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Navy Investigating Bawdy Videos; Egypt Church Attack; "Spider- Man" Actor on the Mend; Secret Jew; Mikulski Sets Senate Record; School Bullying; Birds Fall From the Sky

Aired January 02, 2011 - 19:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Let's begin this hour with some of the day's top stories: 9/11 first responders can now get federal coverage for health problems that they trace back to their work at Ground Zero.

President Obama took time today from his Hawaiian vacation to sign the bill to create a $4 billion program for the first responders. It was a long battle, but Congress pushed the bill through in that lame duck session of Congress last month.

Iran says it has shot down two drone spy planes over the Persian Gulf. Iranian media reporting that an official with the Revolutionary Guard accused western powers of sending the planes to take pictures. He didn't specify though, which country might be operating the planes. There is no immediate reaction from U.S. officials to this report.

And Spanish smokers out on the town, they're going to have to step outside for a cigarette beginning today. A new law taking effect banning smoking in bars and restaurants, and it could be tough for many to kick this habit. Nearly a third of Spaniards smoke and the government wants to cut down on the estimated 50,000 tobacco related deaths they see each year.

Call it the naval version of "Viewer Discretion Advised". Bawdy videos that were produced and shown to the crew of the "USS Enterprise" during a time of war in 2006 and 2007 as well. The Navy now investigating after the videos ended up on the Web site of the "Virginian Pilot" newspaper.

Hosting these videos -- this is what's so interesting here -- Captain Owen Honors. He now commands the "Enterprise". He was second in line at the time. We actually had to bleep an anti-gay slur that he uses in the clip you're about to see.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN OWEN HONORS, "USS ENTERPRISE": This evening, all of you bleeding hearts and you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) boy, why don't you just go ahead and hug yourselves for the next 20 minutes or so because there is a really good chance you're going to be offended tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So, that was Captain Honors appearing beside two other versions of him -- versions of himself, I should say, with the help of some trick photography work.

And our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, following this for us. Barbara you watched this entire thing, it's quite long. What else do the videos show?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know Brianna, first up, you have to say what on earth was this naval officer thinking. There is this investigation now that centers on Captain Honors who was second in command at the "Enterprise" back in 2006 and 2007, when he showed a crew -- a crew of 6,000, these videos which were supposedly for training purposes.

I -- I think it's important to say that first, the Navy said the videos were not meant to offend, but now, they're calling them inappropriate and trying to figure out how Honors got this promotion to command the "Enterprise". What do they show, some of the material uses cursing such as the "f" word.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HONORS: I just (EXPLETIVE DELETED) can't get that. Keep the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) toilet paper in there. Just (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: This video shown to the US Navy made by their commander, there are also anti-gay slurs as you said, simulated sex and simulated medical exams. We're not showing any of that here, but there is also a scene with two women believed to be sailors in a shower. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(TWO WOMEN IN A SHOWER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Now, Honors repeatedly says on the video that the bosses, you know the commander at the time and an Admiral who was on board the ship didn't know anything about any of this. You know I think that's what the investigation is really going to focus on. How could other senior officers have not known and what was the environment on board this aircraft carrier that made anybody think this was ok.

The "Enterprise" is now scheduled under his command to deploy in less than two weeks. It is worth noting these videos were made when the carrier was in the Middle East supporting the soldiers and Marines who are fighting and dying in that war zone -- Brianna.

KEILAR: And Barbara this is a very big role. I mean, we're talking about a guy who commands one of just a couple of handfuls of aircraft carriers. You have to wonder if this is going to be something that he gets booted for. If that's the case, how hard would it be to find a replacement for Captain Honors? STARR: Well, this is -- this is a very extraordinary circumstance, Brianna. You raise an excellent point. There were only 11 aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy, 11 jobs that are some of the most coveted in the entire U.S. military.

But the "Enterprise" is different. Just to explain briefly, it has a very special unique nuclear-powered system that no other ship in the Navy has. You have to be certified on that technology to command the "Enterprise" and there are only a handful of naval officers of the rank and capability to do it.

The ship deploys in just a few days to the war zone. If they want to replace them, they have got to find somebody very fast to -- to take his job -- Brianna.

