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President Obama's Asian Tour; College Life Amid Cartel Violence; Haiti Reels from Tomas; Attacking Health Care Reform; Landing a Holiday Job; Uproar Over Same-Sex Marriage
Aired November 07, 2010 - 16:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Next to President Obama's Asian tour. The second day of the president's visit to India included dinner at the home of the Prime Minister. Mr. Obama also visited a Muslim neighborhood in New Delhi. Although most Indians citizens are Hindus, there's a large Muslim minority.
Here now with CNNs Sara Sidner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is the New Zomadity (ph) a distinctly Muslim neighborhood where President Obama made his first public appearance in India's capital. He came to see a world heritage site built in the 1500s. Just behind the walls of the mines tomb, Muslims Zubalali (ph) says his morning prayers.
What's the message Indian Muslims would like to get to Mr. Obama?
The Muslims of India want to tell him that the 9/11 attacks affected a lot of Muslims because people started to believe Muslims are a community full of terrorists, he says. A lot of false ideas spread. We Muslims have no relation with terrorists. Ali worships at a shrine. As music behind him wafts in. This is the microcosm of India where temples, churches, and mosques co-exist often in tight spaces. Considering what is happening with India's neighbors, some people see the country's ability to maintain a peaceful co-existence as miraculous.
(on camera): Hindus make up the majority of the population here. But what many people don't realize is that India is also home to the third largest population of Muslims in the world.
(voice-over): But underneath the surface of calm, there are deep resentments that still exist between the country's two largest religions. From 19-year-old university student Ali to 85-year-old caretaker Muhammad Anwar (ph), there's is consensus that Muslims along with the nation's Sikhs and Christians are often victims of prejudice in many different areas including education and employment.
SIDNER (on camera): What are some of the issues for Muslims here? What would you like to tell the world?
MUHAMMAD ANWAR (PH), CARETAKER (through translator): The Muslims here have so many difficulties. The Muslims in America don't have the same issues. They are seen as equals, he says.
SIDNER (voice-over): Anwar (ph) says Muslims are often discriminated against regardless of their qualifications when it comes to getting jobs, keeping them in poverty, something that also frustrates university student Ali.
SIDNER (on camera): You've been neglected, you feel?
ALI, UNIVERSITY STUDENT (through translator): If any man does his best, performs well, but he gets neglected, it's a matter of great sadness. It's like throwing water on all his efforts, he says.
SIDNER (voice-over): Neither expects President Obama's trip to change that. But they do hope his visit will bring more awareness to the realities for India's Muslims.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And Sara Sidner joining us live now. So what's the plan for the president tomorrow? He has one more day in India.
SIDNER: That's right. He will be going to the Gandhi Mausoleum. I mean, as you know, the president has been asked very early on who he'd like to have dinner with, and he said Mohandas Gandhi. So that is one of the agenda items on the agenda.
And then the big item on the agenda that people here are waiting for, especially the Indian population, his major speech in India's Parliament - Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. Sara Sidner there in New Delhi.
All right. President Barack Obama will be arriving in Indonesia on Tuesday. But he just might not be receiving a warm welcome from everyone. And there were large protests across the country today. Muslim demonstrators are demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and an end to what they call blind support for Israel. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country.
All right. Back in this country now, gun shots fired along the U.S./Mexican border, too close for comfort for the University of Texas at Brownsville. Tomorrow, some nervous students will be returning to campus and class after classes were canceled on Friday because of a shootout nearby. Well, it left a suspected drug cartel leader dead in Matamoras, Mexico. And nearby, the university was on alert. The school shut down, and weekend events were also canceled.
So with us now, Adam Cardona, who is a UTV student. He joins us via Skype. And on the phone, we have the Campus Police Chief John Cardoza.
So Chief, let me start with you. How do you reassure parents and even students that it is safe to go back to school on that campus?
JOHN CARDOZA, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, BROWNVILLE CAMPUS POLICE CHIEF (via telephone): I'll give examples that we have. And in the past, we always are on a proactive reaction to whatever type of situation we encounter. We do offer a lot of training, a lot of all hazards approach to any - any incident that might occur on our campus especially incidents of - of gun battle south of the border and awareness of the type of situation.
Always to seek shelter if they hear any - any type of a gunfight, go to the nearest building, stay indoors away from building. If you're in a vehicle, move away from farther the sounds of gunshot is being activated.
WHITFIELD: So even though students are being encouraged to return back to school tomorrow, will there - will the instructions be any different for them when they go to classes? Or are they being encouraged to stay away from windows in the classes just as you mentioned if there were a shooting taking place at that moment? Do they have to take any particular precautions right now?
