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Popular D.C. Principal Found Dead in Home; Ash Clouds Moving out of Atmosphere; Replacing Judge Stevens; Lady Gaga Announces Celibacy

Aired April 18, 2010 - 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: Volcanic ash blacking out travel since last Wednesday. And today pilots of test flights took to the sky claiming it may now be safe.

President Barack Obama meeting this week to discuss possible replacements for retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. And a popular D.C. school principal found shot to death in his home. Parents and students wonder why anyone would target him.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

First the volcanic mess over Iceland and beyond in Europe. Two bits of encouraging news right now. An official with the European Union says nearly half of Europe's air space could be safe for flying tomorrow if the ash cloud keeps moving like it is moving right now. And KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, carrying out test flights today say the ash didn't cause any problems for them. This could spell relief for stranded vacationers, business people, students and diplomats getting to their destinations.

And as CNN's Zain Verjee explains from Nairobi, Kenya, the ash plume has grounded a lot of commerce globally.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lucy Wanjiku may be out of a job if grounded planes in Kenya don't take off soon.

LUCY WANJIKU, VEGPRO WORKER: I'm pretty worried about this.

VERJEE: Canceled flights to the U.K. and Europe mean Lucy may not be needed to pack fresh vegetables for export every day.

WANJIKU: What will I do? What will I have in my house? Because these things I rely on. This means I live on (INAUDIBLE).

VERJEE: Lucy just has to look across the room at Vegpro Limited, normally buzzing with workers. The area is now suddenly silent because thousands are not working. Exporting horticulture is Kenya's highest foreign exchange earner. More than $1 billion a year according to Kenyan industry analysts.

(on camera): Just look at the amount of fresh vegetables stuck here at the airport. This one company alone has something like 200 tons lying around, things like red chilies, green chilies, broccoli, asparagus, onions, peas, stir fries. These are things you see on shelves in Britain as well as in other parts of Europe. Edward is running things around here. Have you ever seen it this bad.

EDWARD KARANU, VEGPRO OPERATIONS MANAGER: Not at all. I have been here for 18 years. I have seen severe flood. I have seen severe drought but I haven't seen anything like this in my life here. This is a catastrophe, so to speak. Because it doesn't have the end time.

VERJEE (voice-over): No one here knows when the trucks will hit the road again and shuffle fresh goods. Johnny McMillan tells me he's ready for the worst case scenario.

(on camera): What's going to happen to all this fresh produce?

JOHNNY MCMILLAN, VEGPRO OPERATIONS MANAGER: Well, we've only got two choices. We either can give away to farmers for cattle feed so at least we make some use of it. The second thing that we'll do is we'll take it back to our farms and compost this so they can use it in the future.

VERJEE (voice-over): Also a victim, top quality Kenyan roses. Fresh cut flowers from farms like these are flown to Europe every day. The long wait is killing them.

MCMILLAN: For us as a company alone, we currently are looking at a backlog of around two million stems across our four farms and here in Nairobi.

VERJEE: Industry insiders at Nairobi's main airport say Kenya is losing more than three million export dollars a day because of this crisis. While Lucy waits, she prays for Iceland's volcanic ash clouds to creep away and the skies to open to save her and the more than 1.5 million Kenyans that depend on this industry.

Zain Verjee, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Aviation experts estimate that the destruction is costing the industry at least $200 million a day. And airline carriers are making some pretty tough decisions right now. Scandinavian Airline operator SAS says it may temporarily lay off up to 2,500 ground service staff in Norway. ASA of Norway is set to meet with labor union officials tomorrow. The same idea. ASA estimates that it's losing more than $1.5 million a day.

Finn Air estimates that it is losing $2.7 million a day. And if you want to keep track of the cloud and its impact on travel "The New York Times" web site has a really handy tool. Take a look right here. There's a map, a list of major European airports, and whether they are open, closed or operating under a restricted schedule. You can also see how severe the ash is other certain parts of the continent.

