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Sisters Released From Mississippi Prison; Heinous Sexual Assaults in L.A.; Southern Sudan's Freedom Vote; A School for the Homeless; Critics Rave About Oprah's New Network
Aired January 07, 2011 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Look at that deceptively beautiful skyline in Atlanta. There is snow coming this way, too.
Time for some Friday "Odds & Ends," and we will start with a story that's got some New Yorkers fired up.
The village of Great Neck on Long Island has voted to ban smoking. What's unusual is that they are banning it outside in public places.
No lighting up along the Main Drag, a popular business district, no butts while you're strolling through the local park. If the cigarette cops catch you, it's a $1,000 fine. The mayor says local store owners got the ball rolling, complaining that smokers were congregating out front and the smoke was drifting in. Public opinion is split on the law.
OK. Now to Memphis, which has not banned smoking outdoors yet. It's a big weekend at Graceland, where they're marking The King's birthday. And the honored guest is an internationally-known personality himself.
Edison Pena was one of the Chilean miners trapped underground for over three months last year. The Elvis fanatic led Presley sing-a- longs during the long ordeal, which he says helped the group stay sane. This morning, he took a private tour of his idol's home and grounds, kept the video camera rolling the whole time.
Afterwards, Pena said, "Thank you very much for the opportunity."
And you're looking now live at Jackson, Mississippi, where, in one hour from now, two sisters will speak about their newfound freedom. If the freedom hasn't quite sunk in yet for Gladys and Jamie Scott, it will in about an hour, although some video I saw earlier of them driving away from prison suggests that they know exactly what freedom tastes like.
That's when the sisters, by the way, are expected to step in front of cameras in Jackson, Mississippi, in an hour and talk about their incredible journey from Christmas Eve, 1993, when they were arrested for armed robbery, until this morning, when they drove out.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLADYS SCOTT, RELEASED FROM PRISON: We're free!
JAMIE SCOTT, RELEASED FROM PRISON:
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Now, the Scott sisters have not completed their sentences, nor have they been exonerated. How they came to be released is bizarre, if not entirely unprecedented.
My colleague Martin Savidge fills us in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For years, family and supporters of Gladys and Jamie Scott have pleaded, prayed and protested for their release from a Mississippi prison. The two were sentenced to life 16 years ago for armed robbery, a crime that netted $11.
(CHANTING)
SAVIDGE: Governor Haley Barbour suspended their sentences. Their mother got the news in a phone call from a reporter.
EVELYN RASCO, MOTHER OF GLADYS AND JAMIE SCOTT: I just went hysterical. I had to stop the car. I was driving at the time when he called me and I got so emotional, thanking God that finally this has come to an end.
SAVIDGE: Governor Barbour said he wasn't releasing the sister because their sentences were too severe, but because the prison board said they were no longer a threat to society and for medical reasons. Thirty-eight-year-old Jamie needs dialysis three times a week in prison. Her 36-year-old sister has offered one of her own kidneys for transplant. The governor says the operation is part of the stipulation for their release.
But some believe there is more than just humanitarian motivations at work here. Many expect Governor Barbour, a Republican, plans to challenge America's first black president in 2012.
CHOKWE LUMUMBA, SCOTT SISTERS' ATTORNEY: I've been asked a lot of questions, did the government do this for political reasons. My guess is, he did do it for political reasons. But, on the other hand, I want to commend him for a movement which spoke humanity.
SAVIDGE: Throughout their trial and imprisonment, the sisters have maintained their innocence, as has their mother who says one of the alleged victims later came back and asked Gladys out.
RASCO: So, if somebody robbed you, would you come back to try to date them later?
(END VIDEOTAPE) VELSHI: Martin joins us live now from Jackson, right in front of the podium where that press release is going to happen.
Tell us, Martin, what happens next? What's likely to happen next?
SAVIDGE: Well, first of all, of course you have the press conference. And we understand that the sisters -- I was just talking to Chokwe Lumumba, who is the attorney for these two sisters -- the sisters will actually be speaking, taking some questions.
They won't have a lot of time because they actually have to get on the move. According to the rules that had been set up by the Mississippi Department of Corrections, they have to be out of the state of Mississippi within 24 hours of their initial release.