CARDOZA: Yes. If we were to have another reenactment of what happened on Friday, of course, the alert will go out to our mechanism we have in place. But we do assure our students, faculty, and staff, and visitors coming to our campus, we're on a heightened alert. We will have key personnel out there in the fields to monitor the situation south of the - of the river and also our Intels that we have with all our federal, state, and local agencies. We are constantly monitoring for anything that might have apprised in - within the day, minutes or hours that is happening.
WHITFIELD: OK.
And so Adam, you're a student there joining us via Skype. Are you confident about going back to class tomorrow?
ADAM CARDONA, STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT BROWNSVILLE: Actually, I am. I think the university has set up a lot of precautions and procedures in place to go ahead and make sure that we feel safe and I do feel safe to return tomorrow.
WHITFIELD: And how about most of your classmates? Do you think everyone feels that way? Has there been a lot of, you know, a lot of talking, a lot of texting, et cetera over the weekend about going back to school on Monday?
CARDONA: There is a lot of talk about it, but we are all checking our website to go ahead and make sure, and we already got our alert saying that we should go back to class tomorrow, and nobody seems to be hesitant. Of course, they're all ready to go back. We need to continue our studying and everybody seems like they're ready to go back, as well.
WHITFIELD: Has there ever been an incident like this before while you've been in campus while there were students there?
CARDONA: Yes, there has been an incident before. I believe it was about a year ago.
WHITFIELD: So sadly this is becoming fairly, I guess, usual for you - you and other classmates, even if it happened a year ago?
CARDONA: It's something that we do here often. Whether it be on newspapers, on the news. We do hear about it, even if it's not affecting the campus. I mean, it's just s-it's something that we do hear about here because we live so close to the border.
WHITFIELD: OK. And so, Chief, those bullets that were, you know, flying on Friday, did any actually hit any of the structures there on campus? How close to home was this?
CARDOZA: Well, at this time, we have not found any - any of the bullets landed on our campus. Now, we would - we just heard the gunfire, that's all.
WHITFIELD: And so any interaction or, you know, that you have with the city authorities or maybe even Mexican authorities on how to protect this campus, Chief?
CARDOZA: Yes, ma'am. Within minutes what we had, of course, were our federal counterparts and border patrol and customs they were already on-site and ready to help us - to assist us in evacuating students back into the buildings or barricading the entrance to our campus to make sure people that were coming so that we could divert them away from the immediate danger.
We had the City of Brownsville officers, the chief of police were here on site also who were exercising our protocols we had in place to respond to such type of an incident. The school district police and their chief, we had them here and throughout the night assisting us in taking - making sure that our campus was secure and safe.
WHITFIELD: OK. All the best.
CARDOZA: And the relationships that we have - yes, the relationships that I have and my agency has with all the Valley chiefs and also the Texas chiefs because I am past president of Texas Police Association, chiefs association.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
CARDOZA: So with that, we have a great communication.
WHITFIELD: You have that reassurance. All right. Police Chief John Cardoza, thanks so much and Adam Cardona, thanks so much. And all the best to all of you there at the University Of Texas, Brownsville.
All right. Meantime, a memorial today for Colorado man presumed shot to death on a lake along the Texas/Mexico border. Just take a look right now. Live pictures of that service in Ft. Collins, Colorado. They are honoring 30-year-old David Hartley. He disappeared in late September while he was jet skiing with his wife on Falcon Lake. His wife says he was shot and his body was dragged off.
Well, authorities have yet to find Hartley's body. Officials in Texas and Mexico say they are still investigating the case.
An earthquake, cholera outbreak, and now a hurricane? The latest on Haiti's misery straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: OK. I guess that, you know, Halloween's behind us, so, you know, it's a given, it's going to be cold. A little nip in the air.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, but it's really -
WHITFIELD: No complaints, people. People are complaining. I'm saying that because I've been doing all the complaining.
JERAS: You're trying to embrace it.
WHITFIELD: I've been putting lots of layers. Not really complaining, but, you know, trying to combat.
JERAS: Yes. I always allow complaining about cold weather if it's unusually cold. OK? And it was unusually cold in Georgia today, so you can complain a little bit, Fredericka. But it was also unusually cold in Florida. Yes, we're a record low in Miami this morning, 53 degrees. Does it look cold out there? Looks beautiful, actually, doesn't it? A little bit of sunset.
And just to put it in perspective, that's about 15 degrees colder than you should be for the time - this time of the year. You get about 75 for an afternoon high and you start to warm up a little bit.
WHITFIELD: So if you people who have heaters in Miami, they need to crank it up today, huh?
JERAS: Yes, I would definitely would have done that.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
JERAS: Yes, 53. I mean, yes, I'd have the heat on maybe.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
JERAS: So it's kind of the haves and have not's today when we're talking about temperatures. We've got a dip in our jet stream across both of the coast of the country. And in the middle, this is where the good stuff has been and temperatures have been unusually warm here. We've got some records here, too.
