Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Olympic Luge Reopens After Deadly Training Accident; Southeast U.S. Still Digging Out of the Snow

Aired February 13, 2010 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Plus these top stories we continue to follow this hour.

Josh thanks so much.

People living in the southeastern portion of the United States digging out from yesterdays snow storm. Ice is melting today in many places but it could refreeze overnight.

The Olympic luge track has reopened one day after a deadly training accident. Officials decided to change the profile of the ice and raise the walls along the curb where an Olympian died.

All right. Back to Afghanistan. NATO has confirmed that one U.S. Marine and one British soldier have died today. The first day of the new NATO offensive in Helmand Province. Let's talk about this push in Afghanistan. Joining me right now is Patrick Cronin, senior adviser for the Center for a New America Security. Good to see you. So is this mission one to militarily cripple the Taliban or economically?

PATRICK CRONIN, NAT'L STRATEGIC STUDIES, AFGHANISTAN: Well, you have to have security first. But how you win matters a whole lot in counterinsurgency. So it's very important that civilian casualties be kept to a minimum that our casualties be kept down for the sake of the alliance. That the Afghans be allowed to bring in a government to provide economic opportunity. Most important of all, that there be some durability to this new Afghan presence, that there really has to be a long-term commitment to the welfare of the people in Helmand and here particular in Marjah.

WHITFIELD: But you mentioned you know a goal to try and keep casualties down but when you hear that. Our Barbara Starr from the Pentagon reported last hour that the IEDs have simply blanketed the area in anticipation for these allied troops. You have to wonder whether that gives the Taliban the advantage against this military offensive.

CRONIN: I think there are three military threats they are facing right now. Because most of the strength of the Taliban is withdrawn. I think there is a hardcore cadre probably stuck in Marjah, they are surrounded by these booby-trap bombs. These improvised explosive devices; those are going to continue to be a danger and maybe kind of an attempt to try and draw the troops in and maybe some kind of series of explosions. You have to be very careful as you sweep the area very slowly.

That's going to take days and weeks. And then of course there are snipers probably hanging out trying to make every bullet count when they finally see a series of soldiers. Finally, of course, you have the danger of complacency on the part of the troops. Things may look very innocent, may fall very easily their way and then suddenly the Taliban pulls some kind of surprise.

WHITFIELD: I wonder when I ask about the economic goal here that the allied forces have. Because this is an area, Helmand Province, where this is the place of financing the Taliban militarily. It's financing them in their arms race in that region. I wonder if one of the primary goals for this allied offensive is to try to wipe out the poppy fields or try, I guess their best effort in taking a stab at that since that's where the finances come for the Taliban even in these winter months?

CRONIN: That has to be part of the economic game plan here in this operation. That is a long-term aspiration. Essentially if you look at 2001, the Taliban fell rather easily. By 2003, we were distracted with Iraq. The Taliban regrouped and it really settled back into the Helmand River Valley, this 220 mile stretch of River Valley in the south of Afghanistan.

Now you have them making a living off the opium trade, coercing farmers, convincing farmers to grow opium. Weaning them off opium on to legitimate crops, restoring a legitimate agriculture economy in this area will take years, not just months.

WHITFIELD: Do you see this as a successful plan or do you think about the what-ifs? What if this is not as effective as hoped?

CRONIN: I think it is a successful plan on two conditions. If we endure and persist at our commit internationally to help the Afghan government and people and secondly if our Afghan partners don't let us down. So much of the hand-off that is going to happen to the Afghan police forces almost immediately is critically important.

In the past, a lot of the police in Afghanistan as in Iraq were corrupt and caused a lot of violence. So very important that the local government and the police forces and ultimately the Afghan security forces coming into this area do the job for the long term. That's not up to us.

WHITFIELD: Patrick Cronin, senior adviser for the Center for a New American Security, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate that.