All right. For a look at the wind conditions, let's check in with our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras. Because we talked about yesterday how the wind was carrying this ash. That was a big problem as to why it was spreading as fast as it has been. What's the latest now?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, a couple of factors has changed. You know, the winds are still kind of blowing in that same direction. But we've got this little hole. One of the differences why the ash isn't as bad today, part of it has to do with how high the ashes going into the atmosphere. OK. It was going up more than five miles yesterday and the day before. Today it's not going up as high. So it's not getting into the upper level.

So if you get any of these kind of holes where you can get up into the higher levels of the atmosphere, where the airplanes fly up there, you know, 35,000 plus feet or so, they're going to be OK. So, I wouldn't wanted to be that test pilot, by the way.

WHITFIELD: No.

JERAS: You know, I don't know.

WHITFIELD: But I'm sure they accept the challenge.

JERAS: They do. Yes. I would think that they would.

WHITFIELD: There's all kinds of test pilots out there.

JERAS: Anyway, this is what the air space looks like out there right now from flight radar 24. And there you can see on the northern tier here that we're looking at - all that blue means nothing's going on. But look at this, they see one plane up here in Norway. And Angela if you could push this up a little bit for me, you could see parts of southern Europe.

And that's going to show you that there have been some flights taking off. They did yesterday, too, by the way, over towards Spain and then to Italy. But we started seeing some up over here just - where did we see that, Angela, earlier? Was it around Turkey? You saw something in Turkey. I think there was some in Hungary earlier as well.

All right. Flight pattern today, wind pattern going like this. It's coming down into the area. And so we still have some of these smoke plume issues. As we head later into the week we're going to see this little bit of a dip and a little bit of trough. So hopefully that'll push that a little bit farther and off to the east. So it sounds like potentially 50 percent of the air space now could be opened up again tomorrow. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. I know a lot of stranded travelers who will be happy to hear that.

JERAS: Let's hope so.

WHITFIELD: Let's hope.

All right Thanks, Jacqui. In the meantime, that volcanic ash problem kept a lot of world dignitaries from attending the funeral of the late Polish president and his wife.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife were laid to rest today at a private burial ceremony in Krakow. The couple died along with 94 others in a plane crash in Russia last weekend. About 150,000 mourners lined a funeral procession route to pay their respects. President Barack Obama was among the world leaders scheduled to attend today's service but canceled travel plans because of that volcanic ash spreading across Europe.

And thanks to that cloud of volcanic ash, four young children in Virginia can't be with mom and dad. They're stuck in Europe and they simply cannot get home. The parents, that is. Thank goodness for grandma and for Skype. Their emotional story is coming up a little bit later.

Plus, a big meeting this week for President Obama. He and Senate leaders from both parties talk about a replacement for Justice John Paul Stevens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. An Obama administration official tells CNN that the United States is updating its military plans for potential strikes on Iran's nuclear sites if the President decides to take such action. That acknowledgment came today after Iran's president said the country's military is so strong that no other nation would risk an attack.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned the White House in a January memo that the United States lacks a long-term plan for dealing with Iran's nuclear program.

Meantime President Obama hits the road tomorrow. He is scheduled to attend a fundraiser for Senator Barbara Boxer in southern California. The California democrat is facing what could be a pretty tough re-election fight.

Joining us now from Washington to talk about the political week ahead, CNN deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser. Good to see you. All right. How did this come to be? Barbara Boxer who really is fighting to keep her job. And the President apparently wants to help her through this fundraiser and in one another way.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, Boxer, of course, as you mentioned facing a very tough re-election this year. A tough climate for incumbents. She's a three-term senator from California. So the President is going to headline two events in Los Angeles tomorrow. And the money is going to be split, half for Boxer and half for the Democratic party.

We just saw the President in this fundraiser in chief role the other day in Miami, Thursday night in Miami. Two events there. He was the headliner at those events as well. The Democratic party says that raised about $2.5 million. Remember, Fred, the President, not only the head of the whole country, he's the chief Democrat. And as the mid-term elections heating up, as the primaries heat up expect to see the president in this role more often.

The Democrats trying to hold on to their large majorities in the Senate and House this year. The president is going to do all he can do to help them do that.

WHITFIELD: He's the chief Democrat. However, he's not going to jump on board with all those candidates who need a little help. Barbara Boxer, a fairly important player in Washington. We saw that with Harry Reid that he was quick to help fund raise and stump for him as well. What's Barbara Boxer up against particularly?