KEILAR: And -- and the other thing Barbara, I mean, you talk to a lot of sailors. You talk to a lot of military officials. How embarrassing is this for the Navy because you talk to so many people who are just doing a great job and then something like this happens.

STARR: Well, I think that's -- that's just such a fundamental point. Again, this goes to the question of, you know, this is not perhaps a bunch of very young junior enlisted troops exercising poor judgment.

These are senior people. Who else knew about this? How far does this investigation go? Were there admirals above him at the time that perhaps turned a blind -- a blind eye? Let me -- let me remind people, we see a lot of videos that soldiers, sailors, marines make out in the war zone for their own moral building.

You'll remember that a few months back, a bunch of troops in Afghanistan made a video that went absolutely viral. They parodied Lady Gaga and it was really enjoyable and fun to watch.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: It was.

STARR: They -- they did -- right, you know, they do it for moral building. This is very different. This is something that I don't think anybody has really ever seen a senior naval officer do.

KEILAR: Yes obviously crosses the line. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr thanks so much for that.

STARR: Sure.

KEILAR: It's very interesting and very troubling.

And up next, we'll be taking you to Egypt where security is heightened but worshippers they were back at that church where at least 21 people were killed on New Year's Day. You see the pictures there.

And as the injured Spider-man actor finally gets ready to go home, we'll take a closer look at stunt safety on Broadway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Emotional worshipers gathered in Alexandria, Egypt for Sunday services, many still mourning the 21 victims of Saturday's bombing following midnight mass.

Ben Wedeman filed this report from Alexandria, where at the time police were keeping people away from the church.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The attack took place just ten minutes into the New Year just around the corner at the church of (INAUDIBLE), the Two Saints. Now, at the moment, there's no way to get near the church because there is an intense Egyptian security presence around it. But many people here, eyewitnesses I spoke to, complain that the night of the attacks, security simply was inadequate, that the Egyptian police were allowing people to park cars in front of the church.

The Egyptian authorities say they believe that this -- the attack was the work of a suicide bomber, but eyewitnesses -- several of whom I spoke with in a hospital just up the street from here say that they are positive that they saw that it was a car bomb and not a suicide bomber and of course, that raises worries about if it was a car bomb, that means there's a whole logistical network that supported this attack.

Now, at this point, it's not clear what the final death toll is. Initially, the Egyptian authorities were putting it at 21, but now they are saying they can only identify 18 of the bodies. The rest are body parts they simply cannot identify.

Now, the atmosphere here in Alexandria is very tense throughout the afternoon; there have been running battles between Egyptian security and Coptic Christian youth, some of whom were throwing rocks at the police, police responding with tear gas, rubber bullets and using their batons.

We're also hearing there are clashes in Cairo as well between rioters and the police on the main road going by the Nile so throughout Egypt in the aftermath of these attacks. The atmosphere is indeed very tense.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Alexandria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Broadway stunt performer Christopher Tierney, who was recently injured in a performance as Spider-man, will leave rehab this week. That's according to his father, who says that his son is up and walking around and doing pretty well. And he also says his son is eager to return to the show.

Even so, CNN's Susan Candiotti has found that Tierney's accident has raised safety concerns about aerial performances all up and down the Great White Way. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their flowing moves and dazzling artistry are both stunningly beautiful and a bit frightening to watch.

GUINEVERE DIPIAZZA, OWNER, AERIAL ACROBAT ENTERTAINMENT: You know when you're performing a trick and you just, you know, something that's a little bit sudden or quick or swift and you get that from the crowd, it's really exciting.

CANDIOTTI: But there are risks. Will the knots hold? Will the rigging bear an acrobat's weight?

VIRGINIA LOGAN, STUDENT AERIALIST: Don't you forget the liner, if it's get a step, it's one thing, but if you're --

CANDIOTTI (on camera): If you fall --

LOGAN: -- you know if you fall -- it's game over.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And to sides, it's beautiful.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): An actor in "Spider-Man" who plunged more than 20 feet during the recent stunt is the fourth performer injured in the $65 million Broadway play still in previews.