Kansas City at 70 degrees still at this hour, 66 degrees in Denver. So that's pretty good for this time of the year. Now, the freeze warnings remain in place across the southeast for tonight, so be aware of that, but I think this will probably be the last one as our temperatures are going to start to finally moderate a little bit.
Now, temperatures have been cold in the northeast, but the moisture that's coming in right now is rain. But that's going to be changing as our temperatures continue to drop tonight. We've got an area of low pressure developing offshore here. It's almost kind of Northeaster-ish and bringing in those northeasterly winds. The moisture relatively light, but it's going to pick up tonight. And as that moisture moves in over the mountainous areas here, the interior of northeast, we're going to start to see that change over to some snow. So we could see a little accumulation, mostly in the mountains. But I think we can even see this maybe in the western suburbs of the Boston area by tomorrow morning. So be aware of that.
Out west, we're definitely dealing with some snow in the higher elevations, you've seen it in the Sierras, you've seen it in the Cascades, now we're going to see it, as well, into the Wasatch Range and (INAUDIBLE). So we could see a good 30 inches in some of the higher elevations here.
So this is a very strong front. We've got windy conditions coming in behind it but when it hit conditions ahead of it and it's a strong southerly winds that are making things very nice across the nation's midsection. That will head eastward as will the cold behind it. You know, it's always very changeable this time of the year.
One more quick note, by the way, I just got word in from the National Hurricane Center, they've issued their last advisory on Tomas. It has become extra tropical. It no longer has tropical characteristics. So it's fading now, kind of get the cold front on it, but it's not going to impact anybody anymore.
WHITFIELD: OK. We can't really feel relief until November 30th. That's what -
JERAS: That's when it's over.
WHITFIELD: -- at least in all those in the Caribbean and along the East Coast, or even the Gulf of Mexico, too. Yes.
JERAS: (INAUDIBLE).
WHITFIELD: It has been. All right. You said it would be. Thanks, Jacqui.
JERAS: Sure.
WHITFIELD: All right. Parts of Haiti are still flooded after Tomas did sweep across the country as a hurricane. The death toll is at least six now. Much of that devastation came from the storm's drenching rains.
Here now is CNN's Paula Newton.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And then came Hurricane Tomas. Misery now overwhelms Haitians just as easily as the flood waters did.
CHARLIE SIMOLIEN, HURRICANE VICTIM (through translator): This water now came by and washed away anything we had left, he says.
NEWTON: Young Charlie Simolien wades through filthy water only to return to his earthquake-ravaged home. This is Leogane, the very epicenter of January's epic quake, and now it has seen some of the worst flooding.
And yet for this, there is gratitude. Tomas spared them the worst.
NEWTON (on camera): This is what the Essen (ph) family has been left with. There is water all over their home and this muddy soot. I mean, they're thankful that the water has started to recede. But now they're left with this muddy soot.
NEWTON (voice-over): And so they try to clean up and recover once more. Many tell us, they've had it. Their spirit broken, the quake, the continuing threat of cholera, the indignity of scavenging to survive, and now more water.
Jess Noor (ph) tells us he lost his leg to the earthquake, now Tomas has taken everything else.
JESS NOOR (ph), HURRICANE VICTIM (through translator): This is all I could save, he tells us, my crutches.
NEWTON: It's difficult to comprehend that in the shadow of homes crushed by the quake, Haitians must now somehow survive. So little has changed here since January, outside Haiti there is talk of donor fatigue, but inside Haiti - they're sick of something else. All the attention. They say it raises their expectations for help and crushes them once more when it fails to turn up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN CREOLE).
NEWTON: We always have foreigners come and talk to us and offer help, he says. They take our stories, they take advantage of us, and it's about time this ends.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN CREOLE).
NEWTON: Hurricane Tomas' last lash may be behind them, but many Haitians tell us they no longer believe anyone can help them when the next calamity strikes.
Paula Newton, CNN, Leogane, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Trader Joe's is recalling several products containing cilantro. The grocery store chain is worried the cilantro may be contaminated with salmonella. Here's a list of products. Spicy Thai Style, Pasta Salad, Cilantro dressing, Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette, Cilantro Pecan Dip. If you've got one of those items, you're advised to dispose of it or return it to the store for a refund.
All right. It's almost time for our "Viral Video Rewind" that's we bring in our Josh Levs for stuff that sometimes is side-splitting and sometimes it's cerebral, and sometimes it's very serene. Yes.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am going to try to capture all those seasons (ph) all of those for you today. Let's see what we have.
We've got the coolest fast food order taker/rapper in the world. We have a bear that changes its mind. We have a massive portrait made out of toothpicks, and we have this guy who you just saw, this professor pulling off a trick that I'll have to tell you about it. It's all coming up in "Viral Video Rewind".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Viral videos are straight ahead, including a massive portrait made out of toothpicks. But first a look at the headlines.
