui. Appreciate it.

JERAS: OK.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, this developing story we continue to watch off the west coast of Florida. The search for a missing fishing party of four men. CNN now confirming two of the missing are pro football players identified as free agent defensive end Corey Smith who last year played for the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper.

The U.S. Coast Guard says it is searching an area roughly 750 square miles west of Clearwater past Florida. And that's where the four men were believed to have gone fishing. The U.S. Coast Guard is asking anyone with any information on the fishermen's whereabouts to call them.

All right. Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh hasn't minced words when it comes to his disdain of the Obama administration. He told the nation's largest annual gathering of conservative political activists in Washington to resist what he calls the president's negative outlook.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: President Obama has the ability - he has the ability to inspire excellence in people's pursuits. He has the ability to do all this. Yet, he pursues a path that punishes achievement, that punishes earners, that punishes, and he speaks negatively of the country. Ronald Reagan used to speak of a shining city on a hill. Barack Obama portrays America as a soup kitchen in some dark night in a corner of America that's very obscure. He constantly is telling the American people that bad times are ahead, worst times are ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So what was Rush Limbaugh trying to accomplish with those controversial comments? Deputy political director Paul Steinhauser joins us from D.C.. All right. What was the mission?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I think the mission was he was trying to re-energize the base and who better than Rush Limbaugh. Because, you know, Fred, a lot of people on the right consider this guy a rock star. The republicans they didn't do so well, I think we can all agree in last year's election or in the '06 election. So step one for them is to re-energize the faithful, those on the right and there at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Committee. This big annual gathering of conservatives, that's where Rush Limbaugh was doing and he was taking on President Obama, basically saying he's a gifted politician but that he's trying to basically change the country at the detriment of capitalism and individual liberties and Rush Limbaugh says I want that to fail. There's nothing wrong with that.

So that is Rush Limbaugh's message then. I think that's what he did yesterday when he spoke for well over an hour. It was supposed to be a 20-minute speech. Some republicans may not see eye to eye with Rush Limbaugh on this. We heard Eric Cantor, who is one of the top republicans in the House today say he doesn't want anybody to fail. I think democrats like this spread. They like the idea of Rush Limbaugh being the face of the republic party right now.

WHITFIELD: So Paul, all of that is taking place not that far away from the White House. That was all at the Shoreham Hotel there in Washington, D.C.. Meantime, Obama administration is trying to stay on course. They have made a selection on the new health and human services nominee. What do we know about Kathleen Sebelius and whether this is going to be the right fit?

STEINHAUSER: Yes. This is the second take here for President Obama when it comes to picking a health and human services secretary.

Tom Daschle was his first take and of course, he had problems with his taxes and had to step down. Who is Kathleen Sebelius? She is a two- term governor of Kansas. So, as a governor who has been dealing with spiraling Medicare or Medicaid or health care costs, she knows a lot about that. She was also that state's insurance commissioner before she was governor. So she knows about health insurance. She knows about dealing with these issues. She's also a democrat in Kansas which is a heavily republican state. She knows how to work in a bipartisan way, to reach our to the other side.

She was also one of Barack Obama's biggest supporters. You see her here right now with Barack Obama during the campaign trail. And she was a big surrogate for Barack Obama. Maybe the only negative is that she doesn't know Washington very well, unlike Tom Daschle, who was Obama's first choice. She doesn't know the ways of Washington that well and she also has a few anti-abortion groups who don't like her very much either.

WHITFIELD: Well, something tells me it's going to be a crash course for her, then.

STEINHAUSER: Yes, it's going to be a crash course for her. Administration officials telling us tomorrow will be the day that President Obama will officially nominate her.

WHITFIELD: All right. Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much, joining us from Washington. Appreciate it.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. This was a very recognizable voice for all of America. But particularly America's heartland. For almost 60 years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL HARVEY: The rest of the story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Paul Harvey, sound familiar? Well, he is now dead at the age of 90. His daily broadcast for ABC Radio began back in 1951. Based in Chicago, Harvey's distinctive stocotto voice gave listeners a unique mix of news, colorful anecdotes, conservative commentary and commercials, reacting to the death, former President George W. Bush called Harvey a friendly and familiar voice in the lives of millions of Americans. His commentary entertained, enlightened and informed.