(on camera): How dangerous is this profession?

DIPIAZZA: Ok. Well, danger is -- is kind of part of the game.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): More than a game. It is serious work.

DIPIAZZA: Ten, nine --

CANDIOTTI: Guinevere Dipiazza is an aerial acrobat who runs her own small troop performing throughout New York.

DIPIAZZA: Rotate it a little bit more so that the knot faces you.

CANDIOTTI: "Spider-Man's" accidents are the talk of the aerial community.

ELIE VENESKY, PERFORMER, AERIAL ACROBAT ENTERTAINMENT: One person getting hurt, then it -- it's not necessarily the show's fault. But four people --

LOGAN: If I was in that show, I mean, it's hard. That's a big machine to be a little tiny cog in. So I don't envy those performers.

DIPIAZZA: Reach your right arm out to the side.

CANDIOTTI: Barely dangling off the floor, they gave me a small taste of their techniques.

DIPIAZZA: There you go, so even just sitting is a little bit difficult.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): It is, it is to keep your upper body straight without falling.

(voice-over): These aerialists are self-regulated. They watch out for their own safety.

(on camera): And each time you perform, how do you deal with the risks?

VENESKY: I never perform anything that I haven't done in practice at least 100 times. I'm always sure that my rigging is secure.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): For Dipiazza there are no shortcuts. A close friend fell to his death two years ago working for another company. Since then, for her, safety is paramount.

DIPIAZZA: I felt like this was a really good way to -- you know, keep his memory alive and you know inspire --

CANDIOTTI (on camera): Inspire others.

DIPIAZZA: Inspire others, yes.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): To make her art safe or at least as safe as it can be.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Coming up, the incredible story of a couple who went from Neo-Nazi skinheads to Orthodox Jews. We'll be hearing from them directly next.

And then later, what caused thousands of birds to literally fall from the sky in Arkansas? We'll take you to the area where it happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: This is the time of year when many people decide to rededicate themselves to change. For most of us, that means a New Year's resolution, perhaps exercising or working harder at our jobs.

But recently we heard an incredible story of one couple who went far beyond what most of us probably think is realistic change. They went from neo-Nazis to Orthodox Jews. So we traveled to Warsaw, Poland to meet them for ourselves and find out just how such change a possible.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL SCHUDRICH, CHIEF RABBI OF POLAND: This is a story about peeling away the layers of our past. Who we think we are today is not necessarily who we'll be tomorrow. Human experience is unpredictable, so too, is our capacity to change.

This is the story about hidden identity.

My name is Michael Schudrich (ph). I have been chief rabbi of Poland since 2004. One of the most important elements of what I do here is being available for those people to discover their Jewish roots.

(INAUDIBLE) where to start? I remember them coming soon after I began here as rabbi of Warsaw. Exactly when, I can't tell you right now. Young couple, as many other young couples, looking a little lost. And at some point, again, I don't remember exactly when, I heard about their story.

OLA, FORMER NEO-NAZI (through translator): We met at school when we were 12 or 13. It was the moment when most girls start to be interested in boys. It was love at first sight and it's amazing as I still have the same feeling for him.

We were very rebellious youths. I wasn't directly involved in the skinhead movement, but I had friends. It's hard for me to talk about it. Hard because of decisions that one takes as a young person that one would not like to remember. I can't be embarrassed because it's my life, but it's not something that I'm proud of.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like many a girl who likes a young man, Ola joined Pawel's world. Skinheads, Neo Nazis, people who embraced hatred of anyone different.

Married when they were just 18, a few years later, Ola allowed her mind to return to something she ignored when she was a young girl.

OLA: I was around 13 and there was some sort of conversation between me and my mother. I can't remember the reason and it was mentioned that I had Jewish roots. I wasn't interested in it at that time and let it go straight over my head.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She decided to seek definitive proof and in the documents and papers of the Jewish Historical Institute, she hoped to find answers.

OLA: The journey which I started was not planned. There were a lot of emotions involved.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A document search revealed that Ola was indeed Jewish. Ola's shock was intensified by the fact she had to return home and tell her Neo Nazi husband that she was a Jew. One of them; one of the ones he so hated.