CRONIN: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: And this push into Helmand Province includes the First Battalion of the six marines based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Back home loved ones can only wait and watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): They are wanting to know, where is my husband, what is he doing? And like us, we don't want to know. That's their mission. We need to make sure we are strong for them for them.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): You OK? I see it as why put the added stress on us? We're already worried. We are already stressed with what is going over there. Why put that on ourselves?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Stay with CNN for all the developments in Afghanistan.

It's making history and stopping traffic. Look at the mess created in the south by a rare winter snowstorm of this proportion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMERON HARRELSON, BAXLEY, GEORGIA: Hello, I'm CNN I-reporter Camron Harrelson, now I'm here in Baxley, Georgia, my hometown. The unthinkable has happened here in southeast Georgia. It is snowing. Yes, you did hear me correctly. I want you to look at all of this. It is snowing, it is crazy. It is a lot of snow for this area. Look at this. This is crazy in southeast Georgia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. Sign him up. That is one heck of an I-reporter. Residents of the deep south spending the day doing something rare just like that gentleman right there. Now cleaning up after that rare snowstorm. Emergency crews are warning people to stay off the roadways in the metro Atlanta area due to ice. It is still very dangerous. That man right there was having fun with it. Further east, Columbia, South Carolina, is dealing with one of the heaviest snowfalls on record. More than seven inches of snow reported in some parts of the Capital City.

The snow brought much of the activity to the south to a standstill and more could be on the way. Really? More snow?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Probably more rain than anything else. But we might see some mixing and snow on the backside. Here is the system and here is what we are expecting for tomorrow. We'll see into the Appalachians, Kentucky, Tennessee, back into Arkansas. The back side of this system will start to get a little bit of a mix. But I think for the most part this will be a rain event on Sunday. That mix coming in overnight Sunday and early into Monday morning. It's more of a nuisance this latest one coming in. A lot less moisture and a much weaker system that you are going to be dealing with.

But one of the other issues in addition to that, is that you know here we have in parts of the south anywhere between about one and five inches of snow fall. You know take a look at your city and pick which one you are talking about. Now today those temperatures have been warming up quite a lot. You know nothing else is coming down off the ground at this time, however, we are seeing melting taking place, 44 in Birmingham, 46 degrees in Jackson, and you had five inches, 36 in Atlanta. So we melt and then tonight our temperatures drop down below freezing and we get black ice. You can't see it on the roadways, it can be very slick. You could be driving along, everything is good, no issues and then all of a sudden boom you hit one of those patches and it can cause you to wipe out. That is a real concern overnight tonight into tomorrow morning.

Now other weather makers that we are talking about for tomorrow and today, as well, we had a really active pattern here across parts of the west. We had storm after storm slam into the Pacific Northwest bringing in some wet weather to the coastal areas, snow into the higher elevations. We talked a little bit the last couple of days about some of the issues in Cypress Mountains with the Olympics taking place. They have rain there and 40 degrees temperatures. They can't make snow it's been so warm. They had to truck it into those areas.

One other thing we are watching today, we have a surf competition at Half Moon Bay in California. We've got some very high waves and some high surf. Be cautious if you are going to watch one of these competitions or if you are going to be any where near the coast today. And rip currents, too. So unless you are a pro, you don't want to be out there in that. We are trying to get some pictures of that, too, for later in the hour.

WHITFIELD: Perfect. Jacqui, I know how much you love pictures of video. Well our Josh Levs is here too, he has more interesting videos. We call them viral videos and folks are addicted to it.

LEVS: Yes, they are. Here is the question. Did this break a world record? The most watched game of its kind that we've ever seen Fred. Look at that, humans as ants.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So what happens when a branding expert has to recreate her own brand? Mary Snow reports on a small business owner who took her own advice and made a big turnaround.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Catherine Kaputa calls herself a personal brand strategist, but her company that helped individuals create their own brand was struggling.

CATHERINE KAPUTA, FOUNDER, SELLBRAND: So many people were out of jobs. They were afraid to invest in themselves and work with a coach.

SNOW: Kaputa decided it was time for her own rebrand. She started pitching herself to large companies and found a new niche.