Well, that came at 8:00 this morning Central Time. They must be out of the state by 8:00 tomorrow morning Central Time. They probably will be, because they have much better places to be -- Pensacola, namely -- where their mother and family are frantically greet them and welcome them back after 16 years of being in captivity.
But then there are the medical issues which you know well, and that is that Jamie needs dialysis three times a week. She needs dialysis tomorrow. She's scheduled to get that in Florida, and then begins the process of trying to determine if the sisters are a match for a kidney transplant or, if not, making that happen in some other way -- Ali.
VELSHI: OK. The boards behind you say "NAACP of Mississippi." What's their role in this?
SAVIDGE: Well, there have been a lot of people that have been working for a number of years trying to get these sisters out of prison. It started initially with their family, it started with their attorneys, but it has grown wildly beyond that. And the NAACP has been one of those in the state of Mississippi that has been strongly championing their causes.
And here's the thing. They will not stop here. In fact, this is where they say the fight really begins.
I was talking with Ben Jealous. He's the president of the NAACP, and he talks about wanting to get a pardon.
Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN JEALOUS, PRESIDENT & CEO, NAACP: We are heartened that this is the first step for this governor. Whenever he ultimately gives a pardon, the first thing he does is he suspends the sentence, and then he follows that up some time later with a pardon. He's in office for one more year. We will push him hard for the next year to make sure that that happens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: These young women have always maintained that they were innocent. They were found guilty of armed robbery, but they say they were innocent. And it's clear that what they want to do next, at least their attorney wants to do next, is get them exonerated -- Ali.
VELSHI: What a remarkable story. Martin, we'll stick with you on this one. Thanks very much for joining us.
Martin Savidge in Jackson, Mississippi.
In less than an hour, we'll probably see that press conference.
OK. There's reason to like the latest unemployment numbers out of Washington. Let me give you a sense of it. But there's also a reason to dislike them. That's always the case with these government reports. Let me show you what the numbers are to start with.
First of all -- well, that stretched a little further than we can see, so I'll just tell you about it. We gained 103,000 jobs in December.
Every -- there we go, Mark (ph).
Take a look at this over here. That's that green bar, that last one. That's 103,000 jobs in December. That's good. It's not as good as we were hoping it would be.
You can see that for the last three months we've gained jobs after a four-month low, because that first part of the year was occupied by some stimulus spending, mostly Census jobs. So we're gaining jobs; not enough.
Here's something interesting though. The unemployment rate in the country has dropped.
Let me show you where these jobs were gained. Let me show you some of the industries.
This is in December. The leisure and hospitality industry added 47,000 jobs; health care added 36,000 new jobs. Health care has been adding jobs, by the way, for the last several years, every month.
Retail added 12,000 jobs. Some of those might not be permanent. A lot of that might have to do with holiday spending.
Manufacturing up 10,000. After years of losing jobs in manufacturing, in the last year we've seen some gains in that area. So that's good news, but not as good as some would have liked.
Like I said, the unemployment rate has dropped to 9.4 percent from 9.8 percent. But there are a bunch of people who aren't part of the labor force, and that's why the number can be a little bit misleading.
This is the first yearly growth by the way since 1997 (sic) -- I'm sorry, 2007.
Let me show you what some of these -- this is how these years have looked.
In 2005, these were the total jobs we gained, more than 2.5 million. Then, 2006, a little over two million. 2007, at that point we're at a little over a million.
2008, look at those jobs that were lost as the recession set in. 2009 was even worse, but 2010, we ended up gaining jobs.
There are some estimates that next year, we'll gain 2.5 million jobs, and that will be a very, very strong year.
OK. Another story for you.
An athlete in his prime paralyzed by a tackle and bedridden. You might think that such a devastating injury would make you bitter and pessimistic. Not so for Eric LeGrand. He's a Rutgers football player -- he was a Rutgers football player, but he's making progress.
He was injured in October. And he tells us in today's "Sound Effect" that he knows he'll be getting better.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC LEGRAND, PARALYZED IN RUTGERS-ARMY FOOTBALL GAME: I believe that I will walk one day. I believe it. God has a plan for me, and I know it's not to be sitting here all the time. I know he has something planned bigger for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Rutgers announced yesterday LeGrand has regained some sensation in his body. You can catch the full interview throughout the day on ESPN's "Sports Center."