OLA: What was difficult was when I was coming home with the documents. I didn't know how to tell him. I loved him even if he was a punk or a skinhead; if he beat people up or not. It was a time in Poland when this movement was very intense.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As impossible as that conversation was to imagine, the biggest challenge, the most unwelcome surprise for the couple was still to come.

OLA: Well, who practiced that in Poland? No one in Poland practiced after what happened. I don't know anyone who practiced. I don't know anyone and I know a lot of Jews. I think they cut themselves off after what happened here.

KONSTANTY GEBERT, JOURNALIST: Before the war, the Jews of Poland where The Jews, period. This was The World Center of Jewish life, of Jewish thought. This is where Jewish theater starts; this is where Jewish movies start. Jewish journalism, Jewish literature, politics, you name it.

SCHUDRICH: September 1st, 1939 World War II begins; at that point there are 3.5 million Jews in Poland. By the end of 1944, 90 percent of those Jews are dead. Quite a few Poles have realized they probably are Jewish because their grandma or grandpa was the only living relative from that side of the family.

They can't understand the Holocaust, but to have some sense of how horrible that destruction was, it's really in that simple fact. There were 350,000 Jews in Poland after World War II; 10 percent of what the Jewish population from before the war. The overwhelming majority left from the 25 years after World War II, between '45 and '69.

Polish Communism was nasty to Jews. It was perceived that under polish communism that if you said out loud, "I am a Jew", that you weren't going to get advanced in your job, you may not get into a better university. It was an eliminating factor. Events like a pogrom in 1946 in Kielce -- terrible thing. Forty-two Jews killed for being Jews.

If you wanted to live a Jewish life by the late '50s, almost certainly would have left Poland. Those few who remain, remain with experience that it's simply not safe to be Jewish.

GEBERT: You're Jewish, you're wrong. So, if you're born wrong, at least make sure nobody else knows. Parents make double sure, triple sure, that their children will not know; in the hope that their children won't know, nobody else will. The fear inside is probably the one last element that remains of the Jewish identity this past decade.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: When we come back, we'll meet Ola's husband and find out what it was like for him to discover he was also Jewish.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Now, more of our story of the couple who had made a remarkable transformation from Neo Nazi skinheads to Orthodox Jews.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was 1980s Communist Poland. Pawel's Neo-Nazi beliefs were born here in the concrete Tower Projects where he lived as a teenager.

SEBASTIAN LOWKIS, CHILDHOOD ACQUAINTANCE (through translator): People were definitely scared of Pawel because he was a walking legend, Pawel and his brother. They were known as there were stories about them that went around the neighborhood. For example, at a party, Pawel beat someone up so badly that he could barely walk away with his life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Married to Pawel, mother to his two young children, Ola had just combed through documents and records at the Jewish Historical Institute arriving at her chilling discovery. Married to a skinhead, Ola was Jewish. But her curiosity wouldn't ease its grip. It instead propelled her to continue digging for answers.

OLA: I was always interested in my mother-in-law's maiden name, Friendelheim (ph); a very interesting name. It was unbelievable. It was a shock. I didn't expect to find out that I had a Jewish husband.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right. She learned her Neo Nazi husband was Jewish, too. And as for Pawel, ten years after that discovery, the former skinhead Neo-Nazi is an Orthodox Jew.

PAWEL, FORMER NEO-NAZI: I thought, this must be the Jews who set this up; that they invented it to make me into a Jew. But I said, ok, give me the papers. I took them to my parents and I asked them -- should I tell you what I said?

I showed them the papers and said, what the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is this. Mom and dad looked at them and said that it was true. And I thanked them and left.

I was very angry that they hadn't told me. I left. I took three days off work and drank for three days.

SCHUDRICH: I can't imagine what it's like to go from someone who hates Jews to someone who is actively Jewish, involved in Jewish life.

PAWEL: I was a nationalist 100 percent. Back then, when we were skinheads, it was all about white power. And I believed Poland was only for Poles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did you know and think about Jewish people before --

PAWEL: Before I found out?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- yes before you found out.