KAPUTA: I've been mainly targeting large companies because a lot, especially in this tough economic climate, a lot of large companies are still doing innovative programs for their employees.

SNOW: One of those companies, Pepsico. Like many in the recession, Pepsico wanted to invest in training employees, but didn't want the high cost offsite workshops held in the past. Beverly Tarulli heads up the companies woman's initiative.

BEVERLY TARULLI, V.P. ORG. & MGMT. DEVELOPMENT, PEPSICO: In 2009 it was a tough year for all of us. What we were looking to do was do it in a way that would be cost effective, but reaching the most women we could.

KAPUTA: You always have to build your brand out of authenticity.

SNOW: Kaputa presented a personally branding workshop at Pepsico Headquarters that was broadcast to 12 of the companies' sites throughout the country. She says thanks to her new corporate focus her revenue increased 100 percent in the last year.

KAPUTA: It's been a very tough economy, but amazingly, 2009 was my best year.

Women tend to down play their achievements.

SNOW: And Kaputa says any company can reevaluate and refocus just like she did.

KAPUTA: Really look at your brand. What does your company stand for? Are you filling a need, a niche in the marketplace? Filling a gap that no one else can do?

SNOW: Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now. Some 15,000 U.S. marines, NATO sources and Afghan troops are fighting to take a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan. Officials say at least five Taliban fighters, a U.S. marine and a British soldier have been killed. The ground offensive was launched earlier today in Marjah. The mission is critical to getting rid of the Taliban since much of the area's opium profits pay for weapons for militants.

A 45-year-old biology professor has been charged with murder after a shooting spree at the University of Alabama. Police say Amy Bishop Anderson opened fire on her colleagues at a faculty meeting yesterday. Three were killed, three others were wounded. Anderson could face the death penalty on the murder charges, and more charges are likely.

Another safety recall for Toyota. This time it's for some 8,000 four-wheel drive Tacoma trucks. The troubled auto giant says there is concern that a possible defect in the front wheel drive shaft could cause the vehicle to lose control. A component in some of the drive shafts developed cracks during the manufacturing process.

Of course you recognize that graphic. Lots of news ahead. But first let's mix it up a little bit with some unexpected, some fun. Mr. Unexpected, Mr. Fun right here bringing us the viral video rewind.

LEVS: You know how comedians always try to create songs? It's one good way to be successful. Eddie Murphy.

WHITFIELD: Jamie Fox.

LEVS: Jamie Fox. Now there is a new one. Take a look here. I'm loving this song. It's a new comedian song. They tell me exactly what they are.

Mike Holt is based in Cleveland. He has "Man in the Box Show." What he does in the video, he loves stores that are exactly what they are. Barber shop, dance. My feet were hurting so I went to foot care, cigars, and tattoos.

It's up on the site Break.com.

WHITFIELD: Forget comedy on the web.

LEVS: Now something you and I were talking about earlier. You want to see the dodge ball.

WHITFIELD: After that tease, got to see the dodge ball.

LEVS: Here it is folks. They tried to break a record at the University of Alabama. They got 1,200 player's together, look at that, it's massive. We saw this in the Edmonton Journal. It just goes on and on and on. From what we see in the video no serious injuries.

WHITFIELD: I'm glad they look like Nerf balls so it doesn't hurt. That was the only thing I didn't like about dodge ball. If someone kicked it too hard, when I was playing, we were kicking the ball. They are throwing it.

LEVS: You're an athlete.

WHITFIELD: Still hurts.

LEVS: You like Vancouver, right? Now Google has done that with ski slopes. Google put this up. Now you can do Google ski view.

WHITFIELD: Was that Whistler?

LEVS: They say they have all the major ones that are being used for the Olympics.

WHITFIELD: I recognize those pine trees. Just kidding. The pine trees look the same going down the slope.

LEVS: It's beautiful.

WHITFIELD: That is gorgeous.