STEINHAUSER: Barbara Boxer right now faces three different opponents on the Republican side. So they have their primary in June. When they get a unified candidate it's going to be a much tougher, tougher task for her. For right now the polls out there if you believe them suggest that she faces a very tough re-election.

It's a tough time in California just like anywhere else in the country. The economy not doing very well out there for anybody. And it makes it tough when you're running for re-election in this climate.

WHITFIELD: All right. And then Wednesday, the President has a very busy week. He'll be meeting with top Democrats and Republicans to talk about that job opening on the U.S. Supreme Court.

STEINHAUSER: Yes, That certain vacancy on the Supreme Court. Help wanted. Yes. Top leaders from both sides including the top Democrat and top Republican from the Senate judiciary committee, that's the committee that this summer will hold confirmation hearings on whomever the President decides he wants to nominate to replace John Paul Stevens. It was just nine days ago that Stevens announced that he would retire at the end of the session.

This is going to be a tough confirmation. Probably a lot tougher than a year ago when Sonia Sotomayor was approved in the U.S. Senate. Why? The political climate is much tougher. Remember, as we just said, it's an election year. Things always tougher to do in Congress in an election year. And the Republicans feel a lot stronger politically than they did a year ago. They have one more U.S. senator, thanks to that election in Massachusetts.

And Fred, we saw a little preview, I guess, on Friday. Goodwin Lu, he is the President's nominee for an appeal's court position out in San Francisco in the court out there, it was a very tough hearing. The Republicans were asking some very tough questions to Goodwin Lu. People say that maybe this is going to be a little taste, a little preview of what we'll see this summer in the Supreme Court battle. Fred?

WHITFIELD: And the White House went through it with Sotomayor. And so maybe it feels it has a little practice now and has some kind of idea about what to expect for this next nominee. Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

PAUL STEINHAUSER: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: In Washington.

All right. Never a dull moment. We're talking about Lady Gaga. Wait until you hear what she's talking about now. You just might not believe it based on what you see in her videos.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WHITFIELD: OK. You recognize the tune? Lady Gaga? Everybody knows her by now.

JERAS: There's so many of them out there.

WHITFIELD: Right.

JERAS: "Bad Romance," "Poker Face."

WHITFIELD: Well, we're now in the chat room. Thanks for joining Jacqui and I. This time when we talk about Lady Gaga, we're not talking about the latest greatest music that she's unveiling but this time we're talking about a statement that she's making. That she's been quoted in a newspaper. It's getting a lot of attention. Some might find it to be rather inspiring, particularly as people - of young kids who do admire her.

JERAS: Perhaps a little surprising.

WHITFIELD: Yes, the "London Daily Mail" is quoting her as saying that she is celibate right now and thinks it's not really cool anymore to have sex all the time. In fact, this is her quote. She's really directing this mostly to young people. Saying, "And I can't believe I'm saying this. Don't have sex. I'm single right now and I've chosen to be single because I don't have the time to get to know anybody. So it's OK not to have sex. It's OK to get to know people. I'm celibate. Celibacy is fine."

And you know, it's kind of getting a lot of attention because people look at the music, listen to her lyrics, see the images.

JERAS: They're very revealing.

WHITFIELD: Maybe the anti-thesis of that message.

JERAS: Right.

WHITFIELD: So some parents are feeling a little encouraged to hear that she is trying to convey this message, particularly to young people.

JERAS: Right. WHITFIELD: Because she is very popular among a lot of young people.

JERAS: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: And otherwise.

JERAS: And she says she wants to be a good role model. And that's one of the reasons why she's opted for celibacy. She says for those of you who choose not to be celibate, that she's handing out free condoms at her concerts.

WHITFIELD: You know -

JERAS: That means she can be safe.

WHITFIELD: She has this message for young people but still wants to call them little monsters.

All right. Something else we're talking about. Someone who was on the plane who maybe saw a young person, a toddler, a three-year-old as a little monster and took some action. It got her and a few other people on a little bit of trouble in that airline.

JERAS: Has this ever happened to you? You're sitting in your airplane seat, you're trying to relax and have a good time and boom, you get the kick, right?