PAWEL: We all knew about the Holocaust. They were the biggest plague and the worst evil of this world. At least in Poland, it was thought this way. As of the time, anything that was bad was the fault of the Jews.

Emotions, it's difficult to describe how I felt when I found out I was Jewish. My first thought was what am I going to tell people. What am I going to tell the boys? Should I admit it or not? I was angry, sad, scared, unsure.

The mirror was a big problem. I couldn't look at myself. I saw a Jew. I hated the person in the mirror.

Then I grew accustomed to it. Came to terms with it somehow, came here to the rabbi and said, listen, they're telling me I'm a Jew. I have this document in my hand. My mom and dad have said something. Who is this Jew and what is it? Help me because I'm going to lose my mind otherwise.

I'm not saying that I don't have regrets, but it's not something that I walk around and lash myself over. I feel sorry for those that I beat up but I don't hold a grudge against myself. The people who I hurt can hold a grudge against me.

It's not easy to leave everything behind and change. There are things that remain. When someone looks at me, they can't imagine that I could be a football fan. But as soon as the (INAUDIBLE) I need to check the results straight away. It's not that I cut everything out.

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In fact, something rather unexpected that remains from Pavel's old life. This picture on the mantelpiece. Among all the other family pictures, there is Pavel. Giving the Nazi salute.

SCHUDRICH: Where you are today doesn't have to be where you are tomorrow. And I've discussed it with Pavel. Sometimes, he kind of even says that in moments, he surprises himself at his changes. He says sometimes he looks in the mirror in the morning and says, he can't believe that's him because he remembers the old Pavel.

On the one hand, what it shows is that the human being is capable of changing. But you also have to remember that even after that person changes, what he did in the past still remains with him and that can sometimes be a struggle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Not everyone can understand this. People ask me, why have you changed, because not everyone can understand, not everyone can accept it. I'm not interested in conflict. I had enough in my life. Now, I want to live a peaceful life.

SCHUDRICH: And while it took some time, today, they're very happy members of the Jewish community of Warsaw. Pavel was studying to be a (INAUDIBLE), a ritual slaughterer, the one who slaughters the cows and the chickens so they're done according to the Jewish kosher requirement. Ola's working in our kosher kitchen as a kosher supervisor.

(through translator): And why did we decide to be orthodox? I think if you decide to change your life, you have to do it seriously and not lightly.

SCHUDRICH: The fact they were skin heads actually increased the amount of respect I have for them. That they could have been where they were understood that was not the right way, then embraced rather than ran away from the fact that they were part of the people that they used to hate. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The knowledge that the Nazis sat and ate from this plate and the thought of how awful that time was and I want them to turn in their graves knowing it is a religious Jewish household where my husband walks around in religious clothes and where my children are running about in a happy Jewish household. It's a bit twisted, but it gives me satisfaction.

I would never have said my husband would wear a yarmulke. If someone told me that 15 years ago, I would have laughed in their face. It is such a change that if anyone told me these changes would happen, I would never have believed them. It would have been out of the question.

SCHUDRICH: Something usual has happened. It is unique in Jewish history. That a community that was as vibrant, creative, central to Jewish life, devastated, genocide, Nazi genocide followed by Soviet communist suppression, then after 50 years of this horror are having the chance to come back to life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: When we come back, school bullies. All of us probably had some experience with them growing up, but it's gotten so bad it's now drawing national attention. We'll hear from a bullying victim and his mom, next.

We'll also tell you why an on-line travel agency has dropped American Airlines from its web site.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: In the headlines right now, devastating flooding in Queensland, Australia has claimed at least one life. A woman whose body was found after her car was overrun by flood waters. The Australian government says rising waters will likely force the evacuation of more than 1,000 people. This flooding has had a direct impact on nearly a quarter million people.

Signs of a thaw in the frigid relations between the U.S. and Venezuela, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shook hands with the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Brazil this weekend. Both were attending the inauguration of Brazil's new president. Venezuelan television said the two discussed specific issues in a brief informal conversation, but no word on exactly what issues were discussed.