LEVS: All the links up on my facebook page. One thing we take a look at every week are these tricks. Illusions. This we've never seen anything like this. Look at this guy. Watch what he does with this ball. He is holding the iPhone computer. Watch what he does with that ball. There it is going along the big TV monitor. Now watch, doesn't end there, watch. And you would think, OK. WHITFIELD: How are people doing this?

LEVS: Now, he is going to put it back in his iphone.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.

LEVS: Here it comes, tilting the computer. I'll tell you as you see this why it's set up that way. It is an illusion. He just perfectly timed all these clips.

WHITFIELD: He tricked us. That is neat to watch. People watch it all the time over and over again.

LEVS: I love how people spend days preparing something like this.

WHITFIELD: Takes a lot of time on your hands. That is a lot of free time.

LEVS: You want to see something that's not?

Here is something that is not an illusion. Look at what this guy does. This is totally real. Look at what this crazy daredevil person does. He starts to spin. Maybe you've seen that. You have not seen this. Somersaults in the air with his chute.

WHITFIELD: I would be so afraid of getting tangled up.

LEVS: He did 16 controlled flips. Never try this ever. He wants to become the first man to break the sound barrier.

WHITFIELD: Scarier than that?

LEVS: Apparently, yes. This is nothing to him.

WHITFIELD: He is a daredevil.

LEVS: We need to show you something a little less scary. It's not Zen, but its relaxed funny, just relaxed funny. This guy does 50 impressions in 50 seconds.

WHITFIELD: He wants a show.

LEVS: He kind of has one going on the web already.

WHITFIELD: History has come true then.

LEVS: Every week I have to end on a video of something obscure dancing.

WHITFIELD: That's right.

LEVS: I guarantee you've never seen this. Instead of Storm Troopers dancing, we are doing dancing hexapods. Take a look here.

WHITFIELD: There are a lot of people with a lot of time. I'm envious now.

LEVS: These things could rule the world one day. This is from Hagenberg, Austria. You can see them really getting down.

WHITFIELD: These are a lot of different entrants? A lot of people with a lot of time, it's very clever. Clever and quirky and fun.

LEVS: Again, they have time to do things we don't.

WHITFIELD: And they shared and they gave as moment to escape. That's what this is all about.

LEVS: It's not just the videos that are rewinding, it is us unwinding. I have a new banner there, rewind/unwind. I want you to know what we do. It's all on my facebook page, Josh Levs. I promise all the videos are right there. Have fun. Take a look. Enjoy.

WHITFIELD: Rewind. Appreciate that. You can call it the Dr. Spock for the digital age. Look at the new tool to help expectant moms and their newborn babies stay healthy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Willie Mays is considered one of the greatest center fielders of all time. Listen to a portion of a conversation he had with our Larry King and a viewer back in 1988.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): As you look back at your long career, what's the thing that you feel the best about? What are you the most proud of with everything?

LARRY KING, CNN HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE:" Good question. What are you most proud of?

WILLIE MAYS, FORMER BASEBALL PLAYER: For myself, I'm proud of my body. When I say body is that my body had to stay healthy for me to play 22 years. I'm proud of that. I see these machines that these guys are pushing nowadays. I never did that. I just went out and played. So I said to myself, I stayed healthy and I can go out every day and play without going through all these things. My body is the key to me having done everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A new book is revealing new insights into the life of this captivating baseball player. There's the cover, right there. "Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend" was written by James S. Hirsch with Mays' cooperation. It's the first time the intensely private man has worked with a biographer and James Hirsch joins us from Boston to talk about the book. The man who inspired it.

Good to see you.

JAMES S. HIRSCH, AUTHOR: Thank you. Good to be here.

WHITFIELD: So, I wonder how did this come about? What made him decide, you know what, it's time to share my stories, it's time for it to be in book form. Did you contact him or had he contacted you in some way?

HIRSCH: No. I contacted him. It took me quite a few years to reach him and he finally agreed to speak with me. And basically what I said to him was at this point in his life, and Willie is 78 years old now, he really needed to cooperate on a book that defines his legacy on and off the field. Such a book had never been written and if he did it now, his point of view would be front and center. I think that was persuasive to him.

