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The Search for a Killer Shark; Young Girls Faced into Slavery in America; Teen Assassin by Mexican Drug Cartels; Face to Face with Katherine Schwarzenegger

Aired December 05, 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: Working 14 hours a day, seven days a week with no pay. Young girls forced into slavery in American hair salons. A tragic story and dramatic rescue straight ahead.

And searching for a killer shark for the second time in a week. A shark attacks swimmers at an upscale resort. This time the attack is deadly. At 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, a diver tells us who's at the greatest risk.

So we begin with a shocking development in the Mexico drug wars. Shocking even by drug cartel standards. Mexican authorities have arrested a suspected hit man accused of beheading his victims. His age? Just 14 years old.

Here's CNN's Nick Valencia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In one of the most shocking stories in Mexico's drug war, a 14-year-old is being held by federal authorities in Mexico City, accused of ruthless killings on behalf of a Mexican drug cartel.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

VALENCIA: The teenager, who goes by the alias "El Ponchis," was caught Thursday night just outside of Mexico City as he tried to board a flight with his sister. He said his eventual destination was the United States where he told reporters he has relatives. He also said it was his home country.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

VALENCIA: Analysts say the case offers a glimpse into Mexico's drug gangs, which are increasingly recruiting youth to help with their turf battles.

SYLVIA LANGMIRE, DRUG WAR ANALYST: Mexican youth is in a state of crisis right now. Many of them have very few educational prospects and therefore very few economic or job opportunities. Even if they were to stay in school. So what happens is you have a huge pool of millions of kids with nothing to do. And they see the glamour of the narco lifestyle. And this makes them a pool of recruits essentially for drug cartels. VALENCIA: On Sunday, the U.S. State Department was still investigating the authenticity of the claims the teen was a U.S. citizen. They told CNN they were working with customs and border protection on the case. If true, "El Ponchis" this would be the second high-profile case of an American working for the Mexican drug cartels.

In August, American born drug trafficker Edgar Valdez Villareal alias "La Barbie" was caught by the Mexican Navy. He is expected to be extradited to the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Nick Valencia is joining us right now. So you've been making a whole lot of phone calls all day long. Where does the case go now?

VALENCIA: That's a good question, Fred. We really don't know what happens from here. As we mentioned in that report, there's no precedent set. He's thought to be the youngest person ever involved in drug trafficking, the federal authorities have had to question. It's not a surprise they're staying tight-lipped. We know that he's in Mexico City. We just don't know what happens next to him.

WHITFIELD: And they still have to make a determination whether he is indeed an American citizen -

VALENCIA: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Or he was born in San Diego, as he stated during that videotape. And if he is, what would that mean in terms of prosecuting him?

VALENCIA: Well, this means a very, very big deal here. As we mentioned also in our report, "La Barbie," he was an American citizen, born here in the United States. He's being extradited. There is a long history of Mexico extraditing suspected traffickers to the United States. That would be an option if he's an American citizen. Of course, we would have to hear more from the attorney general's office on that (INAUDIBLE) in Mexico. Right now, they're being very tight- lipped about this, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: And so if he's 14 now, and the presumption is he didn't just start doing this allegedly a couple of days ago.

VALENCIA: Right.

WHITFIELD: How far back do they believe that he may have been recruited into this it kind of behavior? And how far back may he have actually allegedly assassinated people?

VALENCIA: When questioning reporters there in Mexico, he said he started at 11 years old. That he was recruited by traffickers at 11 years old. He started doing drugs at 12. And that he was under the influence of drugs when he committed at least four murders he's admitted to so far. There's a long history here as well. And it speaks to the social decomposition in Mexico as well. We're seeing and we've read reports from the Tijuana state attorney general's office, La Scalia, as it's referred to in Tijuana state, that kids as young as seven years old, Fredericka, seven years old, are being recruited as look-outs, not as hit men, but as look-outs. This is such a shocking case and a new low in the drug war because he's so young.

WHITFIELD: I remembered not that long ago, (INAUDIBLE) there were high schoolers who talked about being recruited, being approached -

VALENCIA: That's right.

WHITFIELD: By drug cartels.