WHITFIELD: I know.

JERAS: Everybody - we've all experienced probably. You get the kick. You hate the kick. But you try to understand.

WHITFIELD: You don't lose control.

JERAS: Toddlers can be a little rambunctious. It's hard to sit still. It's hard for an adult to sit still on an airplane.

WHITFIELD: It's the case of this when a Southwest Airlines flight, a three-year-old did a little kicking and the person in the seat lost it.

JERAS: Apparently so, the mother claims that the woman turned around, shook the child and said you're not going to be kicking me this entire flight to Vegas and pushed the child back into the chair. Yes.

WHITFIELD: She touched somebody else's kid. Picked up the kid. Showed her disappointment or anger. But guess what? Everyone kind of got - three people got thrown off.

JERAS: The mother is trying to press charges according to the Phoenix Police Department. So we haven't heard anything, you know, official. Besides that.

WHITFIELD: They did get (INAUDIBLE) on that flight but they did get a chance to get back on.

JERAS: They got back on. Apparently there were empty seats and the woman that did the shaking chose to sit right in front of the child again.

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. It's not over yet. I guess the moral of the story here, just keep your cool. Things happen. You get a little uncomfortable. But you are in a public place on that airline.

JERAS: And we'll have to see what happens.

WHITFIELD: A commercial -

JERAS: It'll be interesting to see if the charges do hold and what happens out of this.

WHITFIELD: Right. All right, Jacqui. Thanks so much. The chat room, of course, Jacqui, we'll hear from you a little bit later when we look at the national picture, weather picture, as we start a whole new workweek.

All right. Well, this is a really astounding and tough story coming up. This person had many admirers. And they all agreed that the D.C. middle school principal Brian Betts influenced so many young lives. Well, now many want to know who and why he would be killed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We're always on the prowl for interesting stories about smart people rebuilding their lives in business in these very hard economic times. We found a woman who overcame so much. She had to remake her business and start all over again after a catastrophic fire.

CNN's Tom Foreman reports from Austin, Texas, in this week's "Building up America" report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): In all of central Texas, there may be no one who knows more about rebuilding than the woman who runs this lumber company out on the edge of Austin. Because for the past few years, that's all her life has been about.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, there. What you got for me?

FOREMAN (voice-over): A dozen years back, Laura Culin took over her dad's business. And even as a single mother she was making a go of it until new year's eve, 2005.

(on camera): And so then calamity strikes. What happened?

LAURA CULIN, AUSTIN LUMBER COMPANY: A massive fire. Everything that Laura owned burnt to the ground.

FOREMAN: A $1 million worth of buildings, equipment and inventory, gone. Laura had no insurance, little savings. But she did have conviction. This would not defeat her. So Laura moved into a house on the edge of the property and day by day started to rebuild. Now, remember, while this was happening, the entire construction industry in this country took a nose dive. So she didn't have to just rebuild. She has to remake her entire business plan.

This is cotton insulation.

CULIN: This is made out of recycled blue jeans.

FOREMAN (voice-over): To cash in on new construction trends she began stocking more green products, recycled plastic, sustainable woods.

(on camera): By selling things like this, sustainable lumber, you were able to get a niche in the market that really no one was serving quite that well.

CULIN: Nobody.

FOREMAN (voice-over): She tapped into a government program that pays young people to learn trades, augmenting her small staff.

CULIN: You'll be working in a hardware store.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

CULIN: You'll be learning retail sales.

FOREMAN (on camera): So you're also now renting out property?

CULIN: Yes.

FOREMAN (voice-over): She cut down on the space she uses, making some available to other struggling, small businesses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm doing right now is virtually impossible, which is a one-man shop.

FOREMAN: And she joined a business group and meets every few weeks with a mentor. John Braun, who owns a much bigger construction company.

(on camera): So the basic idea is it's better for the whole business community if more established businesses help out those that are just coming along?

JOHN BRAUN, BUSINESS MENTOR: Yes. You should always be willing to grow the next generation.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Laura knows the economy is bad, but she's not afraid.

(on camera): Do you think you have fully recovered at this point?