WHITFIELD: There were parameters? Did he say, OK, you know, I will talk, but this is the area I want to focus on and these are the things I want to stay away from?

HIRSCH: You know, to Willie's credit, there were no parameters. He read the book, the manuscript before it was published, but he had no editorial control. And he didn't ask for a single change. And the book does talk about his disappointments as well as his achievements.

WHITFIELD: And among those disappointments, I understand, while he was very proud Jackie Robinson praised him for his athleticism, one of the criticisms that Jackie Robinson had of him, that he, Willie Mays, did not say or do enough as it pertained to civil rights. Was that one he was willing to expound on?

HIRSCH: Yes, well, Willie didn't feel that he was qualified to speak out on civil rights. And Jackie Robinson, of course, was very outspoken on those issues in the '50s and '60s and he criticized Willie as a "do-nothing Negro." But, Willie thought that he could make contribution just by the way he played the game, by being a role model. His track record of not just what he did on the field, but he didn't smoke, he didn't drink, he avoided scandal. He always took care of that is body and he was one of the most beloved baseball figures, not just in this country, but other countries, as well.

WHITFIELD: And he said that in a different way during that Larry King interview responding to that viewer that we rolled saying that he was very proud of his body, that he kept it clean, that he treated it well. And another proud moment that I understand you wrote about was that he said proudly he never was put out of a game, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he didn't have a tough relationship with the umpires. What did he mean?

HIRSCH: Well, actually, Willie did have a very good relationship with the umpires. He was not thrown out of a single game in 22 years of playing. He was always very respectful to them. I interviewed several of the umpires. He would say, "Hello Mr. Montaque, Hello Mr. Whomever." So, you know, to him, the baseball game, that was his family, the players, the managers, the opposing team. He always treated them with respect.

WHITFIELD: And how is he doing now? They called him the "Say- Hey Kid." How is this kid at 78 doing?

HIRSCH: Well, we should all be doing so well, to be honest. I mean, he travels a great deal. The only physical ailment he has is with his vision. He has glaucoma, but otherwise he's still incredibly strong. The first time I shook his hand I almost broke a finger because he's still so strong. His forearms are massive and so, but he still has that presence and he's very impressive in person.

WHITFIELD: Is it true that he kind of summarized his life both on the field and off the field, there you see in kind of recent day, as the president at the time of this photograph, we are seeing him with Barack Obama was the senator. Did he talk about what it was like to meet him or the many people famous and not so famous that he met in his career, both on and off the field?

HIRSCH: Well yeah, Willie has met almost every president since Dwight Eisenhower. He went to the White House in 1955. And the thing about Willie, he is extremely proud of the trajectory of his life. He was born a poor, depression era black kid in Alabama where blacks were denied their most basic rights. He reached the pinnacle in the sports world at age 23. And now he is an American icon who can fly on air force one with the president. As Willie said to me, I could not have dreamt the life that I have lived.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And at the same time, it's interesting you write about he is willing to express there were frustrations, a lot of frustrations. You talked about the race being one issue, but another was he suffered from periodic exhaustion. What did he mean by that? At what point did that surface?

HIRSCH: Willie had to be hospitalized on several occasions during his career and it was simply because he pushed himself up to and beyond his physical and his emotional limits. Baseball just meant more to him than it did to most people. And he played the game incredibly hard. Even in spring train or when he barnstormed, he would be crashing into fences, crashing into catchers, regardless of score, regardless of circumstance. He was always very hard on himself, personally. He was always hounded by the public and by the press and that took a lot out of him. He loved the spotlight of center field, but he didn't like the scrutiny of the public. And so, for all those reasons, there were just times during his career, during the season where he had to check out and check into a hospital and revive himself.

WHITFIELD: Wow, well what an honor you must be feeling and what a pinnacle of your writing career to feel that you are documenting his life. You're the biographer of his book and he was a tough nut to crack.