VALENCIA: The lure is so great for these kids. They idolize traffickers. They have money, they have power, they have women. And in some of these rural areas where the narcos reign like kings, it's them that are the heroes, not the authorities, not the police fighting them.

It's very interesting. Right now Mexican society, believe it or not, the Mexican President Felipe Calderon, he launched this war four years ago. His approval rating is still 50 percent, above 50 percent. Why is that? Because Mexicans understands the need for security in their nation. At the same time, having said that, they're tired of the rising numbers of violence. And they're tired of hearing stories like this as well. Just when we were talking about this right now, just when you think that you hear the worst of the worst, you see a story, you hear a story that tops that.

WHITFIELD: Horrible situation being made now. Very sad to hear about the 14-year-old kid facing this kind of fate. All right. Thank you so much, Nick Valencia. Appreciate it.

All right. "The Los Angeles Times" is keeping track of how many people have been killed in Mexico's drug violence since 2007. As of today, the number tops 28,000.

A new round of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program will begin under a shadow tomorrow. Iran says it has started producing yellow cake, an intermediate stage in turning uranium into nuclear fuel. CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance is in Geneva, Switzerland where the talks will take place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the announcement of this by the Iranians clearly timed to cause maximum impact, come as it does on the eve of these crucial talks with the so called P-5 plus one, the five permanent members of the security panel plus Germany and Iran over its very controversial nuclear program.

But perhaps surprisingly the United States, most suspicious of the Iranian nuclear program, are playing down the significance of the fact that Iran is producing its own yellow cake as part of this enrichment process. And the reason for that is this. It doesn't fundamentally change the basic problem that the international community are now grappling with when it comes to Iran.

And that is, first of all, to get Iran to end its uranium enrichment activities. It's already undertaking a lot of them. It wants them to end those activities, because there are deep suspicions in the west, particularly in the United States, but other countries as well, but of course, Iran doesn't just want peaceful technology. It wants to develop a nuclear bomb. Something that Iran denies. And so that's still the fundamental issue, the fundamental task of the international community when they sit down in the talks, the first in more than a year with the Islamic republic on Monday and Tuesday of this week.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Geneva.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton is set to lead new talks tomorrow on the nuclear and military threat posed by North Korea. She'll meet with counterparts from South Korea and Japan. The meetings come two weeks after the north launched an artillery attack on South Korea, killing four. China, which is considered a key to controlling North Korea, was not invited to tomorrow's meetings.

Teen angst, peer pressure, difficult even when you're a typical kid. But when you have the last name Schwarzenegger, the experience is decidedly unique. Face to face with author Katherine Schwarzenegger, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Oh, those snow plows are working overtime this weekend, especially in Buffalo, New York. The region is digging out from up to three feet of snow. Other parts of the country also got their first significant snowfall this season this weekend. Let's check in right now with Bonnie Schneider. It's cold out there. Lot of snow. It's blustery already.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. We got that brisk, northwest wind that's bringing in all the cold air as far south as Alabama, Georgia. We're feeling it here too. But I want to talk about the snow. As Fredericka said, it is the first snowfall of the season and it was a doozy. You got to see these numbers.

First, the Midwest, this just happened in the past 24 hours. We got a lot of snow, even Chicago saw five inches. And remember, the wind is still blowing. So it's going to be shoveled out, you may suddenly look down at your sidewalk and say, "wait a minute, I already shoveled that." That's probably because the wind pushed the snow back on its way there.

All right. We're also looking at a long snow for other parts of Illinois and Indiana. But it wasn't as bad as the lake-effect phenomenon we've been watching over the Great Lakes. And it's still kind of continuing now. But we're not seeing it as intense as it has been. Remember, the water temperature over Lakes Erie and Ontario is still pretty warm, relatively speaking in the mid almost 50 degrees as that blast of cold air stretch across the Great Lakes, what happened was the fetch or the wind really worked its way across the longest point of the lake, the widest.

That allowed it to pick up maximum moisture. And then it came over the cold land mass and dumped the snow heavy and hard. We got three=feet drifts, even higher than that, in some areas over four feet, isolated areas and then not too far away, there was no snow. That's one of the micro areas of lake-effect snow where you really see quite a variance depending on where you are. So right now light snow showers all the way from Cleveland up into to Buffalo, very, very light. We're not looking at a lot of accumulation.