CULIN: No. No. But I am on the way up.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Because each time she winds down from another day of building up her corner of America, Laura knows she'll be right back at it tomorrow.

CULIN: We are going to survive.

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, Austin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now. Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife were laid to rest a few hours ago at a private burial ceremony in Krakow. Many world leaders who were scheduled to attend today's service including President Obama had to cancel their plans because of the volcanic ash that has disrupted air travel across much of Europe. The Kaczynskis died along with 94 others in a plane crash in Russia last weekend.

And Pope Benedict today met with victims of a sex abuse scandal that has engulfed the Catholic church. The meeting took place on the Mediterranean island of Malta. The victims, the Pope met with, were among 10 men who say they were abused by priests at an orphanage in the 1980s and '90s. The Vatican says Benedict expressed pain and sorrow at the pain they suffered.

The space shuttle "Discovery" is heading home. But NASA is warnings the astronauts to expect possible rain delays. "Discovery" and its crew are scheduled to touch down tomorrow morning in Florida but it could always have a backup plan inside southern California and that would be Tuesday if the forecast has not improved for Florida.

All right. Here's a look at what happened this week in history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): One year ago this week in 2009, Mexico shut down schools and other public venues to fight the spread of the swine flu. Five years ago in 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected Pope. As Pope he became known as Benedict XVI. 20 years ago, in 1990, the "Discovery" space shuttle was launched carrying the Hubble space telescope.

25 years ago in 1985, Coca-cola announced it was changing its recipe. New Coke turned out to be a colossal marketing blunder and the company returned to the original formula. 30 years ago in 1980, Rosey Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston marathon. She was later exposed as a fraud who had jumped into the race less than a mile before the finish line. 40 years ago in 1970, environmental activists organized the first earth day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Right now police are trying to find out who shot and killed a popular principal of a middle school in Washington, D.C. Forty two year-old Brian Betts was found Thursday in his home in Silver Spring, Maryland. While police look for who did it, students, friends and parents wonder why anyone would want to. Richard Reeve of our affiliate WJLA shows us how Betts had been a positive influence on so many young lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD REEVE, WJLA (voice over): Crime tape and a bouquet of flowers now mark the home of D.C. school principal Brian Betts as a homicide scene.

TERRY MULLEN, WASHINGTON RESIDENT: You know it is really sad. Really sad to hear this.

REEVE: Terry Mullen and her family knew little about the case until Betts' stolen Nissan SUV was discovered Friday morning in a parking lot behind the Mullen's Fourth Street, South East home by a neighbor.

SHERRITA MULLEN, WASHINGTON RESIDENT: He told me that three young guys got out of it earlier that day. And that he didn't ask any questions because, you know, this neighborhood you just don't ask questions.

REEVE: Betts, 42 years ago, a well regarded principal of D.C.'s Shaw Middle School, was found shot to death Thursday night in a bedroom of his Silver Spring home.

CAPT. PAUL STARKS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY MCT. POLICE: They strongly believe this is not a random event. There were no signs of forced entry to the home.

REEVE: Authorities say the front door was unlocked, that the house was not ransacked. Students at this vigil Friday were puzzled and heartbroken.

ANNA GUZMAN, FORMER STUDENT: I don't know why anyone would have any reason to have any negative feelings about him. He was such a great person and did so much for so many people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And that was Richard Reeve reporting for WJLA TV. Two hundred students, parents and friends held a vigil last night in Silver Spring to mourn Betts.

It's a heartbreaking story that Dan Morris is covering for the "Washington Post." He's with me now on the phone. Dan, D.C. has been trying to make significant strides, trying to improve public schools there. How big a blow is this going to be, particularly when it comes to recruitment?

DAN MORSE, "WASHINGTON POST:" I think there's a sense that it's a big blow for all the kids that -- who would have met him in the future. I was at the vigil last night, and there was so many kids there who really, you know, that was a middle school in Montgomery County where he used to work. And these kids really had a -- he had a remarkable effect on a great number of them. I think there's -- people are angry. There's a sense that whoever did this, you know, has robbed a lot of kids in the future of getting to know this guy and becoming better for it.