Expedia says no deal to American Airlines. The on-line travel site have removed the American fares and schedules because of an on-going legal battle between airlines and travel web sites. Expedia tells "Bloomberg News" American's pricing options "anti-consumer." American Airlines says it was discriminated against by Expedia and travelers can use other web sites or the American site for flight information.

A CNN poll found more than a third of teens say they have been ridiculed or threatened. That's just one sign that bullying in schools has become a real problem forcing many parents in schools to confront the issue. One Pennsylvania teen and his mom are trying to bring about change. CNN education contributor Steve Perry talks with them in tonight's "Perry's Principles."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): For some bullying victims like 16-year-old Joey Kemmerling, school must be survived.

JOEY KEMMERLING, HIGH SCHOOL JUNIOR: We don't go to school to get an education. We go to school to make it through the day without being killed or without being to the point where we feel the need to kill ourselves.

PERRY: Joey's trouble started in middle school when word got out that he was gay.

(on camera): So what do the kids do to you?

KEMMERLING: A lot. A lot of threats. One kid said that he wanted to light me on fire like the faggot I was.

PERRY: The child was not reprimanded?

KEMMERLING: The child was not suspended. The child was not given anything other than a talking to and then sent back to class.

PERRY: If I'm your son's principal and this is happening, what can I do to help you as a mom to help you feel like I'm doing my job?

JOYCE MUNDY, JOEY'S MOTHER/EDUCATOR: Teachers need to be trained or given permission in their classrooms to simply succinctly address intolerant comments and behavior.

PERRY (voice-over): Joyce Mundy is Pennsylvania's 2010 Middle School Principal of the year and she's also Joey's mom. Together they're teaching educators thousand stop bullying.

MUNDY: The culture in schools doesn't really change until the whole school community takes it on.

PERRY: Joey has created a Facebook page where everyone can share stories and lend support to those being bullied.

KEMMERLING: The messages are all the same. Schools across America do not know how to deal with the issue of bullying.

PERRY: But Joey and his mom are hoping that will change.

KEMMERLING: There is a part of me that is dead and I don't want any other child to have to deal with that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Coming up, there was a time when she had to get permission to wear slacks on the floor of the Senate. Well now, she's getting ready to become the longest serving woman in Senate history. We'll be hearing from her next. And then, an unbelievable story out of Arkansas where more than 4,000 dead birds have just been falling from the sky. We're going to take you there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Now a check of some political news. 9/11 first responders can now get federal coverage for health problems they blame on working at ground zero. President Obama took time today from his Hawaiian vacation to sign a bill to create a $4 billion program for these first responders. This is a long battle that Congress pushed the bill through in that lame duck session last month.

And speaking of Congress, a new session begins this Wednesday. New lawmakers will take the oath of office that day and, of course, there will be some pretty major changes for the 112th Congress. Republicans will now control the House and they made gains in the Senate during the midterm elections.

When the new Congress is sworn in, history will be made. Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski will become the first longest serving female senator, surpassing Republican Margaret Chase-Smith who served in the 1950s and 60s and our Dana Bash talked exclusively with Mikulski about her time in the Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barbara Mikulski remembers what a man's world the Senate was when she came 24 years ago.

SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI (D), MARYLAND: There's this place called the Senate gym. The locker room. That just couldn't accommodate me and I'm not much of a jock any way.

BASH (on camera): And a lot of business was done there, right?

MIKULSKI: That's where they networked and that's where they bonded.

BASH (voice-over): The first female democratic senator elected in her own right. Mikulski was only one of two Senate women in 1986.

MIKULSKI: What you wore became a very big deal.

BASH (on camera): In what way?

MIKULSKI: I'm most comfortable wearing slacks. Well, for a woman to come to the floor in trousers was viewed as a seismic graphic event. I had to alert Senator Byrd that I was going to do it, the Senate parliamentarian looked at the rules to make sure it was OK. I kind of walked on that day and you would have thought I was walking on the moon. It caused a big stir.

BASH (voice-over): The girl who dreamed of being a scientist, not a senator, became the first woman on key committees and in leadership by showing she's as smart and tough as the men. MIKULSKI: That's a question you needed to know from day one, Miss Jackson.