So as you can see, a little bit of snow to the snow, a lot of that is actually not even hitting the ground further south, towards Tennessee and Virginia. But in the mountains, it is a little bit snowy and it is cold out there. Get ready, get set for this week. Because we are looking at temperatures 10 to even 25 degrees below normal for the eastern half of the country for today. And it'll even get colder Monday, Tuesday, Wednesdays, so bundle up you tonight and be ready for it.

WHITFIELD: We are thankful for the warning, Bonnie. Appreciate that.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right. Loving your inner and outer self. The core of Katherine Schwarzenegger's book "Rock What You've Got." If the author's name rings a bell, it should. Schwarzenegger's father is California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. And her mother is journalist Maria Shriver, a member of the Kennedy family. So Katherine Schwarzenegger opens up about invaluable guidance from her famous parents through some of her toughest times.

Face to face, she tells me about her discovery of so many other young people sharing similar self-esteem challenges.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (on camera): A lot of folks who have their own personal testimonials about, you know, people calling them fat or what it felt like when they looked in the mirror, et cetera. How did you find them?

KATHERINE SCHWARZENEGGER, AUTHOR, "ROCK WHAT YOU'VE GOT": I wanted to get people's personal experiences and their opinions about body image and how they feel. I did a survey that I e-mailed out to all of my girlfriends and they e-mailed it to their girlfriends. So it's kind of a chain e-mail and I got amazing responses and I kind of scatter the quotes off the book because I think that, you know, their little nuggets of wisdom are amazing things. It's real stuff. You know, when people are called names and they are 55 years old, they remember that. It's interesting.

WHITFIELD: Did you feel like that would make it more believable, to be able hear from somebody else like Lindsey in Boulder, Colorado. She says, you know, I started to watch my body and criticize it when I entered high school and broke 100 pounds. In high school, your weight was discussed often with your girlfriends. And you tended to say things like "I wish my butt wasn't so big. Or my body shape was more like yours."

SCHWARZENEGGER: It's something that you really see. OK. This is an issue. It can affect a girl six years old and it can affect a woman that is 70 years old. It's not just for a specific age group. And it's, you know, a real issue you can see in those quotes.

WHITFIELD: And then your dad. You talked about growing up with someone, you know, who is the epitome of being fit. Seeing that he's conscientious of his health and fitness, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the "Terminator." This still made you feel insecure about you.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Yes. I think, you know, for me when I was younger and still today, my dad's just my dad. And he's not, you know, "The Terminator" to me. He's not, you know, Mr. Olympia to me. I know I see the pictures in my house of him being very muscular, obviously. But I didn't look at that and say, "oh I need to look like that." That's what I want to aspire to look like. To me, it's like, OK, that's what my dad did back then but this is my dad now. And to me he's just my dad. He wasn't anything more. He never pressured me and my siblings to kind of go down that path or to be extra fit because of that.

WHITFIELD: So here's the section that you talked about your dad in particular and what you were feeling at the time, seventh grade. And you felt like all the rules had changed. If you wouldn't mind reading that portion.

SCHWARZENEGGER: It was hard to make new friends, especially because there were a lot more kids who recognized my very distinctive last name. "Are you Arnold's daughter?," they say. As if it was some big deal. It wasn't to me but then again, not everyone (INAUDIBLE) "the terminator," right? It was awkward to study American history and read a whole chapter on my mother's family. My heritage was something I couldn't escape and it made me terribly self-conscious and insecure.

As I got older, I was adamant about keeping friends I knew from elementary school. The kids who liked me for me because I worried the new kids in middle and high school only wanted to be friends with me because of who my parents are. This is something I worried about, perhaps unnecessarily so. At least until I discovered boys. That's when it became obvious who was interested in me and who was interested in my dad.

WHITFIELD: And so that was very difficult was it not for a long time to kind of depart from - I mean you can't depart from the name Schwarzenegger.

SCHWARZENEGGER: No, I can't.

WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) about your dad.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Yes. For me when I was in middle school was the first time that my group from elementary school kind of broadened and I got kids from everywhere coming in. So it was the first time that my last name was a big deal at my school. And I think you really have to trust your gut opinion about who's friends with you for who you are and who's friends with you for other reasons.