HIRSCH: He was. And I had to spend time just developing that relationship, getting Willie to the point where he could trust me. And more than anything else, it was going out there repeatedly to his home and sitting with him, and just letting him tell his stories. And over time he reached the point where he knew I would be fair with him.

WHITFIELD: Oh, so nice. James Hirsch, "Willie Mays: The Life, The Legand," thanks so much for your time. And all the best to Mr. Mays, as well. And I can't wait to get into this book and read more of it. I only got a chance to read a little bit of it in preparation for this interview, but now I'm really inspired to read more of it. Thanks so much for your time, appreciate it.

HIRSCH: Thank you for inviting me.

WHITFIELD: Well, not all Olympic dreams come true. Not the way they are supposed to anyway. We have an update on an American boxer, he's moving on from disappointment at the Beijing games in a profound and meaningful way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We started a new segment called "Did You Hear?" It highlights some of the most provocative and compelling news moments. And earlier this week, Joe Jackson, the father of the late Michael Jackson, talked about the death of his son and he told CNN's Larry King, the involuntary manslaughter charge filed against Dr. Conrad Murray is not enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S FATHER: I'm looking for justice for my son and to me he is just the fall guy, there's other people, I think, involved with this whole thing. But, I think he's interrogated -- he should come clean and tell everything he knows.

LARRY KING, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Did you want him charged with homicide or murder?

JACKSON: I was looking for justice and justice to me would be the murder charge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, perhaps you would like to weigh in on this issue and what you just heard from Joe Jackson? You can contact me on FaceBook or go to my blog at CNN.com/Fredricka. We'll read some of your comments tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, back to the major military offensive underway in Afghanistan. The target, a city of 80,000 to 100,000 people. CNN's Tom Foreman tells us why Marjah is so important to NATO and the Afghan government.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is really ground zero for this, Helmand Province in Afghanistan. Why does that matter so much? Well, first, look at where the U.S. troops have been in this country. Up here along the Pakistan border near Kabul, the capital, and obviously down in the south. They've been there because that is where the Taliban is strong as you can see in the red sections here. And now they're going after a real stronghold of the Taliban, Marjah. About 125,000 people live here. This is an opium-producing area, so it's been a source of funding for the Taliban, also for weapons running, here. So, what is the plan for attacking it while keeping the civilian casualties to a minimum?

Well, the idea is that they're going to circle the city first and then they'll strike in with helicopters from different sites outside and with specialized strike forces increasing pressure on the inside, trying to keep down civilian casualties and yet put pressure on the Taliban. Maybe the pressure makes them flee. Maybe they stand and fight. We'll find out.

We do know already that there are targets here that really matter a great deal. For example, they're going to pay a lot of attention to potential choke points and transportation points like bridges, like this one right over here. They're also going to pay a lot of attention to things like roads that become critical for people moving out.

For example, this one right here runs from Marjah up to Lascarga (ph) and many of the refugees have been fleeing this area, have already been going out this way. So these are critical things that they're going to have to watch as they strike this area.

What will they find? That's the big question. As these days go on and this attack continues, there's always a big question mark about the degree to which people will stand and fight and the degree to which they will flee.

And one of the best ways to know that is to look back at history. If we fly over Iran here, over to Iraq, you can see the town of Fallujah, where there was also a similar strategy in the past where they surrounded the town some years ago in a major, major battle, trying to get the insurgents there. They also came collapsing in from the outside. They thought at the time that many of the insurgents would flee. Many of them did not and a battle that was supposed to last only 90 hours in fact went on for many weeks

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A look at the top stories right now. From Texas to Florida, people in the Deep South are digging out from an unexpected winter storm. The Dallas-Ft. Worth area got a record 12.5 inches of snow. Forecasters say some of the snow that melts today might turn into ice tonight making driving conditions pretty treacherous.

The Olympic luge track has reopened for training after a fatal accident. Olympic officials inspected the facility and say they found something wrong, but they modified the track at the curb where a 20- year-old Olympian from the Republic of Georgia crashed and died. He was honored during last night's opening ceremony in Vancouver.