When I came, it was very clear that I was going to work twice as hard, do my homework.

BASH: Mikulski is about to become the longest serving female senator ever. She has already known as the dean of Senate women.

MIKULSKI: I take it very seriously. I see that it's my job to be able to organize the women in a way where their talents are served.

BASH: When four more Senate women were elected in 1992, Mikulski took it upon herself to show them the ropes. Something she still does for new female senators in both parties.

MIKULSKI: There is no training program when you arrive here. Usually, it's been every man for himself, but I'm going to be every woman, each one teach one. So I organized the power workshop. The media said, "are you having tea?" I said, "no, it's about power."

BASH: She's quite proud of this pen.

MIKULSKI: It was the first bill that President Obama signed.

BASH: A bill she pushed through the Senate giving women equal pay for equal work.

MIKULSKI: He said, this pen is yours. So, I have the very first pen of the very first piece of legislation signed by the very first African-American president of the United States. It is indeed a national treasure.

BASH: She shows us other prized possessions. Pictures with fellow female senators now 17 in all who still meet monthly for off the record dinners.

MIKULSKI: And there are more women sitting on this chair than had served in all American history when I arrived.

BASH: She calls that a stunning accomplishment in contrast to a stunning statistic. There have only been 38 female senators in history. Mikulski now becomes the woman to stay the longest.

Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Coming up, a pretty weird story. Nearly 5,000 dead birds fall from the sky.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we first get the call, we think it's a new year's joke, but it wasn't a joke.

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KEILAR: Now, the clean-up and investigation is underway in Arkansas. We'll be taking you there next.

Plus, taking the plastic bag ban to a whole new level. We'll tell you which country has now banned them.

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KEILAR: In Arkansas up to 5,000 black birds fell from the sky and when did it happen? Right before midnight on New Year's eve. Pretty strange, right? Most were dead. Now scientists trying to figure out why. Residents of the small town of Beebe, Arkansas say it was like a real life horror movie. More now from Roger Susanin, of CNN affiliate, KATV.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

MAYOR MIKE ROBERTSON, BEEBE, ARKANSAS: When we first got the call, we think it's a New Year's joke but it wasn't a joke.

MILTON MCCULLAR, STREET DEPARTMENT SUPERVISOR: I thought the mayor was messing with me when he called me. He got me up at 4:00 in the morning and told me we had birds falling out of the sky.

ROGER SUSANIN, KATV-TV REPORTER (voice-over): This morning residents in one Beebe subdivision got an unwelcome new year's surprise. Thousands of dead birds cover the ground.

(on camera): Jeez, what a way to start the new year, right?

ROBERTSON: Yes, sir, last year, we started with floods. This year, birds.

SUSANIN: It really is like something out of a horror film. Every yard in the area looks a lot like this one. Dozens of birds litter the ground and the scariest part is, no one know house they got here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody is kind of amazed at this happening.

SUSANIN: Most of the animals are red-winged black birds like this one. They're not just on lawns. We found so many of them on some roads that it was difficult to drive without crushing one. We even spot a few on rooftops.

MCCULLAR: We started at 7:00 picking up birds on the street in yards, it's been run over. It's just a mess.

SUSANIN: Arkansas game and fish has collected some of the dead animals and will perform tests on Monday to try to determine the cause. Officials believe it is weather related like lightning or high atmosphere hail.

Under the tree. Ten over here. SUSANIN: Steve Bryant has no clue as to what caused the deaths. But he understands the mess. He found 40 dead birds no his lawns and now he won't let his kids play here until he knows more.

STEVE BRYANT, RESIDENT: I wouldn't let them go outside right now. I don't know what the explanation is on the birds being out here. But, I'm not going to take no chances.

SUSANIN: Beebe city council approved funding for a private company to help clean up the area. Most of the dead birds should be removed by Sunday night. Amidst all of this death we found some birds who beat the odds.

KELLY MAYO, RESIDENT: Going up and down, picking up the ones that didn't survive I found this one moving around.

SUSANIN: Kelly Mayo's daughter calls this wounded bird, Lyza, looking around. Miracle may have been a more appropriate name.