Mexico's bloodiest city saw more violence and death within the past 24 hours. Eighteen people have been shot and killed around Ciudad Juarez. Among the victims, a family of seven. They were slaughtered outside their home. The violence is believed linked to criminal drug cartels.
And jurors in Connecticut deliberating the fate of Steven Hayes have gone home for the day without determining a sentence. Hayes was convicted of rape and murder for the 2007 deaths of Jennifer Hawks- Petit and her two daughters. Only Petit's husband survived. Hayes will either get the death penalty or life in prison.
And overseas, a Kenyan police officer is accused of a deadly shooting spree northeast of Nairobi. The officer allegedly shot and killed 10 people at a bar in the wee hours of the morning. Two of the victims were off-duty officers. After he allegedly ran out of bullets, he turned himself into local police.
And rescued Chilean miner Edison Pena - there he is crossing the finish line at the New York City Marathon. He had estimated that it would take him six hours to complete the course. Pena did it in five hours, 40 minutes. It's his first time doing a marathon. As you recall, he was trapped in that Chilean mine for more than 60 days. And by the way, he spent some of his time while in that mine jogging back and forth in the tunnels.
All right. So today we're going to kick off our "Viral Video Rewind" with an incredibly saucy song. Saucy not because I have heard it and described it that way, but you have, Josh.
LEVS: Well, this is a very clever pun. Our writer Megan came up with because it's actually about sauce. All right.
WHITFIELD: Cute.
LEVS: So take a look at this video. Love this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no thanks.
LEVS: They pull over to a McDonald's. They're placing an order. And the guy starts (INAUDIBLE). Listen to this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, can we get the special sauce with our meal today? Would that be cool?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ordered the number 14 nugget meal, correct?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What kind of drink would you like?
LEVS: So you can hear his voice like Mr. Movie Phone. He's not known - people don't talk that way obviously. But then he asked what kind of sauces they have, and that's when the guy gets musical. Listen to what happens.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What kind of sauce do we have, correct?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got that honey mustard, barbecue, sweet and sour. We've got honey sauce, hot sauce that burns for hours. We've got that buffalo ranch if you need. (INAUDIBLE).
LEVS: See. It's a rap about sauce.
WHITFIELD: That's good.
LEVS: And now it's gone wild online. Now, people want to know who this guy is. If they add to this file on - on the web, which restaurant it is, everyone will start going there to find this guy.
WHITFIELD: Yes, of course.
LEVS: People are loving this guy.
WHITFIELD: Yes, I would like to drive through the drive thru just to hear him.
LEVS: You know, I probably wouldn't eat any of that and I want to ask him what kind of sauce they have.
WHITFIELD: Exactly.
LEVS: All right. So I showed you a clip before the break. You saw a professor doing something funky with a screen.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEVS: Take a look here. I want you to see this. This is really interesting. Good for him.
This is on Halloween. The professor's name is Matthew Weathers. He's a professor of Biola University in California, decided to do this little trick for the - for the kids, where he pretends that he can reach behind the screen and physically pull something out. And they were loving - look at that. They made a video of it.
You know, he told me that, I talked to him today. He told me all this preparation that went into this and prepared this whole video about it. He teaches the class for non-math majors and he wanted to help encourage kids to get interested - and look at that, watch what he comes out with.
WHITFIELD: Oh, cute.
MATTHEW WEATHERS, PROFESSOR, BIOLA UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA: Here we go.
LEVS: Perfect.
WHITFIELD: And people are loving him.
LEVS: Now, skip ahead to the next section because this is something a lot of you can associate with. He complains about Windows. And so he says I'm going behind - this is great. I'm going to take out the whole Windows program altogether. He pretends he can cut it out. And, yes, he tells me he had some like film experts basically work with him on this. Watch what he does. Beautiful job. Beautiful job. Matthew Weathers.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
LEVS: And you know what? How awesome would it be to have a professor like that?
WHITFIELD: Yes. I was just thinking. Oh, my gosh. To have that professor, you wouldn't want to miss a class. Not that I ever skipped a college class, but I'm just saying, you would definitely want to have perfect attendance with him.
LEVS: I'm pretty sure there's some that didn't make it - especially the ones that were like 8:30 in the morning all the way across campus in the middle of December.
WHITFIELD: Oh, those were cruel.
LEVS: Oh, those - can seem (ph) to happen.
WHITFIELD: Why - why would you ever sign up for that? I learned that very terrible lesson.
LEVS: I don't know. You know what it does, some day when our kids are old enough to go to college, they'll quote us on this and then we'll be in trouble.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEVS: All right. So, let's celebrate the fall with the next video. You're going to love this.
WHITFIELD: Oh, yes. OK.
LEVS: Take a look at this. It's just - take a look.
WHITFIELD: That's cute.
LEVS: How awesome is that?