A march and rally are being held this afternoon in Washington to protest the government in Iran. Organizers say they're gathering to protest the continuing clamp down on human rights in Iran. This week the government in Tehran cracked down on scattered protests there on the 31st anniversary of the Iranian revolution.

It's the eve of Valentine's Day and we have a touching love story for you. A couple who loved and lost and found love again. Jaye Watson of affiliate WXIA introduces us to a 90-year-old couple, blissfully in the prime of their love lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAYE WATSON, WXIA-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first Friday of the month, dance night at the Roswell Recreation Center for the 50 and over crowd. One might assume many of these couples have spent a lifetime dancing together. But it took Elise and Peter Eaves 71 years to get here.

ELISE EAVES, FOUND LONG-LOST LOVE: I was leaning over the piano watching somebody play when he walked up.

WATSON: It was 1938 when Elise and Peter first met.

E EAVES: I thought he was cute.

PETER EAVES, FOUND LONG-LOST LOVE: She's a beauty, and we just fit together when we danced so well.

E EAVES: He was very persistent, and he asked me out, and then he just put the pressure on.

WATSON: They fell in love and got engaged, then Peter was drafted in 1941. While he was gone, Elise's mother pressured her.

E EAVES: My mother did not like him. She kept telling me that he would not make me happy. He would not be a good husband.

WATSON: She broke the engagement.

E EAVES: Back then, you thought your mother knew best.

P EAVES: Well, it felt like a knife had been stuck in my heart, of course.

WATSON: Peter returned from the war. He and Elise lived separate, yet parallel, lives, finding love with other people. Marrying and having children. The years flew by. But their love for each other remained.

P EAVES: Elise was always in the back of my mind.

E EAVES: I still carried the love for him. I think you can love more than one man.

WATSON: Peter's wife died.

E EAVES: So, I called him to offer my condolences. And nine months later, my husband died.

WATSON (off camera): How long did you wait after her husband died before you contacted her?

P EAVES: About 15 minutes after I heard the news.

WATSON (voice-over): Fifty-seven years later -- a second chance.

E EAVES: Picked up where we left off. It was like we hadn't been apart.

P EAVES: Yes.

E EAVES: All those years.

P EAVES: We felt like teenagers again really.

WATSON: Peter proposed again with the same ring. He'd kept it all those years.

P EAVES: Well, it's very important. It makes a story complete, doesn't it?

WATSON: They married at 75. At 90, they are celebrating their 15th anniversary this month.

(on camera): And how's your health?

P EAVES: Good.

E EAVES: Good.

P EAVES: We have good health. We're very fortunate that way.

E EAVES: Don't have a walker yet.

(LAUGHTER)

WATSON (voice-over): As for romance...

(on camera): I mean, do you still have sex?

E EAVES: Yes. That surprises (ph) doctor every time we get a physical.

WATSON (voice-over): But the rhythm of daily life, often taken for granted, isn't when you've had to wait a lifetime to get it. Theirs is a love affair delayed more than half a century, but that love prevailed, allowing Peter and Elise to save the last dance for each other.

P EAVES: The best years of our life have been the ones we've spent together, I think.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Oh, man. That is the sweetest story ever. All right, kids, studying by candlelight. Our CNN Hero did it. Now, he's trying to make life better for the next generation. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Life without electricity in Kenya. That's how Evans Wadongo grew up. He's out to change that using solar power to light up villages. Meet the newest CNN hero of the week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVANS WADONGO, CNN HERO: I have problems with my eyesight due to prolonged exposure to smoke. And I had to use firewood to study during my childhood.

I grew up in a small village in the western part of Kenya. These families are so poor, they don't have electricity. It's only kerosene and firewood that they use for lighting, cooking.

It's very, very frustrating. I couldn't compete effectively with other kids who have access to lighting.

A lot of other kids just drop out of school. So, they remain poor for the rest of their life.

My name is Evans Wadongo.

When I made the first lantern, I thought I must find a way of using sunlight to light up the rural rooms. I was so overwhelmed. I knew the impact that the lantern would have in the rural communities.