WHITFIELD: You wrote in your book that your dad, when you were in your high chair, he was saying you are smart, you're beautiful, all these beautiful, wonderful words of positive reinforcement. So what kind of advice did dad give you when you were at this juncture where you doubted yourself?

SCHWARZENEGGER: When he saw me and my sister as we got older, kind of standing in the mirror and constantly criticizing ourselves, he kind of looked at both of us and said it's really important that you guys talk about the positive things in your life, look at the glass half full rather than half empty. So you know, those little things of advice that my dad gave me were really important and really - I mean, you know, kind of stand back and be like, OK, I'm being really hard on myself. I shouldn't look in front of the mirror and automatically say, "gosh, my arms are too big, my legs are too big. I wish I could lose weight in my thighs." You know, just focus on more positive things and changing your attitude about it, my dad is all about having a good attitude with everything. So he gave me those advise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Face to Face with Katherine Schwarzenegger continues at 5:00 Eastern time. She tells me why she canceled her Facebook page while in high school and she talks about her plans for the future and the family's future.

All right. A hospital room with a flat screen TV, hardwood floors, room service. Find out why hospitals are offering patients a first class stay in today's chat room, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: An overnight stay at some hospitals could rival a few high-end hospitals these days. Details on that in the chat room.

But first a look at today's top stories. Police in China arrested a man in connection with a deadly explosion that ripped through an internet cafe. Seven people were killed in that blast. Dozens more injured. The suspect is accused of storing explosive materials in the shop next door.

Alabama police have resumed a grim task today. They're searching for the bodies of two kids near Mobile. Police believed their father and step mother killed them. The father reportedly gave the police a general location where he remembers burying the bodies. The children were last seen four months ago.

The property once owned by the so-called Unabomber is up for sale in Montana. Ted Kaczynski's killed three people and injured 23 others during a string of mail bomb attacks over nearly two decades. Kaczynski's remote cabin in western Montana is gone. But the asking price for the land is nearly $70,000 for the 1.4 acres. Kaczynski is serving a life sentence.

All right. Time now for the "Chat Room." Bonnie Schneider and I here on the sofa. We're getting a little therapy from all these interesting kind of off radar stories that we think should be on radar.

SCHNEIDER: Definitely.

WHITFIELD: Yes, including - yes, it's very cold outside. But apparently it's not cold enough for folks who want to take the plunge in Lake Erie.

SCHNEIDER: Lake Erie, actually it's about 45 degrees, which is considered warm. But the air temperature in Erie, Pennsylvania, at the time of this was about at freezing at 32. They're going right for it.

WHITFIELD: I love that some are, you know, dressed in uniform. It looked like some ladies were wearing butterfly wings or something like that. This is really a fund-raiser actually. And people were about - 1,000 people who turned out for this, right near Buffalo there, were hoping to raise money for special Olympics. And I think they did pretty well. Because the sizeable turnout there means that you can demand some pretty good change for a fund-raiser when you take that kind of plunge.

SCHNEIDER: And we see these all over the country. I know in Boston they do it too, usually (INAUDIBLE). So get ready. If you missed your chance jumping in the cold water, it's coming to you soon.

WHITFIELD: All right. And now we got a new attraction taking place in Williamstown, Kentucky. It's not a first of its kind. It's certainly one of the bigger ones out there.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. Park developers are breaking ground on a new 800-acre Bible-themed park in Williamstown, Kentucky next June. It's called the Creation Museum. Answers in Genesis. It features an attraction of Noah's Ark, which will span the length of two football fields and three stories high. That's huge.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that is big.

SCHNEIDER: Well, you know, there are some controversy because a lot of people are saying at least it's bringing some money into the local economy.

WHITFIELD: And apparently there will be some live animals too. So they're going to make it as true to Noah's Ark as possible.

SCHNEIDER: Hopefully without the flood.

WHITFIELD: Right. Exactly. We want to make sure everybody's safe and everybody's just doing fine.