WHITFIELD: That's fun.
LEVS: This is one of those videos that can just make you forget all about your problems. Just kick back, relax, the perfect fall image, by the way, thanks to Jacqs (ph) - our Jacqui Jeras who pointed this out for me. This is from Urlesque.com. They put together this compilation and AOL posted it on their main page yesterday. People go wild about it. I think the last couple of days, I guess. Beautiful.
WHITFIELD: Everybody - every kid remembers, I think, right? Just jumping into a big pile of leaves or -
LEVS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: -- wallowing in it, or crunching it. That's fun. Oh, my gosh.
LEVS: I'll tell you. I encourage people to. And I always post the links. At Urleque.com they actually talk about why they did this. And they say that feeling of having your parents swing you around and throw you into the pile and being a kid, it all comes together.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. Look at that mound.
LEVS: There you go.
WHITFIELD: That's fun.
LEVS: Love it. Are you ready to see some toothpick art?
WHITFIELD: Sure.
LEVS: It's a staple in the "Viral Video Rewind". You've got to see it. Let's just go to it. I'll tell you about it.
WHITFIELD: I'm dying to sink my teeth into this one.
LEVS: Nice. Wish we had some drums right now. So these are all close-up toothpicks.
WHITFIELD: OK.
LEVS: And watch what happens when it pulls out. You'll see this image. This was posted by - he just names - he just says he's Jim in Japan and that his students put this together. Look at that.
WHITFIELD: Oh no.
LEVS: Francisco de Salacio (ph), who I believe - I believe - and if there's an expert out there, you can correct me. But I believe this is the same person we know to be a Francisco de Sales, which goes back to I believe the 17th Century in Roman Catholic Church. They put that together. They worked for three weeks, about nine feet tall, about six feet wide, 97,000 toothpicks. Jim and his students put all that together. WHITFIELD: Painstaking.
LEVS: And you know -
WHITFIELD: That's beautiful.
LEVS: This is something when you and I talk about - about on "Viral Video Rewind", that these forms of art that we would never think of but there are people out there spending time on them.
WHITFIELD: Most of the ones we showcase I would never think of.
LEVS: Right.
WHITFIELD: That's what makes it so fascinating. And I guess to everyone else too that's why they go viral.
LEVS: That's why they go viral. And he's using that to show you the size of it. He puts down his iPhone so you can get a sense of how big it is.
WHITFIELD: Neat. Love it.
LEVS: OK. Now, another thing we often see, animals.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEVS: Sometimes cute, sometimes a little scary, sometimes in between.
WHITFIELD: What do we have today? Eenie, meenie, miny, moe.
LEVS: Yes. Well, I gave you cute yesterday.
WHITFIELD: Yes. OK. Scary.
LEVS: So this is a little scary. This is bear changes his mind. Take a look at this one.
WHITFIELD: OK. Bear changes his mind.
LEVS: So this guy basically has his camera. This bear comes along and starts crawling up the ladder. Listen to what happens. Listen to the sound.
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's a wild bear (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, what are you doing there? What are you doing there?
LEVS: It just go right back down the ladder.
WHITFIELD: Oh.
LEVS: It just goes right back and he's like, oh, OK. I wouldn't come then. So he's never really wouldn't hurt anybody.
WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) anybody was home. Oh, bye-bye.
LEVS: It's kind of cute, too, because (INAUDIBLE). He's like a person on that ladder.
WHITFIELD: We understand the potential of some bears, but they are still beautiful animals.
LEVS: They are.
WHITFIELD: To be able to see something up close and personal like that. Well, good thing the guy was able to operate a camera and be calm at the same time, right? No panic there.
LEVS: Oh, man. OK. We're going to roll out on two sports oriented clips. We'll do them quickly. One is what I showed you yesterday and we're just going to read this because we're getting so many responses to this. This is the science cheerleaders. Yes, the science cheerleaders. This new thing, they have their own YouTube challenge.
Take a look at this. And they're basically getting together - and these are all former NBA and NFL cheerleaders who are now - they're neurophysicists, they're astrophysicists, are neurophysicists a real thing? Neuroscientists, astrophysicists. They're really, really smart scientists. (INAUDIBLE) words, but I don't know. We're all like we don't know. Someone Google that for me. So people are loving that. And I'll show you in a minute where to find this link.
And finally, you've got to see this. Skip this next one and go ahead to this last video I have in there for us. This is from the Washington Wizards. John Wall doing the Dougie. Everyone's talking about this now. Once in a while you have an athlete who becomes famous - or someone who becomes famous for dancing, they're not dancers.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.
LEVS: So this is taking off. He's got the moves, huh?
WHITFIELD: He's got the moves there. Oh, my goodness. He's having fun.
LEVS: Having a good time.
WHITFIELD: You wouldn't forget that player.