WHITFIELD: And because of his legacy, Montgomery County public schools, that was, in fact, kind of impetus for the D.C. school president Michelle Reed to recruit him. Recruiting him heavily just a couple years ago to come to D.C., to come to this Shaw Middle School in particular to try and turn things around. Has anyone heard from her at all?

MORSE: Yes. She has spoken about this. She actually came to his house the night they discovered the body. And, you know, from all accounts, she's quite fond of him. And, you know, in her mind, he was one of her -- one of her star principals. She really -- she really liked the guy.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Why was he considered such a star principal?

MORSE: He just -- he was very energetic and very, very smart. He would take an interest in all these kids. One thing that he firmly believed, which I think - Michelle Reed really latched on and she is head of the D.C. schools, why she is so fond of him, he had this attitude that we're not going to discount kids who come from poor homes or troubled homes. That's not going to be an excuse. And we're going to treat them like other kids and have the same expectations of them. You know, he firmly believed that.

WHITFIELD: And now back to the investigation, are police saying anything more about what they are learning about suspects, motives, anything?

MORSE: They're not. There are few details on this. They don't want us to report things that someone out there who could be a suspect could read. But they have -- you know, they've been pretty consistent that they don't think this is random. And one big key to that is, they found his door open and there was no sign that anyone forced their way in. And they think that Brian let this person in. At least, that's sort of the operating theory right now.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, Dan Morse, reporter for the "Washington Post," thanks so much. Such a sad tragic story. So many people there in the Washington, D.C., area mourning now the loss of this great principal. Thanks so much for your time.

All right. What was supposed to be a few days in Europe now going on a few weeks longer? And the kids are now without their parents. We'll look at how the volcanic ash cloud is affecting travel here in the U.S. and around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: It's a little annoying that you kind of have to hang around the airport and check the internet all the time. Otherwise you could just go into D.C. and enjoy yourself.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: We can't check in online, $80 bucks down, and we can't go anywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. They're talking about that volcanic ash that's causing misery around the world. It's been quite a challenge to thousands of people's patience and ingenuity. Sarah Lee reports about an American couple stranded in the Netherlands. They're using the internet to stay in touch with their family. Their kids, in particular, back home in Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): What was supposed to be a few days in Europe to visit family is now going on two weeks. Sadness, separation and a lot of internet Skyping. For the Patterson's of Virginia. Parents Jen and Scott are among the millions stranded overseas because of the Icelandic volcano eruption.

SCOTT PATTERSON, STRANDED PASSENGER: Our flight tomorrow was canceled. Because the stuff in the air is too dangerous.

JEN PATTERSON, STRANDED PASSENGER: I'm excited to see you guys. This is the hardest thing mommy's ever done. You guys are the bravest kids in the world. I love you so much. I know that you're being so loved and taken care of there.

LEE: A grandmother had been watching the children.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Look. Mommy's making a funny face. Can you make a funny face to mommy?

LEE: But now friends are pitching in.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: We're good on milk.

After your mom gets here, John's going to mow the grass this afternoon. It's getting a little long.

S. PATTERSIN: How is it looking?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little rough.

LEE: But even rougher for them, the anxiety of being apart. The family spends a lot of time online sharing laughs, shedding tears, but also making plans.

J. PATTERSON: What's the first thing you guys want to do when we come home?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go to the zoo. S. PATTERSON: I think I might kiss the ground when we get home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oooh!

LEE: Can you just share with us again just how you're dealing with this, how you're coping?

J. PATTERSON: It's hard, lots of tears. Not a lot of sleep. I'm a stay at home mom. I don't get out a lot. I'm not an adventurous person. This was a hard enough thing for me to do.

LEE: The Patterson's have been leaning heavily on support from friends here at their church. They say that has helped them cope with being away from their four kids for what would likely be another week.

Sarah Lee for CNN, Virginia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A look at our other top stories right now, Senator Charles Schumer says five airlines are vowing not to charge passengers for carry-on baggage. The New York Democrat says he personally secured that promise from US Airways, Delta, Jet Blue, United and American Airlines. Two weeks ago local carrier Spirit Airlines became the first in the U.S. to announce plans to pose a $45 fee to store luggage in overhead bins.

And the death toll following a major earthquake in western China has risen. China's state media says the number of dead from Wednesday's 6.9 earthquake is now over 1,700. More than 250 are still missing.