As promised, the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives has taken a big step toward repealing President Obama's health care overhaul. A procedural vote this morning sets the stage for a final vote next Wednesday, but that is likely to be the end of the road for this effort to repeal it, at least for now, because the Senate still in Democratic control and Democrats are pushing back hard. They're citing a brand new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office which says that scrapping health reforms would add $230 billion to the deficit over the next decade.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is proposing cuts of $78 billion for the Pentagon, in part by reducing the size of the Army and the Marine Corps. Gates also says that the Army, Navy and Air Force have found $100 billion worth of savings in their individual budgets which they'll use to continue developing major weapons and modernizing their forces over the next five years. The plan brings the Pentagon in line with President Obama's request to reduce projected spending in the military. And updating a story that broke around this time yesterday in Maryland, a law enforcement official says mail devices that ignited in two state offices each had a small battery and an electric match. Maryland state delegate James King says there were no threats before yesterday's incidents. Two workers slightly burned their fingers after opening the packages.
Nameless, helpless victims -- mysterious male attackers taking sexual advantage of them, and an anonymous tipster who left evidence on the sheriff's doorstep.
We're live in L.A. with the very latest on this very, very disturbing case, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: They are heinous acts against the most vulnerable of victims, unknown men sexually assaulting severely disabled women. Police in Los Angeles are disgusted and determined to identify these guys and bring them in. They went public yesterday, asking for help, and not even a day later, a big break.
CNN's Casey Wian joins us with that, plus personal insights from some of the officers working on this remarkable case -- Casey.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's really been an incredible less than 24-hour period. Detectives had almost no leads late yesterday. And in the last few hours, they're receiving information even as we speak.
We've got 10 suspects on videotape, eight severely disabled victims sexually assaulted, 100 hours of videotape on 13 different DVDs that were sent anonymously to the sheriff's department several months ago. They've been trying to analyze these tapes, coming up with composite drawings for the past several months, and the images are so disturbing that they've disgusted even veteran sheriff's investigators..
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DET. RON ANDERSON, L.A. COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE : I was floored. I've seen a lot of terrible, terrible imagery in my current assignment that have involved children and all kinds of other, you know, hideous things, but this was amongst the most heinous that I have ever seen -- poor, defenseless people who can't cry out for help or fend off an attacker. And what I saw were just these poor people lying there being victimized in the most terrible way I've ever seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIAN: Now, until late last night, the only lead investigators had in this case was a letter from the anonymous tipster who mailed these DVDs to the sheriff's department headquarters. He said he was hired by someone who bought a computer from a crack head in Englewood for $20. He was hired to scrub off the information that was on that computer's hard drive. He came across these images and was so disturbed, that he copied them and sent them to the sheriff's department. After they went public yesterday, sheriffs now have a break in the case and believe they have identified at least two of the suspects.
VELSHI: All right. How many do you think they've got -- do they know how many are involved totally?
WIAN: They believe there are 10 suspects involved totally. One of the men, they say, is actually incarcerated in state prison.
He was convicted earlier of crimes at a residential care facility, fiduciary crimes, abuse, and also sexual crimes. What they're saying, they're learning from the LAPD investigators on that separate case is this guy actually took one of these severely women to Las Vegas with him, married her, brought her back to the care facility, and then she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by many other men over these hundred hours of videotape.
So they're just piecing together this case as we speak, but they are very optimistic now that they've identified two of the people on the videotapes that they're going to be able to identify everyone else -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Casey. Thanks very much for staying on top of this. We'll keep on it with you.
Casey Wian in California.
When we come back, an extreme makeover courtesy of a CNN Hero. That's coming up next.
Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: We are kicking off our very first CNN Hero story of the year by checking in with one of last year's Top Ten Heroes. His name is Dan Wallrath, and he builds homes for wounded veterans.
He's received more than $100,000 in donations since his story first aired. Now comes a primetime opportunity that is enabling him to help even more injured soldiers find their way home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, MUSICIAN, ACTOR: It is my honor to present CNN hero Dan Wallrath.
(APPLAUSE)
DAN WALLRATH, CNN HERO: Being a Top Ten CNN hero was just very humbling.
The true heroes are servicemen and women who answer the call.
Since the show aired, we've been getting phone calls and e-mails and donations from all over the world. It's just been incredible.