All right. Let's talk about hospitals now. Well, nobody wants to encourage anyone to have to go to a hospital. But if you do, apparently in the Baltimore area in particular, you've got some incredible choices. Not because of these wonderful medical institutions but now the accommodations are such that they really do rival some high-end hotels.

SCHNEIDER: They do. They have flat screen TVs. What you're saying, you don't want to go to the hospital, but if you do -

WHITFIELD: You do want to feel comfortable.

SCHNEIDER: Right. You have a choice now. That's where the competition is coming in. So they have adjustable room lighting, room service requests and of course, those big flat screen TVs.

WHITFIELD: Here's some of the hotels, Franklin Square Hospital Center, Mercy Medical Center, Wi-Fi as well. Oh my gosh. Of course, you can change the temperature of your individual room. Johns Hopkins Hospital. Of course, one of the premiere finest in the country. But now it's being brought up a notch because of the wood furnishings and in-room fax machines. So if you're really feeling good, you can get a little business done too while you're still admitted in the hospital. And St. Joseph's Medical Center as well.

SCHNEIDER: Wow. They've got harpists. That is the soothing sounds of harp music.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHNEIDER: You know what else I think is nice? People at the hospital always complain they don't get any sleep because they share the room with somebody.

WHITFIELD: That or the nurses come in like every five seconds to check your vitals.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Which is important but still. You want some rest.

SCHNEIDER: Free parking too.

WHITFIELD: That's nice. OK.

Let's talk about Julia Roberts. We know at one time she was demanding the greatest amount of millions, like $24 million per picture a long time ago. And now you she's still popular enough to demand $10 million for a 45-second commercial. She doesn't have to say a word.

She just sits and smiles. Isn't that something.

SCHNEIDER: Yes, all she had to do was drink the coffee and smile.

WHITFIELD: Is she still considered America's sweetheart?

SCHNEIDER: I think so.

WHITFIELD: OK. Yes. Everybody loves Julia Roberts and apparently so does this ad agency for this coffee company. We need her to help sell this coffee. All she has to do is like smile and sip and we're sold.

SCHNEIDER: I'll take it.

WHITFIELD: You go, girl. Go, Julia Roberts.

All right. Fantastic.

Bonnie Schneider, thanks so much for being in the "Chat Room."

SCHNEIDER: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: As always. And we'll see you again from the weather center. Got a lot of blustery stuff out there.

SCHNEIDER: Really cold out there.

WHITFIELD: Get that hot cocoa fired up.

SCHNEIDER: It'll be good (INAUDIBLE) yes.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right. Thanks so much, Bonnie.

We'll be right back with much more of the NEWSROOM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Teenage girls trafficked into the U.S. and forced to work as slaves. Not in the sex trade industries but slave labor right out in the open in an American city. Our Amber Lyon has this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These girls were victims of something hard to believe. Something you might never expect. Something that happened in plain sight. You're looking at girls who were held as slaves in America. Not for a week or a month but for years. Can you tell us about what it was like having someone else control all of your movements, everything you did?

NICOLE, TRAFFICKING VICTIM: It was like being trapped, being in a cage.

ZENA, TRAFFICKING VICTIM: It's horrible. Sometimes there's not enough food for us to eat.

NICOLE: No freedom at all.

LYON: Nicole and Zena and another 20 girls like them were brought to the U.S. from their home in the West Africa nation of Ghana and Togo nearly a decade ago. Barely teens promised an American education. They were instead enslaved in Newark, New Jersey. What did the traffickers take from you?

NICOLE: They took my childhood from me, my teen hood. They took it from me. They took my trust from me. They took everything. They took everything away from me. LYON: The girls were forced to work in hair braiding salons serving customers all day, right out in the open. Their captors took all the money the girls earned, every penny.

How many days a week were you working?

ZENA: Seven days a week.

LYON: How many hours a day?

ZENA: Sometimes 14 hours.

LYON: This went on for five to six years. Traffickers held the girls in several houses in Newark and East Orange. The traffickers no longer live there. This is the neighborhood where these girls were being held. Just look at it. Manicured lawns, nice houses, it looks like any neighborhood in America and it definitely doesn't look like a place where you would expect to find slavery. Who would commit such a crime? These are the traffickers. Akouavi Afolabi the wife was the ring leader. Lassissi Afolabi the husband and Dereck Hounakey the son were accomplices according to court documents and law enforcement.