LEVS: Look at that. Yay! You know, I think he's got the Dougie down.
WHITFIELD: Go Wizards.
LEVS: As always, all the videos that I just showed you are posted at Facebook. Every single one, take a look at my page there. Facebook.com/JoshLevsCNN. Send us your favorite and I will have some of those for us next week.
WHITFIELD: All right, Dougie Fresh, the new Dougie Fresh. A different kind of Dougie Fresh.
LEVS: Next time we do that, we're putting that on the screen. Dougie Fresh.
WHITFIELD: All right Josh, thanks so much, appreciate that.
All right. What are we talking about next? All right. Health care reform. Remember that battle all yearlong? There's a new battle about health care reform again coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, let's check out the top stories in our Political Ticker. A top Democrat is refuting Republicans' claims that Tuesday's election was a referendum on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's agenda. Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen says the vote was a referendum on the economy. Van Hollen also says he'll back Pelosi for minority leader come January.
Democrats have held onto a House seat by the way in Arizona. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has won a third term beating Tea Party favorite Jesse Kelly. That leaves just eight congressional races undecided.
And we'll soon find out whether two well-known Republicans will run for president in 2012. Indiana Congressman Mike Pence and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty say they'll decide whether to jump into the race after the first of the year.
For the latest political news, log on to CNNPolitics.com.
All right. Now that the midterm elections are over, get ready for a renewed debate over health care reform. The Sunday morning talk shows were full of Republican voices threatening repeal. Minnesota's governor was one of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM PAWLENTY (R) MINNESOTA: I think Obamacare is one of the worst pieces of legislation passed in the modern history of the country. I'm doing everything I can in Minnesota to stop delay or avoid its implementation in my state, including signing an executive order saying we're not going to participate unless required by law or approved by me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: But on CBS, House Majority Whip James Clyburn defended health care reform.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), MAJORITY WHIP: That's why I say that when you get into what we really did and the American people understand what we really did, I think this health care plan will be with us for a long, long time and it's something we'll build upon. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was on the same program with Representative Clyburn. McConnell joined the GOP chorus saying Republicans owe it to the American people to try to repeal health care reform.
Let's check in again with our Jacqui Jeras. A little chill in the air just about everywhere. That's the way it's supposed to be. Look at the calendar. Except for the center of the country. Very strong anomaly going on there.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, they're basking in the warmth in the Plains and they're freezing their you know what's off across parts of the Southeast. We had a couple of record lows. And this is the time of the day, by the way, when they start reporting them for the National Weather Service. I suspect this list will grow a little bit. Charlotte, North Carolina, 26 degrees this morning. It was 27 in Jackson, Kentucky. And even Miami, Florida, had a record low of 53 degrees. It wasn't a record in terms of temperatures, but it was awfully nippy out there.
In Chattanooga, Tennessee, this morning and yesterday morning. They were having an event called the Head of the Hooch. It was a regatta, more than 2,000 boats raced this weekend. It was the second largest two-day regatta in the world. Temperature this morning in Chattanooga, 30 degrees. Yeah, that's a little cold to get on the water. Wouldn't you say?
All right, what's happening in terms of wet weather and cold weather. Well, it's going to stay dry across the Southeast. So don't worry about the snow. But that blue is for the freeze warnings as we continue to stay cold for one more day. Now temperatures in the Northeast have been chilly, but it's been warm enough all day that we've been getting rain coming in with a developing area of low pressure. Boston is really going to get heavy maybe an hour from now. And as temperatures drop tonight, we're going to start to see some of this turn over to snow especially into the higher elevations of the interior parts of the Northeast, but even Boston suburbs I think could see a little bit of snow shower activity tomorrow morning. So be aware of that.
So travel problems expected in New England tomorrow as well as across much of the West. We think you're going to clear out in San Francisco, but Seattle and Portland could have trouble, as well as Salt Lake City. It's going to be a cold, wet day there with 47 degrees. Of course, we'll see heavy snow into the mountains here, and it will be one more continued warm day across the nation's midsection with that southerly wind. But we're going to watch that front move eastward. So it gets warmer in the East, colder in the West, so everybody gets to do a nice little flip-flop.
How about that, Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Hey, when you were younger, did you ever, you know, go for the holiday jobs? JERAS: Holiday jobs? Oh, yeah. I worked at Eddie Bauer over the Christmas season one year.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well, 'tis the season to get out there and start looking for those seasonal jobs. We're going to have some tips on how you stand out from the crowd because it's probably a thicker competition than usual this year.
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WHITFIELD: All right, 'tis the season. Many retailers and restaurants are on a hiring spree, filling positions for those seasonal jobs just a few weeks away, the holiday season is. So if you're looking to snag one of those jobs, there are things you could do to try to stand out in the crowd because a whole lot of folks are looking for any kind of job they can get.