GEORGE VERSCHOOR, "EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION": We had seen Dan on the CNN Heroes tribute, and we thought that's a perfect guy we've got to team up with.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, Patrick and Jessica!
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" joined forces with Dan to build a home for an Iraq War veteran wounded in the 2009 attack at Fort Hood in Texas. Thirteen soldiers died, but Staff Sergeant Patrick Ziegler pulled through.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was shot four times, once in the head. He's just made a remarkable recovery.
COOPER: For Dan, who normally works with around 200 people, it's a chance to help build a home on a much larger scale.
WALLRATH: There's been probably 4,000 or 5,000 volunteers involved. We have tons of military folks helping us.
God bless you.
This house is going to be built in about 100 hours, where normally we take about six months.
COOPER: And at an event at Fort Hood honoring Patrick and his fiancee, Jessica, Dan made a special announcement.
WALLRATH: We have established a Fort Hood Victims Fund to reach out to all the families affected by this tragedy.
I feel so good all the time about seeing these lives changes. And now we're going to be able to change a lot more.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: The "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" episode featuring Dan will air on ABC on February the 20th. To donate to the Fort Hood Victims Fund, get involved with Dan's group. Or to nominate someone you think is changing the world, go to CNNHeroes.com.
All right. It's 22 minutes after the hour. Let's check in on some of the top stories this hour.
The December jobs report has left investors underwhelmed. While the unemployment rate did drop from 9.8 to 9.4 percent, not as many jobs were created as we had hoped for. Employers boosted payrolls by 103,000 jobs last month, and that was much less than economists had anticipated.
Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke is painting a sober picture for employment. He told a Senate panel today not enough jobs are being created to keep pace with the number of people looking for work. Bernanke says it will take time for the unemployment rate to return to normal. It could take four or five more years for the job market to fully normalize.
President Obama's economic team is getting a makeover. He's appointed Gene Sperling to head the National Economic Council. It's the same job he held during the final years of the Clinton administration. The president also tapped Katharine Abraham as a member of the Council of Economic Advisors and Heather Higginbottom as the deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Well, the weather is already making a mess of weekend travel. We're going to check on the delays when we come back.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Let's take a look at the weather situation.
I suspect New York City has done a little bit more planning than they did before the last storm.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, when you get two to four inches of snow after 20 inches --
VELSHI: Yes. Right.
MYERS: -- that's nothing. You know, but all of a sudden, if that two to four would have been the original one, people would have been panicked.
VELSHI: Right.
MYERS: But it's where you set your expectations.
VELSHI: Right.
MYERS: And so we do have a couple of these things being slowed down.
Airports and airlines now are well in advance of this. This was even yesterday's travel advisory.
VELSHI: That's right.
MYERS: You can move your entire trip plus or minus seven days from scheduled departure. That's US Airways. American put a policy out yesterday as well. So did Southwest, so did Delta and all. You may change your flights without penalty in most cases.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: And I got one from Delta saying, we kind of encourage you if you're flying out of these places to do that.
MYERS: And when are you flying?
VELSHI: I'm flying out of here this evening, and back to here on Sunday evening. I'm going to get weather on both sides, right?
MYERS: You are, because that right there is Monday morning in Atlanta.
VELSHI: Right. Yes.
MYERS: Delta, AirTran, all of the ones in and out -- and even maybe from Southwest, because they're in Birmingham and other places -- will really have some trouble getting in and out of Atlanta with an ice storm and a major --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Right. And the importance of this is that whether you live in the Northeast, where the storm is today, or Atlanta, where it's going to be in the Southeast on Sunday, if you're traveling it may have very little to do with where you are. It's that the systems end up slowing down and shutting down.
MYERS: Yes. And Fort Lauderdale is delayed today. Why? Because of volume.
VELSHI: Right.
MYERS: A lot of people want to get out of Fort Lauderdale for some reason.
But here's JFK, Newark, an hour, two, somewhere in that ballpark. But that really means that if that flight was supposed to go to Seattle, you're going to sit there and wait in Seattle for that plane to get there, because they can't use a different plane because that's the equipment they were supposed to fly you to Los Angeles on.
VELSHI: Right. That's exactly it.
MYERS: And you're sitting in Seattle, going, what is going on?
VELSHI: And this happens to me. You know.
I've been on planes, and I'll have heard the reports. And I'll be sitting at the airport, and people are getting really, really mad. And I always like to say that I'd just rather not be flying -- you know, until the airlines say it's safe to do it, just cool your heels.