The daughter of former President Lyndon Johnson is hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic. The 62-year-old Johnson is being treated for a rare auto immune disorder that can cause paralysis. Doctors say Lucy Baines Johnson is showing significant improvement and she is expected to make a full recovery.

Kids and social networking. We'll talk about ways to keep your children safe when they are online.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Whether you have children or not the State of America's Education System affects you in countless way. Many Americans are simply not happy with what they see. Education secretary Arne Duncan recently came to Atlanta to offer his solutions in an exclusive town hall meeting with teachers, students and parents, and CNN was there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do we encourage teachers? How can leaders and school administrators encourage teachers to move outside of the box and be creative in their teaching approaches so that they can reach all needs of students and so that kids can have a quality world- class education and that standards would be met at the same time.

ARNE DUNCAN, EDUCATION SECRETARY: I think teachers are unsung heroes in our society today. I think the vast majority of teachers do an extraordinary job, are working unbelievably hard, and never had less resources than they do today. Children are coming to school with more challenges than ever before. We need to do a much better job of supporting those teachers, mentoring them, providing them with meaningful professional development, meaningful career ladders.

We don't invest in teachers at our own peril. Schools of education need to do a much better job of preparing teachers to come into education. If -- we have to do a much, much better job of helping teachers be successful and awarding excellence. That's one thing that amazes me in education. We've been scared to talk about excellence. Great teachers make a huge difference in students' lives. Every study shows three great teachers in a row and the average child would be 1 1/2 to 2 grade levels ahead. Three bad teachers in a row and that average child would be so far behind they may never catch up. We need to recognize excellence and we need to reward it; we need to shine a spotlight on it. We need to clone those teachers, put them in real leadership positions to help them share their knowledge. We have to spot being scared of talking about excellence, great teachers, great principals, talent matters tremendously in education.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So what's happening to America's schools? Don Lemon takes a look in a CNN special report, "Fixing America's Schools," tonight at 6:00 Eastern Time. Be sure to join us for "Fixing America's Schools," only on CNN.

What the president and first lady are doing to protect their kids online. And what you can do to protect yours, when we come right back.

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WHITFIELD: First lady Michelle Obama is weighing in on the question of kids and social networking. In an interview with CNN's (ph) in Mexico last week, Mrs. Obama says there are certain rules for her daughters when it comes to how they use social networking sites on the internet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: In my household we try to establish a set of guidelines and rules that make sense. No computers, phones, television during the week. We ask a lot of questions about what our kids are doing when they're on the computer. We talk a lot with them about the dangers of face book and sort of getting into that social networking kind of gossip mill or, you know, that comes from those activities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So how do you manage your children's use of social networking or the internet as a whole? Joining us from New York to talk about this is Katie Linendoll. She's the technology host of A & E's "We Mean Business." Good to see you.

KATIE LINENDOLL, TECHNOLOGY EXPERT: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: So it's understandable why the Obamas take certain measures given that they are who they are, the first family. But what kind of page can we take? We just regular folks take from their philosophy on kids, social networking, internet?

LINENDOLL: Absolutely. Well, I think she's setting a great example for the rest of the country. Because maybe not using the internet, TVs, phones all week is a little excessive. At the same time, kids absolutely need monitors in their everyday lives. Let's think about it. We've learned from Facebook and cyber bullying on Facebook, it's led to suicides. We've learned from chat roulette. We've learned from "To Catch a Predator." The internet is not always the safest place to be. It can be a very scary world, 20 years ago we had to stay away from R rated movies. Now kids have an entire portal into another world where it cannot always be safe.

VELSHI: Very accessible.

LINENDOLL: So accessible.

WHITFIELD: So you lay out a few steps. Number one, you say you need to monitor the kids' use. In what way? Because, you know, you're at work. Or you've got other things going on. Your kids are at home where they're in the bedroom, on the computer. How do you monitor their use?