Why did they do it? Money pure and simple. They made about $4 million off the girls. Paul Fishman is the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. His office prosecuted the case, resulting in convictions.

PAUL FISHMAN, U.S. ATTORNEY: I think it's hard for some people to believe that in the year 2010 we have people who would actually put people in slavery. It's the most fundamental and intolerable violation of human rights.

LYON: The Newark court recently sentenced the Aculoby to 27 years in prison. The father got 24 years and the son, 4 1/2 years.

ZENA: After all the promises she promised me, and then when I got here, all my life was messed up. If I knew this is how my life was going to be, I would never come. I would never let her take me.

BRIDGETTE CARR, UNIV. OF MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL: The fact that my clients could be in these hair salons for so many years braiding hair as young as 9, 10, and 11 is extremely frustrating. But it's not shocking. Human trafficking is extremely profitable. It's so profitable that we're seeing some drug traffickers get out of drug trafficking and into human trafficking.

LYON: Zena took me on a walk where the girls used to walk every morning to work. From the house to the hair salon down the street, slave girls walking in plain sight of an entire community.

ZENA: I always thought of running, I didn't know nobody. I didn't know where to go.

LYON: Finally, after five years, a tip came to Immigration and Customs Enforcement or I.C.E.

PETER EDGE, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, ICE: These girls were virtually shielded from the outside world virtually hidden in plain sight.

LYON: After months of surveillance, I.C.E. agents raided the houses. Inside, they found the girls, mattresses on the floor and filthy conditions. The traffickers had hidden bags of cash and the girls' passports. Something else the agents found. A notebook the girls used to track the tips they received at the tip salon. Ironically on the cover of that notebook, a picture of the Statue of Liberty. After so much pain, the girls, now young women, were free.

ZENA: It was a good day because I have my life. I was so happy that I was out from the jail.

NICOLE: All I did was cry. It was overwhelming. I told myself, she finally got what she deserved. She did really, really wrong. She treated us bad. I just -- she was heartless. When I think about it, she was heartless. And I'm happy that she's caught.

LYON: Amber Lyon, CNN, Newark, New Jersey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Experts say there are more slaves now than ever before. There are an estimated 12.5 million people enslaved around the world and last year only about 49,000 were rescued. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A pooch wearing cute yellow shoes. That's coming up in a minute in "Viral Videos."

But first a check of our headlines.

A day before stalled nuclear talks are set to start again, Iran said its nuclear program doesn't need any outside help. Iran's state media said Tehran is producing it its own yellow cake, a vital component in the nuclear fuel process. Until now, Iran couldn't make yellow cake and had to import it.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets tomorrow at the State Department with the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan. They'll be discussing ongoing tensions with North Korea. The meetings come two weeks after North Korea launched an artillery attack on South Korea.

An Israeli police believe they have a deadly wildfire under control. And reports that two teenage brothers have been arrested. Authorities believe they may have inadvertently started the worst wildfire in Israel's history, more than 40 people died in the blaze. And today Israel's government approved a plan speeding up aid to the victims.

You know, that's the cue. Well Josh Levs has the day off. But he didn't want to leave us without our Sunday's dose of "Viral Video Rewind," so here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Hi, Fred. So I couldn't be there live this afternoon. But I had a couple more videos that I knew you would love. So take a look at them really quickly.

First, the latest adorable video. It's a doggy wearing yellow shoes. Buba the Shih Tzu. About a quarter million views on that video. All right. Now take a look at this. Ten years of life in 90 seconds. This family took a photo of their daughter Natalie just about every day from birth to age ten. Let's skip to the end and see her now. Very cool.

All right. Now before I go, you loved this yesterday. So I thought I'd leave you with this again today. The new Hanukkah song. This is by the McAbee's.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the Greeks tried to sell, but it was all to no avail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: All right. The links are up at my Facebook page @Josh Levs CNN and I sent out a link by twitter as well. I'll have some more next weekend on "Viral Video Rewind."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Josh. To think of us like that.