Joining us right now with some of those tips, Debra Shigley, the author of the "Go Getters Girl Guide." I love that alliteration. Get what you want in work and life. All right, so this is really important because sometimes if you get a seasonal job, after the season is over, they may want to retain you. So there are some really important things you can do to try and snag something.
DEBRA SHIGLEY, AUTHOR: Absolutely. It's often considered a crucial time period to test out new employees to keep them on longer term and also consider making a great impression. Because one thing that can happen is you can network with different customers, different clients that come in. And even if it's not your dream job, your actual holiday job, you might meet someone that can help you with a future position.
WHITFIELD: OK so how do you get started? You need to hit the pavement for one. Just get out there, just look, read the signs. Fill out the applications.
SHIGLEY: Exactly. The big opportunities are in retail. Over the past several months, Toys R Us, Borders, Harry & David, Best Buy, all of these retailers have announced thousands of jobs for the holiday season. But we are actually getting towards the end of the hiring component because they want to have everyone in place by Black Friday. So you need to get out there, hit the pavement, do a little bit of hustling.
WHITFIELD: OK how do you make that great impression?
SHIGLEY: Yeah. Well, the first thing is you want to be available in terms of your schedule. Because that's what these employers are looking for.
WHITFIELD: You don't want to go in there and say well I can only do Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
SHIGLEY: Right. You need to work nights. You're going to need to work weekends, you might even have to work some of those holidays, as well. Be flexible. WHITFIELD: OK and create your own holiday job. It's, I guess something doesn't appeal to you, some, you know, hiring sign doesn't do it for you, you can create your own job.
SHIGLEY: Well, this a bit of a trend right now. I just spoke to a woman named Kia Wenzel Martinsen (ph) in Connecticut and what she does is she decorates people's holiday parties, she designs Christmas cards online. Lots of different things -- like errands that people don't want to do and she can make an extra $1,000 doing this throughout the holiday season. So put the word out to your family and friends, send an e-mail.
WHITFIELD: How do you kind of advertise for that? Because I could already think of -- some people are very busy, maybe they can't pick up all of those packages or pick up the food for a holiday party. That's a job that you can kind of create. So how do you get the word out about that?
SHIGLEY: Well, the first thing you want to do is find out what people hate to do. Think of all the things that you don't like to do.
(CROSSTALK)
SHIGLEY: Right, like Christmas cards, running errands, prepping the holiday table, all those different things. Send an e-mail to your family and friends, maybe even your neighbors saying, what do you hate to do? And then, of course, you can offer to do it for them for a small fee. Maybe like $10 or $20 an hour. You can negotiate kind of a flat fee. Often the running rate for a Christmas card is $1 to $4 card if you're going to be designing it. So you can really rack up some extra cash over the holidays.
WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Debra Shigley with some great ideas for the holiday. I can't believe it's right around the corner. We're going to look at your book again. "The Go Getters Girl's Guide." Did I get that right? "The Go Getter Girl's Guide." OK right there, pick up that book. It's hot.
SHIGLEY: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: And you're about seven, eight months --
SHIGLEY: Yes, about 7.5 months. So we're getting a little holiday surprise.
WHITFIELD: Yay, all right, Debra Shigley, thanks so much. Good to see you.
SHIGLEH: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right Pope Benedict the XVI goes on the attack over an issue that divides Christians around the world. That story's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right, a quick look at our headlines. President Barack Obama says India has the biggest stake in Pakistan's fight against extremism. During a Q&A session at a school in Mumbai, he expressed hopes the two neighboring countries can learn to trust each other. India is the first stop of the president's 10-day Asian tour.
Well, he started this day on a rather lighter note as you can see there, showing he's got a little rhythm as well as the first lady there maybe, celebrating a major religious festival with the local students in Mumbai. The president and first lady took part in some of the ceremonial dances you can see there and interacted with the young people there, shaking hands, lots of fun. Indonesia is the next stop for the president and first lady come Tuesday.
The Italian media reports Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he will not resign. A former ally turned rival has called on him to step down. If Berlusconi refuses, Gianfranco Fini warns ministers loyal to him would resign, causing a government crisis.
For Pope Benedict XVI, a day to defend Christianity from its critics. During his visit to Barcelona, he said the world is becoming too secular. The pope was in the Spanish city to dedicate a still unfinished church. He also went on the attack in support of traditional families arguing against same-sex marriage, which is legal in Spain.
The controversy over same-sex marriage is stirring up a lot of emotions among Catholics in Minnesota. At issue, a DVD mailed to parishioners across the state. The story now from CNN's all-platform journalist Chris Welch.
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CHRIS WELCH, CNN ALL-PLATFORM JOURNALIST (voice-over): The Basilica of St. Mary, typically a place of serenity, peace, but now, it and other churches in Minnesota are at the epicenter of an emotional political debate, one that has divided Catholics statewide. It's because of this little disk. It's not pornographic nor is it obscene, but many are calling it offensive.