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KEILAR: Hmm, Jacqui Jeras in the CNN Weather Center.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: How bizarre.

KEILAR: Gross.

JERAS: Creepy, strange. End of the year.

KEILAR: So what? What? Why?

JERAS: We don't know. They're going to investigate tomorrow. Apparently they're going to do a necropsy and they're going to try to figure out what caused it. But theories are out there.

KEILAR: Yes and this one gets me, stress-related?

JERAS: Stress?

KEILAR: Like explain that to me, ,000 ex explain that to me.

JERAS: Well, from what I understand there were some pretty large pyrotechnics going on at the time, right? Fireworks. Yes, I mean, you're flying along.

KEILAR: Birdie coronary.

JERAS: I know.

KEILAR: Horrible.

JERAS: It scared the life out of you, I guess, so to speak. Perhaps. We'll find out. This has been known to happen, by the way, in large flocks like that from thunderstorms, sometimes too. You know, higher altitude hail and sometimes lightning. So it will be interesting to find out what happened. Hey, another interesting fact today, by the way, Brianna, it's the peri helium today.

KEILAR: The what?

JERAS: You know what that was?

KEILAR: No.

JERAS: It's the question everyone gets wrong in their geography and space exams. It's basically that the earth is at the closest point to the sun.

KEILAR: OK.

JERAS: Today, for the year, anyway.

All right. You know, the closest point to losing your temper today, perhaps at the airports, right?

A lot of people having to wait a lot. You know, we don't have a major weather system out here. But we have been seeing rain, very steady throughout the day especially in the coastal areas. The temperatures are warm. The snow is melting. That is the good news. But we have a lot of delays as a result of that. We've also got a storm system out west that has been causing a lot of problems. This is a real slow mover. It's kind of cut off from the main system, so it's just kind of drifting southward.

And that's why we are seeing copious amounts of rainfall today, heavy snow into the higher elevations. You could see, you know, maybe up to a foot potentially, in the Los Angeles County mountains. Yes, believe it or not. This is going to continue throughout the day tomorrow. So be aware of this. Here, a couple of those delays we are talking about, weather related for you. Probably at JFK as well as San Francisco. We got volume delays in other parts of the country.

So just you know, back to reality. Airports aren't good. Not going to be good out west tomorrow either. But the east a little bit better.

KEILAR: Yes, the West Coast does not need any of that anymore walloping.

JERAS: Yes, quite a few.

KEILAR: OK. Some weird things going on in Arkansas.

JERAS: What's with the storm today?

KEILAR: You have to listen to the next story. I mean, this is just really bizarre. We are also getting word tonight that some 100,000 drum fish, that's right, a huge number they have been found dead in and along the Arkansas River near the town of Ozark, that's on the northwestern part of the state. It's about 125 miles from where those birds landed in Beebe. And the state Game and Fish Commission says it doesn't believe the fish deaths are related to the bird deaths. There is an investigation now under way. But disease they think is probably the culprit here.

Now, for more on exactly what is going on in Arkansas, you can join us at 10:00 Eastern tonight. I will be talking with someone from Arkansas Game and Fish Commission for more on that.

And coming up, a country, an entire country bans plastic bags. And the woman behind an iconic image passes way. We'll be right back.

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KEILAR: Every weekend we like to bring you interesting news items you may have missed during the week. For instance, the woman who was the model for the famous war time Rosie the Riveter poster, well, she's passed away. 86-year-old Geraldine Doyle passed away at a hospice in Michigan. She was working at a plant near Ann Arbor in 1942, when a photographer took her picture while documenting how women were contributing to the war effort. The poster grew even more in popularity in the 1980s when it was adopted by the feminist movement as a symbol of women's empowerment.

And a nation known for its food is changing how folks get that food home from the market. This is all in the name of protecting the environment. As of yesterday, shop keepers in Italy, are banned from using plastic bags. That is once their existing supply runs out. And Italy is not alone. France, China, several cities around the world, already have such bans.

I'm Brianna Keilar from the CNN Center in Atlanta. Thank you so much for joining us. I'll see you back here again at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. "Cheating Death" starts right now.