So perhaps you would like to share some of your memories of Paul Hrvey. You can post them at cnn.com. And it's also the focus of "Larry King Live" this evening at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

From worst enemy to best friend. A few simple things that you can do to actually improve your credit score. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Think thanksgiving and think butterball. Now in these tough economic times, add job cuts for the nation's largest producer of turkey products. Butterball is eliminating 150 jobs from its plant in Huntsville, Arkansas. The company says many of the layoffs will be made through attrition. Company officials say the recession and high energy and grain costs jacked up their operating expenses which led to this decision.

The slumping economy, losing a job. High interest rates. All of these things directly impacting our credit. So you may wonder what exactly your credit score means and how you can actually improve it. June Walbert is with USAA Financial Planning Services. She's joining us now from San Antonio, Texas. Good to see you.

JUNE WALBERT, USAA FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Very importent. And everyone knows if you need to refinance, if you need to buy a car, it means you need to have a good credit score. So how do you watch it?

WALBERT: Well, certainly you are entitled to a free credit report every year from annualcreditreport.com, from all three of the major crediting agencies. So you need to know what's on your credit report itself. But you - it costs a few bucks more in order to buy your credit score. About $8 or so. And so what we want to look for these days is the highest credit score we can muster because in these times when money is a little less available -

WHITFIELD: Great.

WALBERT: Then we're looking for credit scores that are at least 50 points higher than they were last year about this time.

WHITFIELD: Yes, you are at a much greater advantage if it's say over 700 right? Versus, you know if it's below that. So how do you - what are the things you need to do to make sure you are impacting your credit score? For example, you got credit card debt. You got a few credit cards. How do you know which ones to pay on that will, I guess, more quickly impact your credit score?

WALBERT: Well, you need to pay all of your bills, right? But on credit cards and everything else you need to pay on time every time. And the thing that you can do to drive up your score, the quickest, is to get even and stay there. So you need to make your payments on time every time, plus if you have any 30-day or 60-day or even later payments than that go ahead and pay those right away. That's going to help tremendously.

WHITFIELD: OK. Say, for example, you have a, you know, collection of cards. You have two cards. You need to make a decision, you've got one that's a low balance but perhaps the interest is low as well or you have a very high balance with a high interest, or maybe even vice versa. Do you need to tackle the one with the high interest or do you need to try and eliminate the one with the smallest balance first?

WALBERT: You should tackle the one with the highest interest because mathematically, that makes the most sense because that's the card that's costing you the most money. So what I would do is scrape together as much money as you can to attack that high interest credit card debt and pay it down as quickly as you can while you make the minimum payment on the other one.

You know something that really makes a difference, Fredricka, in your credit score, is your balances that you owe. A lot of people don't realize this.

WHITFIELD: OK.

WALBERT: And so let's say you do have those two credit cards and they have a $10,000 credit line each. They have $20,000 available to you. If you owe no more than $7,000 on those cards combined, it's probably not adversely affecting your credit score.

WHITFIELD: OK. So everyone really needs to pay attention to these things. And if they were never that conscientious of their credit score before, now is definitely the time. Jane Walbert with USAA Financial Planning Services. Thanks so much for joining us from San Antonio, Texas, today. Appreciate it.

WALBERT: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. We've got much more straight ahead here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. About this time yesterday, we invited CNN viewers to send us their thoughts about how to make our country healthier, smarter and greener. What policies should President Obama pursue for health care, education and the environment? And your responses were great. As were our panelists. Former surgeon general Jocelyn Elders who says this about the prognosis on the nation's health care.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOCELYN ELDERS, FMR. U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: If we want to save our country and be the kind of country that we're proud of, we're going to have to make sure that we have accessible, affordable health care for all of our citizens, including our children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So CNN's Josh Levs was inundated with your questions and thoughts for Dr. Elders and our other panelists. He's got some that perhaps didn't make air yesterday but we thought were still worthy today. What were people thinnking, saying, asking?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I was inundated. And you know what's interesting, they bring up some specific things that we don't hear about too often. It's always great to see this. And one thing that we got a lot of e-mails. Also we have a discussion going here at our facebook pages, Joshlevscnn.