LINENDOLL: Right. Kids and their internet are so intertwined these days it's hard to keep track of their every movement. Obviously you're not going to hover over them 24/7. The first thing I say to do is any computer for free, what you can do is set up parental controls. Block specific sites and filter out content you don't want them to see. The best part is take $30 bucks and buy software that filters out internet sites, manages all the content they can see and also can send you a report of every site that they're on. Really it's all about the parents being a step ahead of the curve. Knowing about Facebook and the social networking sites and really being on to them in terms of what they're doing, what content they're viewing.

WHITFIELD: That's what you mean when you say get acquainted with the new trends, whether it's Facebook, twitter, what everybody else is doing.

LINENDOLL: I'm not telling parents to go out there and try to build the biggest farm on Facebook. That's not what I'm saying. But you have to stay in the know. And I think such a large percentage of parents just turn a blind eye to technology because it's all too overwhelming. When really they should use technology to their advantage to stay on top of these kids and what they're doing. This is your child.

You need to know what's going on in the twitter world, in the Facebook world, in the chat roulette world. If you don't scary things can happen and they can be exposed to things at a very young age. Michelle Obama, she has taken the right move here, because her daughters are 8 and 11. People are saying, oh my gosh she shouldn't monitor them. This is totally big brother. These are her kids. This is the right move. You don't want them seeing things that they shouldn't be seeing, especially at such a young age.

WHITFIELD: Yes, bottom line, you say don't let your guard down. You really need to be really engaged, as interested in these sites or -- and in being on the internet or being on the computer as your kids are. So if you make it kind of a family activity, then perhaps, you know, the kids will know, I guess, where the parameters are, where the line should be drawn.

LINENDOLL: Absolutely. And they have to know that you know something, too. Because if they can take advantage of you, trust me, they are going to push the limit. She's like monitoring them and giving them limited time. Using the internet should be a treat. They don't need to be online 24/7. At some point, listen, I love technology, too. You start to be a little unproductive.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LINENDOLL: So monitor their time. Limit their time. Use it as a treat. Really know, again, what is going on. Obama, you know, he's practicing what he preaches here. Because last year at the elementary schools he was saying, be careful what you put on Facebook. It is out there for the rest of your life. Be careful what you put online on any social networking site. He's teaching his girls the same exact thing.

WHITFIELD: Katie Linendoll thanks so much. Of A & E's "We Mean Business." Appreciate that. Hopefully making a lot of parents and kids smarter about how they navigate their social networking.

LINENDOLL: Thanks Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. They were denied the right to dance. Inspiring a hit movie. I know you know what I'm talking about. Thirty years later the kids are all grown up. It's time for a reunion now.

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WHITFIELD: Hit song, hit movie. When you talk about big '80s movies, you know you've got to include that one "Foot Loose." Kevin Bacon moves from the big city to a small town and finds out that rock music and dancing are illegal. Did you though the movie was based on a true story? For about 80 years you could not dance in Elmore City, Oklahoma. This weekend they celebrated the 30th anniversary of the real prom that inspired that movie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEONARD COFFEE, PLAYED BY KEVIN BACON, "FOOTLOOSE:" I don't think most of us had any idea there was a law against dancing on the books in Elmore City. We were just -- we wanted to dance for the prom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Leonard Coffee was played by Kevin Bacon in that movie.

A look at our top stories now. Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife were laid to rest a few hours ago at a private burial ceremony in Krakow. This coming after an elaborate state funeral. The Kaczynski's died along with 94 others in a plane crash in Russia last weekend.

Pope Benedict today met with victims of the church's sex abuse scandal; the meetings were placed on the island of Malta. The Vatican says Benedict expressed shame and sorrow at the pains the victims suffered.

And there may be hope for travelers stranded by the volcanic ash cloud that is spreading over much of Europe; a handful of planes took off in Europe today as a slight clearing appeared in the cloud. The European Union says air traffic could return to almost 50 percent of its normal level tomorrow if things continue to improve there.

And the space shuttle "Discovery" is heading home. It is expected to land tomorrow morning in Florida. But NASA is warning the astronauts to expect possible rain delays. If the forecast does not improve, "Discovery" could always aim for its backup landing site. Of course, that is southern California. That would be Tuesday, not tomorrow.

That's going to do it for you. The CNN NEWSROOM continues at 6:00 Eastern Time. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Don Lemon takes a look at fixing America's schools.