The amount of money that every household uses to buy kerosene every day, if they can just save that money, they can be able to buy food.

(INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (speaking foreign language)

WADONGO: All along I've been skipping at least two meals a day so that I can construct the lamps, but I want to do more. It gives me satisfaction that I'm lifting people out of poverty. I just feel like it's right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Evans Wadongo's work has brought light into about 10,000 rural Kenyan homes for free. To watch him build his solar powered lanterns or to nominate someone you think is changing the world, go to CNN.com/heroes.

All right, lot of people gain or lose a little weight every day, but what if that up and down cost you a shot at Olympic gold? That happened to one boxer, and now he's turning his mischance into a golden teaching opportunity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: With the Vancouver Olympic games underway, one American boxer is trying to put his Olympic experience behind him. The Beijing Olympics were a disappointment for Gary Russell, but not a defeat. CNN's Betty Nguyen has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: The gym, a place to train, perhaps even to forget. Gary Russell fulfilled a lifelong dream by making it to the Olympics, but the experience left him with an empty feeling.

GARY RUSSELL JR, 2008 OLYMPIAN: I kick myself almost every day. I actually now starting to get over it.

NGUYEN: Gary trained long and hard for his big moment. He was favored to medal in Beijing, but when it came time for his final weigh-in, he came in two pounds over the limit for his weight class. Long story short, he missed his chance to fight. Gary was crushed.

RUSSELL: I'm hurting the most because of those people. I feel as though I let those people down who supported me, you know.

NGUYEN: Boxing analyst Teddy Atlas was in Beijing and saw what happened, and he didn't sugar coat his words.

TEDDY ATLAS, BOXING ANALYST: With great privilege comes great responsibility, and he missed the boat on that responsibility.

NGUYEN: But Atlas also says this setback isn't as bad as some may think.

ATLAS: Without the Olympics having quite, you know, the status that they used to have, he didn't lose as much as he would have lost, say, 15, 20 years ago when an Olympic medal, especially if it was a gold medal, meant so much more.

NGUYEN: Having missed his Olympic window, Gary decided to turn pro, and he is off to a blazing six and zero start, including this knockout a few months ago.

But, it's what Gary's doing outside of the ring that's also drawing some attention. The onetime Olympic hopeful has taken it upon himself to speak to youngsters in the D.C. area, talking about his experience in Beijing and how not to let setbacks and disappointment get in the way of what they want to do in life.

RUSSELL: You want to always persevere. Does anybody know what "persevere" means? It means keep pushing forward. No matter what happens, you want to keep pushing forward.

NGUYEN: Gary says he'll always remember the support he got from everyone leading up to the Olympics, and still to this day...

RUSSELL: I'm trying to give back to the community because the community been given to me.

NGUYEN: It's that attitude that has 1976 gold medalist and six time boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard saying bravo. SUGAR RAY LEONARD, SIX-TIME BOXING CHAMPION: I am more impressed with what he's doing talking to these kids, talking to these students, these athletes, the fact that that is such great information, to say that, you know what, if you stumble, don't give up, don't forfeit your dream -- pursue, persevere.

NGUYEN: With family and friends by his side, Gary says he's grown a lot since Beijing.

RUSSELL: I think everything happens for a reason.

NGUYEN: But there's still work to do, unfinished business.

RUSSELL: I don't regret it because I wouldn't be as motivated as I am now if that wouldn't have happen.

NGUYEN: The 2008 Olympian says the world didn't get a chance to meet him in China, but he says they'll find out who he is soon enough.

RUSSELL: I feel as though I have something to make up. I feel as though I have to make it up to them by becoming a champion as a professional, you know, just to show them that everything that happened, all the love that you gave me wasn't in vain.

NGUYEN: Betty Nguyen, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And CNN's Mark McKay is actually standing by in Vancouver with more on that fatal Luge accident taking place during these winter games. It's brought a somber tone to the first few days of the Olympics.

We'll get back to that in a minute, but first a look at the headlines.