One thing that's great there if you do Facebook is you can weigh in on what other people are saying and share your thoughts that way. Fred, let me start with one right here about health care since we were just hearing about that. This is from Lindsey who works in physical therapy. She says there's so many problems with the Medicare system. Many times we have to ration visits, especially early in the year, for fear they may injure something else later in the year and not have any visits left. I'm afraid that all of this could become worse.

One of the big concerns we heard from other people as well about Medicare. This is interesting, too. Came in by e-mail yesterday. Take a look at this. This is not the only one. I would put the microscope on food as a path to better health. We eat way too much corn. A lot of talking about what's going to be done to get our nation eating healthier, Fred, too. So interesting stuff on health.

WHITFIELD: Oh, yes. And education was another one of those areas that we delved into.

LEVS: It was.

WHITFIELD: And people were pretty hot about that because it wasn't just higher education they were concerned about.

LEVS: That's right.

WHITFIELD: But all public school education.

LEVS: All public school education. Yes, And we're hearing from a lot of people who are concerned about loans. Lots of people writing us about that. Let me go to one right here. I want to show you. This one represents about a dozen. I wonder if anything will be done to lower tuition and the amount owed on loans.

A lot of people saying you know what this isn't good enough. Anything that's been talked about so far. Also more than a dozen people concerned that all sorts of arts and creative thought programs are getting cut from schools, Fred. A lot of people saying they are really concerned that the nation ultimately will lose some of its strongest thinkers, most creative thinkers in America because those are disappearing as well.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Kids have to be excited about going to school.

LEVS: Should be.

WHITFIELD: Sometimes it means some of those extracurricular activities or the diversions from the hard classroom stuff. And then energy was the other area - LEVS: Energy.

WHITFIELD: That got folks riled up about.

LEVS: Really interesting. I want to kind of do a very quick lightning round. Let's zoom in on the board. I want to show you just some of the things I'm getting about energy here. I want to step out of the way. Check this out. Some people saying that they are concerned about - we need to vastly improve the railroads in this country. Here we have a conversation about different shapes for buildings. Isn't that interesting, Fred? No one ever brings that up. I love this.

Our government should make major investments in paved bicycle paths across the U.S.or over here. Many don't realize the efficient and ultra clean advantages of hydrogen as a energy carrier. And Fred, even though it's not directly a part of what we're talking about. I'm just going to show it to you because I think it's funny. I'm going to end on Jeff Clark on Facebook. He is always funny.

"Josh, what is in the Obama plan for the 12 to 15 inches of snow we're going to get tonight and tomorrow here in New Haven? Does anyone in Congress oppose the nor'easter?"

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well he remembers the brief comments. You know, given that he's from Chicago and he was in Washington. He was like, come on, people. A little snow? So 12 inches probably not a big deal for him either.

LEVS: I think if you want someone to appose anything in Congress, you can always find it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Josh. Appreciate it.

LEVS: Yes. Let's talk about the U.S. Supreme Court taking up a controversial case tomorrow from America's last frontier, Alaska. That's where a convicted rapist maintains DNA testing would prove his innocence. The catch? The state says he has already had his day in court. Here now is Kate Bolduan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN (voice-over): Jeff Descovic, wrongly convicted of rape and murder at 16, walked out a free man after spending almost half his life behind bars.

JEFF DESKOVIC, EXONERATED BY DNA: It hasn't fully hit me at this point. Still waiting to wake up.

BOLDUAN: Cleared in 2006 by his DNA, Deskovic now trying to get his life back.

DESKOVIC: I am moving on with it now. I'm trying to obtain a master's degree. I write for a weekly paper. I lecture.

BOLDUAN: Deskovic was convicted in New York, which gave him access to DNA evidence. That state is one of 44 and the District of Columbia that have laws allowing for post-conviction testing.

BOLDUAN (on-camera): But six states don't. And that's the issue now before the Supreme Court for the first time. The justices will hear a similar DNA case in Alaska effectively deciding whether inmates have a basic right to DNA evidence.

Deskovic and civil rights groups argue access to DNA evidence is a constitutional right saying 232 people have been exonerated in the past two decades because of testing. But many states say the decision should be left up to them. Warning a blanket ruling could open the floodgates to frivolous appeals.