All right. Let's talk weather now. Much of the U.S. is in for some brutally cold weather in the week ahead. Winter is still officially two weeks away. But it's looking like winter right there in Buffalo, New York. They are digging out from three feet of snow and more by the way is on the way. I'll let Bonnie tell you more about that in a moment. But other areas from Chicago to North Carolina also they got snow, first snow of the season this weekend. Bonnie, what's going on? It's only just December.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It was like a one-two punch. The lake-effect snow and then the clipper system and both brought substantial snow. The lake-effect bringing much more to parts of upstate New York, Pennsylvania and even Ohio getting hit with this very localized phenomenon. When you could have three feet of snow and then seven miles away nothing. All right. Let's see what's going on now. We've got the snow still falling across much of upstate New York. And you can see some of it near Jamestown, also down through Cleveland though, it's intermittent in Cleveland. I just checked the latest reports it's cloudy and windy there.

But here's what's interesting. Some of the snow, we've been talking about the first of the season. If you look further off to the south, we're actually seeing some of the snowfall travel as far south as Tennessee. That is right it is snowing in the Nashville area. I wonder when our first snow here in Atlanta will be. Soon enough, I'm sure. So the cold temperatures are affecting a good portion of the country. Let's talk about travel for those of you heading out somewhere. You're not alone. What a busy night tonight. Sunday, we are looking at over 5,802 planes in the air coast to coast at this hour. And let's take a look we are definitely expecting some delays out there. We've had delays in Toronto and in Cleveland. Also some areas effected by some of the snowy weather, also delays in San Francisco at this hour. So with all this activity and all the snow showers out there, also be careful when you're driving. It's that time of year where the roads are really icy so be careful Monday morning. Temperatures Monday morning Fredricka will drop down into the 20s. Some of the coldest air of the season in the southeast.

WHITFIELD: Oh gosh and you know what Bonnie, you know this, of course, I'm not telling you anything. It's not just here in the United States. But in Europe as well, they're dealing with some pretty nasty weather that's really gotten under the skin of a lot of people. In this case, just too much rain. It led to treacherous flooding in Albania. More than 12,000 people have been evacuated after downpours triggered massive mud slides. The Albanian government has declared a state of emergency.

Let's move on to northern Italy where Venice is also hoping to dry out soon. Heavy rains and high tide left more than half of the city underwater on Friday, more underwater than usual.

OK. Oprah Winfrey is used to the spotlight, right? So why is she so excited about sharing it with someone else?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Barack Obama is joining the country in celebrating the achievements of five extraordinary artists. They're all being awarded Kennedy Center Honors. Right now the president is holding a reception for them it at the White House. The honorees include composer Jerry Herman, he is seated next to Oprah there standing, that is singer Haggert, and choreographer and director Bill T. Jones. And of course at the end there, could you make that out too is Sir Paul McCartney. So Oprah's super excited, by the way, about receiving her award alongside McCartney? Why? She said she had Beatles posters on her wall when she was growing up and McCartney was her favorite. Now here they are going to be sharing the stage at the Kennedy Center.

Meantime, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted a pre gala dinner for the Kennedy Center honorees last night. She actually joked about the recent WikiLeaks document dump. After noting the full quote breadth and depth of American artistry, she said, I am writing a cable about it which I'm sure you'll find soon on your closest website, end quote. You'll recall WikiLeaks posted a portion of some 250,000 state department documents just last week.

Time for the latest CNN political update. Congress may be getting closer to a compromise on extending Bush era tax cuts on CNN's "State of the Union." Republican Senator Orrin Hatch and Democratic Senator Ron Widen both said they could agree to a temporary tax cut extension for everyone. The hang up, Hatch wants a two year extension while Widen wants a one-year extension. Senator Richard Lugar thinks the Senate may ratify the strategic Arms Reduction Treaty before the end of the year. Lugar the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says, quote, the vote are there."

And former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich is sounding more like the 2012 presidential contender. He blasted the Obama administration today saying, quote, every time you turn around, this administration is fumbling somewhere around the world, unquote. For the latest political news go to CNNpolitics.com.