JAN BUZCEK, CATHOLIC PARISHIONER: When this DVD was put out, I can't explain the pain.
WELCH: It's a DVD, 400,000, to be exact, from Minnesota's catholic clergy mailed to the homes of its parishioners with one simple message --
ARCHBISHOP JOHN NIENSTEDT, ARCHDIOCESE: Marriage is a committed union between one man and one woman.
WELCH: During Archbishop John Nienstedt's six-minute message, he asks Catholics to support the idea that the people of Minnesota, not individual judges, should be able to vote on an amendment keeping marriage between a man and woman only. People are upset for a host of reasons.
BUZCEK: I don't think God's very happy right now. Jesus would not be treating people this way.
WELCH: Jan Buzcek is heavily involved here at the basilica. She goes to mass three times a week. In fact, it's part of what makes this interview so difficult.
BUZCEK: I'm going public with being a mom of a gay child. Like my daughter says, I should have the same right as you, mom, to crawl in bed at night and cuddle with my loved person and talk about the day.
WELCH: This past spring, long before the DVD came out, the archbishop wrote a column in the local newspaper outlining his argument for the preservation of marriage in its traditional form. Buzcek felt his comments were not just anti-gay marriage, but anti-gay people. So, she wrote to him.
BUZCEK: The last sentence of my letter to him was, you probably would not have a change of heart over these issues, but at least I'm letting you know that there are people in our church that suffer greatly because of the attitudes of the hierarchy.
WELCH: His response --
BUZCEK: I urge you to reconsider the position that you expressed in your letter. Your eternal salvation may well depend on a conversion of heart on this topic. There's so much pain, needless pain, and our archbishop and the pope, they're supposed to be loving shepherds and they're not.
WELCH: Artist Lucinda Naylor is also at a discord with the church.
LUCINDA NAYLOR, ARTIST: I think all churches have the right to say who they want to marry and who they don't want to marry, but they don't have a right to meddle in the rest of the society at large. I think it's bullying. It's like shoving this little DVD down our throats and saying you need to agree with this our you're not a good Catholic. And I just think that's wrong.
WELCH: Naylor and the archdiocese do agree on one thing, the fact that after 15 years of employment she was suspended from her job at the basilica after she posted voicing her opposition on Facebook. She also posted that she'd be collecting unwanted DVDs for an art project.
NAYLOR: I think people just need to say no, I'm not going to put up with this kind of thing from my church. I mean, people commit suicide because they're not accepted. I don't think it's in keeping with the teachings of Jesus, to be honest.
WELCH: Critics are also saying that even though the DVD does not they'll names, it favors a candidate for governor. Republican Tom Emmer opposes gay marriage, Democrat Mark Dayton supports it.
Since the church is tax exempt, it cannot back a particular candidate. A spokesman for the archdiocese declined an on-camera interview but said the DVD, which was funded by anonymous donors and the Knights of Columbus is not meant to endorse anyone.
Marlene Reid, Sue Lewis and Gretchen Thibault come from three separate parishes. They support the archbishop's message because Catholics, they say, should be reminded of what's right and what's wrong in the eyes of the church.
MARLENE REID, CATHOLIC PARISHIONER: Yes, if you want to really be a Catholic of good standing and really call yourself Catholic and be, then you need to follow the doctrines of the church. Maybe we could do something more than a DVD. Maybe we could put up billboards. I would love to see it on a little 30-second spot on the TV every night. Just to remind the people of where the church is coming from and where the moral law is coming from and where the natural law is coming from.
GRETCHEN THIBAULT, CATHOLIC PARISHIONER: I kind of think of the Catholic Church as a yellow brick road of sorts, I guess, in that if we take on that path, we're going to keep ourselves before all the dangers that lay outside.
WELCH: They follow the mantra, love the sinner, not the sin. They disagree with people who feel the archdiocese shuns members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.
REID: We treat them with respect and compassion and love.
SUE LEWIS, CATHOLIC PARISHIONER: Love means doing what's best for another person and sometimes, what's doing what's best for another person means, I love you, I'm here for you, but this behavior you're doing isn't good for you. That behavior I don't love.
REID: I am not going to denigrate them as a homosexual. I am just going to say that this is ridiculous when you come to -- when you start talking about same-sex marriage.
WELCH: Lucinda Naylor and Jan Buzcek will continue to attend mass. Their faith, they say, is unscathed, but their faith in the church elders, that's a different story. Chris Welch, CNN, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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WHITFIELD: All right, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks for being with me this afternoon.
Don Lemon is coming up next with a story of a huge firefight in Afghanistan. There he is getting ready. Does he look like he's getting ready? Yes. Don is getting ready, getting all miked up and everything. He'll have an update on what's taking place out there. That's all straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
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