DAVID ADKINS, CEO, COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENT: There is absolutely no state interest to be served in incarcerating innocent people. But to simply you know, believe that there's a magic wand by which every inmate in prison who claims that they are not guilty of their crime should be afforded - it creates a cancer on the criminal justice system that would grow significantly.

BOLDUAN: Either way, the implication of the court's decision could be far reaching.

ED LAZARUS, SUPREME COURT ANALYST: I think there's a reasonably good chance the Supreme Court will say, when it comes to something as determinative as DNA evidence, the whole point of the justice system is to get the decision right.

BOLDUAN: Something Jeff Deskovic knows firsthand.

DESKOVIC: It happened to me. It could happen to them.

BOLDUAN: Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The big story of the day, weather. From a dusting of snow in parts of the southeast to a foot of snow in the northeast. On the way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Happening right now off the coast of Florida, a search for four missing fishermen, including these two guys, two pro football players. Corey Smith and Marquis Cooper. They were last seen early yesterday morning.

Severe weather making a mess of things down south. In Alabama, they are cleaning up from a trio of suspected tornadoes, thankfully with no reported injuries.

Meanwhile, a late winter snow blankets the south as well. This is what it looked like this morning in Memphis. The same storm system is now tracking toward the northeast. Our Jacqui Jeras is in the snow. And she's happy about it.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I certainly am. I love that picture of that little boy with his tongue sticking out.

JERAS: It was cute.

WHITFIELD: Just loving the snow.

JERAS: Exactly.

We've had these big, fat wet flakes all day long. Now we're starting to see a little bit of rain and snow mixing in together, temperatures around 36 degrees. And so with all the snow that we have on the ground and the temperature so warm, it's really slushy. Take a look at this. This is just from standing here for a short while. So we've got a lot of slush to deal with. There's a little bit of accumulation. You can see it here on this chair where you've got all the snow. But if you try and pack it together, it's real tough to make a snowman or anything else because it turns into this slushy little ice ball that you have, unfortunately.

But the big concern comes into play as the sun goes down tonight and the temperatures drop and everything starts to freeze up. Those roadways have already been hazardous, but just wait. We'll be dealing with some serious black ice. Let's show you the radar picture and the good news if you don't like the snow. That's some of this is starting to pull out a little bit. We've had white all day long. Now a little bit of that pink starting to fix in indicating that rain and snow. Snowfall totals over five inches in Germantown, Tennessee, near the Memphis area. Three inches in Columbus and an inch in Huntsville.

Now let's talk about what's been going on across the Appalachians. The snow is starting to build in there. Mostly just starting with a little bit of light snow or mist starting to push toward the Washington, D.C., area, that will pick up into the evening. If you are trying to travel by the air waves, ground stop at Atlanta, Delta is reporting more than 300 flight cancellations already. And the northeast is starting to see delays. You haven't had the snow in there just yet. Temperatures tonight well below freezing that is why we're concerned about, even though the snow stopping in the deep south that everything will be icy tonight and into tomorrow morning and the snow gets heavy tonight in the northeastern corridor. We haven't seen much yet.

Check out the snowfall accumulations. The heaviest we think will be a line just east of Philadelphia, New York City, on outs towards Providence and Boston. Just want to show you that next map real quick. There you go put the animation into play. We'll show you that bright purple. That's where the worst of the snow will be. Travel will be a nightmare tomorrow in the northeast. I think a lot of kids will be getting off of school. Somebody in that bright pink is going to get well over a foot. Maybe even up to 15 inches.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: That's incredible stuff. All right. A little residual effects of a nasty winter. Thanks so much, Jacqui.

Checking some international stories right now. In Iraq, civilian deaths have risen sharply. The Iraqi interior ministry says at least 211 civilians were killed last month. That's up from 138 in January. A low since the U.S. invasion, 16 U.S. troops were killed last month. The same as in January.

The U.S. Secretary of Defense and the joint chiefs chairman both echoing notes of approval today for President Obama's plan to pull U.S. forces out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We don't think it was a concession. I think there was a lot of analysis of the risks that were involved. I think that if the commanders had had complete say in this matter that they would have preferred that a combat mission not end until the end of 2010. So having a somewhat larger residual or transition force mitigates the risk of having the combat units go out sooner.