The future of those tax cuts was one of the main topics on "The Sunday Talker" today; here are some of the highlights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On this vote, the yeas are 53 and the nays are 37.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bottom line on a center that tax rates, unemployment benefits being extended, you see a compromise here in short order.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: I think the American people expect us to work together to make sure their taxes don't go up and we are working on that package. Like I said we've had more conversations in the last two weeks than the last two years. I think we're going to get there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Kyle, is the Senate going to get down to business and resolve this whole business of the tax cuts?

SEN. JOHN KYL, (R) ARIZONA: I think that most folks believe that the recipe would include at least an extension of unemployment benefits for those of who are unemployment and an extension of all of the tax rates for all Americans for some period of time.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN, (D) ILLINOIS: I can tell you that without unemployment benefits being extended personally, this is a nonstarter. The notion that we would give tax cuts to those making over a million dollars a year, which is the Republican position and then turn our backs on 2 million Americans who will lose unemployment benefits before Christmas, 127,000 in the state of Illinois is unconscionable.

REP. CHARLIE RANGEL, (D) NEW YORK: UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you know by law and I'm not going to be judged by this Congress.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The picture of you in the realm of the house I think still came as a shock to a lot of those who have known you over your 40 years career in Congress. Please tell me how you felt?

RANGEL: It was an embarrassing and painful experience. The bottom line is that it's rough. I broke the laws. There are serious rules that are set up by the House to protect members and to protect the House. But the whole idea of corruption has been just laid to rest. I can tell you that individually, whether it's Republicans or Democrats, they knew that what I had done did not reach the level of a censure. So I accepted it and I want to pick up the pieces, move on.

JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS: There's a question as to what is important in the world.

MCCONNELL: I think the man is a high-tech terrorist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Assange.

MCCONNELL: Yes. I think he needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and if that becomes a problem we need to change the law.

NEWT GINGRICH, (R) FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: I will make a decision probably at the end of February, beginning of March. I think we recognize this is an enormous challenge. We think the country's faced with very fundamental choices about our future as a nation and as a people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you 50/50, are you leaning more towards --

GINGRICH: No. I think we're much more inclined to run than not run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Holiday dreams do come true. A former NFL's player mission to help single moms inspired after seeing his own mother go through tough times. That story straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Here's a sure sign the holiday season is upon us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! All right!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Santa and his elves running off in Halifax. This is the annual Santa Shuffle Fun Run and Elf Walk. The event is held across Canada each year to help raise money for the Salvation Army.

Janice Cantrell is a brand-new homeowner, thanks to Habitat for Humanity in Atlanta. She was going to sign the necessary paperwork and was greeted by a former NFL star and a former U.S. president. Our camera was there as her dreams came true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARRICK DUNN, WARRICK DUNN FAMILY FOUNDATION: Surprise. I'm Warrick Dunn.

JANICE CANTRELL, DUNN FAMILY FOUNDATION: The football player?

DUNN: Yes, ma'am. Today is special because you're our 100th recipient. This is the president, Jimmy Carter. CANTRELL: Oh my god!

JIMMY CARTER, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think she's going to be completely dumb founded when she goes into her house. She knows what Habitat can do but she doesn't know what Warrick Dunn can do.

CANTRELL: I lost two sons, one in 2008 and one this year. I lost a nephew, all to gun violence. But god's given me new family. I've got six grandkids now. I did this for them. This is their home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She didn't want to move you.

DUNN: Did you imagine this? Could you imagine this?

CANTRELL: No. I was trying to figure out what was I going to do?

DUNN: Growing up and not having someone stable, forced my mom to work as hard as she worked and forced my mom to sacrifice her life. I'm sure if someone had had helped her, she would still be here today.

Everything you need to start cooking, today. Today. Can you cook? I know my grandmother can cook.

CANTRELL: Yes, I can. I'm from the south. Pinch me. I feel like I have won the lottery. I swear, I've won the lottery. I thank almighty god. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Woo, you're my guardian angel.

DUNN: It is all yours.

CANTRELL: Thank you.

DUNN: I want to figure out what I can do to really change someone's life. The only person I can really think about is my mom and her dream. Her dream was to own her own home. It's definitely been a dream come true.

Congratulations.

JANICE CANTRELL, DUNN FAMILY FOUNDATION 100TH RECIPIENT: Can I get another hug?

DUNN: Yes, ma'am.

(END VIDEOTAPE)