ADM. MIKE MULLEN, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: Again, he was very deliberate, very thorough. He listened to us all. We had a good debate. I'm very comfortable with the process. I was able to give him my best military advice. And I strongly support the decision that he made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: There are about 142,000 troops in Iraq right now. As units are pulled out, military leaders say the roles of combat troops will change to that of advisory and assistance brigades.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has kicked off a week-long tour of the Middle East. Her plan landed in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh just a short time ago. Tomorrow, Clinton plans to attend an international donor's conference on rebuilding Gaza. She's expected to announce a pledge of up to $900 million. Clinton also plans to hold talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders in the West Bank.

Meantime in Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert threatens a painful strong response if Palestinian militants don't stop rocket attacks against the Jewish nation. Gaza militants fired nine rockets into southern Israel this weekend. One slammed into an empty school. There were no injuries. Israel says more than 110 rockets have been fired into the country since Israel ended its Gaza offensive six weeks ago.

From Iraq to Myanmar to the Middle East an astound using 14 million people have fled their homes because of war or persecution. Only a small percentage of these refugees are ever resettled. This week's "CNN Hero" is helping legal refugees in the U.S. get back on their feet one family at a time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): This is "CNN Heroes."

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): We have an explosion in building number one. Smoke all over the place.

CAROLYN MANNING, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: My brother-in-law was killed in tower one on September 11th. After September 11th, I saw a picture of an Afghan family who also lost a family member because of the Taliban and they had to flee their country. Our family has five kids. We lost a family member, too. We just naturally went from that to let's show the refugees that we welcome them.

My name is Carolyn Manning. I started the Welcome to America project to help refugees in Phoenix, Arizona.

How are you? You doing well?

The families that we help come from places where there's been war and genocide. Some refugees have never lived with indoor plumbing and have never flushed a toilet. The Welcome to America Project is the community. And it operates by community volunteers. My husband and I many a time has been out here pulling furniture in, before work, after work. This is our life.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Thank you very much for all your help.

MANNING: All right. Let's go on to the next family.

When they step foot in the United States, they have been invited here. I want the refugees to feel that this is their home. And that's what America has been built on. It's our history. It's who we are. And they are part of it.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Tell us about your hero at CNN.com/heroes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We're thrilled to actually have the CNN hero and community crusader Carolyn Manning joining us now from Phoenix to explain a little bit more about her Welcome to America project. Good to see you.

MANNING: Hi, Fredricka. Thank you for having me on.

WHITFIELD: I'm wondering Carolyn you know from the onset, how does one take that anger post-9/11 and turn it into compassion and to the degree that you and your husband have.

MANNING: Well what happened in 9/11, the terrorism that came to our country, has been happening all over the world in many places. And Phil and I, my husband, we realized right away this wasn't about one specific act. This was about evil versus good and humanity. And we knew that we wanted the people that come here that are invited here to feel welcome in our country. And in that way, we wanted to honor Terrence's death.

WHITFIELD: Did you ever expect this project would expand like it has?

MANNING: No, I don't think we knew at first. But right -- pretty soon after we started it, we realized that the community was behind us on this. And that the fabric of who we are as Americans to welcome those to our -- as they say, teeming shores. So pretty right away we knew that we had something in our community that was going to be thriving. WHITFIELD: Tell me about that feeling of these families when you say to them, this is your life, just as you did in that piece. What's the return from that?

MANNING: You've given them their dignity. At least I hope that's what we've done. They've been homeless for many years. And now they are finally in a home, a place that they can rest their head and have the dream. And they are people that hit the ground running once they get here. They become productive right away. They understand the value of freedom, they understand the value of our constitution and they are going to be excellent, excellent citizens in our country.

WHITFIELD: When you see people assimilate and now call America home when they've been so many other places, is it making you even looks at your own home in America differently?

MANNING: It makes me realize that our home is a wonderful place. The United States of America is the best country ever in the world. And it's because we're built on a country, a constitution and a bill of rights that, bar none is the best of any other government in the world. And I am very, very proud to be American. And I'm really proud to be able to welcome some of these people who we've saved their lives. It's a humanitarian effort. It's a worldwide effort. One of many countries who are participated in the United Nations high commission on refugees. I'm extremely proud --

WHITFIELD: It sound like in an interesting way, too, they've kind of given you and your husband a new lease on life as well.

MANNING: Yes, it has.

WHITFIELD: Carolyn Manning thanks so much, with Welcome to America Project. Congratulations on being a CNN Hero.

MANNING: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: From Atlanta to Birmingham, retracing the Civil Rights Movement. A personal journey with Civil Rights icon Julian Bond.

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WHITFIELD: This is a big year for Civil Rights. The NAACP turns 100. As the first African-American president settles into the White House. It's also a good time to look back at the struggle that got us here. And we're going to go along on a journey with Jillian Bond who grew up in the Civil Rights Movement and became one of its key leaders.

You were among the original foot soldiers. Now people can embark on an incredible history lesson being led by you with this bus ride journey of so many key points throughout the south beginning tomorrow. Really the event began this weekend.

Last night. We had Congressman Lewis speak to us. It's wonderful.

WHITFIELD: Here in Atlanta. JULIAN BOND, CHAIRMAN, NAACP: He has almost perfect recall of what he did, where he went. He was in almost every event of this period. He's a perfect person to kick us off.

WHITFIELD: So along the journey you leave Atlanta. First stop, Tuskegee, Alabama, which most people know as the place where the airmen trained as part of --

BOND: It's also the beginning of the voting rights movement. The big first voting rights movements were filed in Tuskegee years before. So they laid the groundwork for what later happened enabling black people to vote across the south.

WHITFIELD: And then onto Montgomery.

BOND: Montgomery, we'll be able to stand in the pulpit where Dr. King stood when he preached there. We'll hear from the Reverend Robert Gratz, who was the only white member of the Montgomery Improvement Association. So as we go we not only go to the places but meet the real people who really did this. So you are hearing history by the people who made the history.

WHITFIELD: And this really is like retracing your steps for many of you who are part of the movement. But then for a lot of young people joining in on this journey for the first time, they are getting a face-to-face, person to person lesson on a world of life that they feel very detached from, don't they?

BOND: Yes, the older people say, oh, gee I remember this happened. I remember seeing this on TV. I remember seeing that building or that church when it was bombed. But the younger people haven't had this experience. And may not know as much as they ought to know unless they have taken by course. May not know as much as they ought to know about how we got to where we are now. This is a perfect how to for them.

WHITFIELD: What is this like when Congressman John Lewis goes back to Selma? He's been there many, many times. But I wonder what his storytelling will be when this becomes one of the stops for you.

BOND: It's one thing to see movie, film or TV film of people marching across that bridge. It's something else to march across it with people who marched across it for the very first time. He is one of the very few people who can say I did this the very first time. Our group is going to Selma. We're going to march across. And I'll be able to say, here's where I was. This is what I did and so on.

WHITFIELD: People forget that this -- these were painful memories. John Lewis beaten at that location. And then when you head on to Birmingham, the 16th Street Baptist Church where little girls died, where people were forever scarred about the bombing of that church.

BOND: Sure. We talk to people who were in the church, who were friends of these four little girls, who were schoolmates of these little girls, who participated in this movement. This is history told to you by the history maker. You are not reading something in a book; you aren't seeing some ancient video from TV of many years ago. You are talking to the real person who did the real thing.

WHITFIELD: It translates much different. It is real emotional. Are people crying?

BOND: They do cry. They tear up. It's just a great -- I can't tell you what a great experience it was. We're so grateful to the University of Virginia and President John Castine (ph). He put his weight behind this and made it possible and here we are again.

WHITFIELD: So this is the third year that you've done this. You see this journey, this bus ride going on for quite awhile.

BOND: I'd like to do it as long as I'm able to do and as long as the University of Virginia lets me do it.

WHITFIELD: Hard to believe that when we look at the images, you were 20-something, weren't you?

BOND: Yes.

WHITFIELD: When you look at the young generation now, their involvement or lack thereof you foot soldiers were in your early 20s. Hard to believe how much your fellow comrades, Dr. Martin Luther King, accomplished at such a young age to get the world's attention. When you look at the younger generations now, do you think they have a real good grasp of the kind of sacrifices made at such an early age?

BOND: I don't think they have. I don't think they possibly can. Remember King was 26 when the Montgomery Bus boycott went on. John Lewis and I were 20 when we joined the Civil Rights Movement. This generation of young people is very interested in social service activities, Habitat for Humanity, wonderful things, wonderful things. Our generation was interested in social justice because we believed people had social justice they didn't need social service.

WHITFIELD: So in this year, this historic year, a marker of so many things but clearly a black man in the White House. President Obama, elected for so many reasons beyond the color of his skin. So when you take this journey, is it more significant? Is it more meaningful now?

BOND: Last year's trip was leading up to the nomination of Barack Obama. Nobody thought it would actually happen. There were a lot of Obama supporters, a lot of Clinton supporters and a couple of McCain supporters on the trip. Nobody thought Obama would do it. But a lot of people were hoping. Even people who didn't support him.

Later in the year when the trip was long over it became possible. We're retracing our steps knowing that a black man is the president of the United States. The NAACP whose board I had is 100 years old. And all of these things come together. We didn't make Obama the president. We made it possible for Obama to be president and you have to be happy about that.

WHITFIELD: Julian Bond, Civil Rights south in the footsteps of the movement is the bus journey. If you aren't on board this week, you have another chance next year and beyond. Always good to see you. Thanks so much for that.

BOND: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: You sure are involved in a lot of things.

BOND: I try to keep busy.

WHITFIELD: Well, move over Tupperware. What a segue. There's a new kind of party to go to these days. And saving leftovers like this means cashing in on today's premium price for gold.

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WHITFIELD: We continue to watch your weather. Really the entire east coast being deluged by snow. Live picture on the left of Atlanta. To the right, the radar seeing how the snow system stretches from the southeast all the way up to the northeast.

All right. Also today's tough economic times have created a new entrepreneurial niche industry, hosting gold parties. Where neighbors literally buy and sell gold for something more precious. Cold, hard cash. CNN's Susan Candiotti introduces us to some modern day prospectors.

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(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): $650.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Can you part with it for $650?

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Heck, yes.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Driven by the need for green, women, mostly, are staging gold rush parties. The perfect place to unload those clunky high school rings, lonely single earrings and rarely worn bling taking up space.

ANNE HARRIS, PARTY ATTENDEE: I just had a new roof put on and I needed a furnace. So I'm still paying on those two items. And so every little bit helps.

CANDIOTTI: Gold buyers are happily setting up shop in private homes. The host gets 10 percent of the action. Magnets check whether the glitter is really gold. Solutions test for purity and scales weigh it all.

ALICIA KEATING, NASSAU BUYERS: Whereas we'd do three, four a week to now where we're booked every single night with gold parties.

CANDIOTTI: Catching on because of rising gold prices fluctuating around $940 an ounce. But because of carats and commissions, sellers usually get far less. Wally Naughton recently lost her job and she is three months behind on the mortgage. She gets an offer of $1200 for a chunky gold necklace and other jewelry.

WALLY NAUGHTON, PARTY ATTENDEE: It would take care of a month's bill. Monthly bills without the mortgage. Without the mortgage.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Bills without the mortgage.

NAUGHTON: Yeah. Yeah.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Is that enough to say, OK I could use it?

NAUGHTON: I don't make hasty decisions. Never do.

CANDIOTTI: Good idea. Experts say sellers beware. Get more than one appraisal.

DONALD PALMIERI, PRES., GEMOLOGICAL APPRAISAL ASSOCIATION: Once it's sold, it's gone. All the memories. Whatever the happiness that the jewelry brought you in the past is gone. Once you sold it it's gone.

CANDIOTTI: But for Beth Turner, on disability with three children and a husband just laid off, selling some jewelry may be worth it to take her son to a national cheerleading tournament in Florida.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): $500.

BETH TURNER: That's awesome.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Is that good?

TURNER: That will pay for my hotel.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Good for you.

CANDIOTTI: Gold parties may not be the answer to all your troubles, but trading in a little gold for green sure can help.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, New Windsor, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Snow is a big story of the day. It keeps falling across much of the south and it's headed east as well. We'll have the latest for you at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

Plus, fixing broken schools. The president is promising big dollars in big support for education. And the rising cost of college, how are parents and students paying the bills. Fareed Zakaria, GPS is next.

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