I may be cooling my heels. I hope you have no plans tonight, because I may not get out of --
MYERS: Do you have, like, a Kindle or something?
VELSHI: Yes, I have a Kindle.
MYERS: Oh, you do?
VELSHI: Yes, I've got a Kindle. I've got -- I can keep myself occupied at the airport.
MYERS: You can keep -- and isn't that the case?
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: And you, as an adult, no problem. Now, all of a sudden, put a 5-year-old or a 3-year-old sitting next to you for three hours -- it's not so pleasant.
VELSHI: Right. And sometimes it's longer than that, yes.
MYERS: And then sometimes it's longer than that.
We did expect New York City to get two to four, and I think that's right on the money. The heaviest snow will be north and probably even northwest of the city, up towards the Catskills and the Adirondacks. There's going to be another sliding snow that goes right through Philadelphia, into probably Atlantic City, but that should still miss the New York City metro area.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: I'm heading here, so --
MYERS: You're going to Philly?
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: All right. Well --
VELSHI: Or maybe I'm going to your place.
MYERS: Just have your snow tires on.
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: And isn't that the key? Were people not so afraid of getting one car somewhere, and you can get your car -- but when that freeway has all these other cars bumping into each other, then all of a sudden you can't go anywhere.
We're already booking airports, we're already booking hotels for Atlanta for Monday morning, because we realize that people will be playing bumper cars on the freeway. Even though there's one or two inches of snow by then, it will be very slow.
VELSHI: Right. Much bigger issue down here.
MYERS: Absolutely. People don't get the experience on the snow down here in the South as they do up here. People in Buffalo are going --
VELSHI: What are you guys talking about?
MYERS: -- you canceled school for one inch of snow? If we canceled -- when I grew up -- if we canceled for one inch of snow, we never would have gone to school.
VELSHI: Right, because the folks where I grew up, In Toronto, would make fun of you for doing that.
MYERS: I know.
VELSHI: All right. Good to see you, my friend.
MYERS: All right. Good to see you.
VELSHI: And maybe I'll be seeing you a lot today.
MYERS: All right.
VELSHI: After years of brutal civil war, southern Sudan votes for independence starting on Sunday. Why is the outcome so important for Africa and for the United States? I'll tell you on the other side when we go "Globe Trekking."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It is 31 minutes after the hour, and we are less than 30 minutes away from a news conference with two sisters once serving life sentences for armed robbery in Mississippi. They were released from prison today.
But their release is on the condition that one -- and that's them driving away saying, "We're free" -- that one donate a kidney to the other. The governor noted that the cost of dialysis was a substantial expense for the state.
Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives say they have identified two men shown in a video who are suspected of sexually assaulting severely disabled women. The men may be linked to another sexual assault in Los Angeles. The videos came from 11 DVDs that an anonymous tipster dropped off in March at the sheriff's department in Monterey Park, California.
And the nation's unemployment rate is down to 9.4 percent. That's the lowest level since May of 2009. However, 103,000 jobs were created in December, which is fewer than expected. Analysts say the jobless rate went down in part because of people giving up on trying to find work --- 260,000 people gave up.
Time for "Globe Trekking" now, just two days from a vote for independence in Africa's largest country that most people thought would never happen. Voters in southern Sudan go to the polls starting on Sunday to decide whether to split from the north and to become an independent nation.
Now, this vote is important for several reasons: one, take a look at the oil fields. That's all the stuff in the green. You can see most of those are in the south which is a dirt poor part of the country. The referendum was made possible by a deal in 2005 that ended 20 years of civil war between the north and the south.
Now, the Obama administration has pushed hard for this vote in a bid to prevent a repeat of the mass killings that occurred in that area in yellow, that's western Darfur, in that region. More than 300,000 people are believed to have died there as armed groups that were backed by Sudan's ruling party crushed a rebellion. Now, most if not all of Sudan's neighbors are expecting that the outcome of the vote will be independents from the south -- a step they think is needed to maintain peace.
CNN's David McKenzie has the latest on this story from Juba, which is the capital of southern Sudan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The southern Sudanese are getting more and more excited about this referendum in Africa's largest country that could see it split. They fought a brutal civil war against the north for decades. Millions were killed.
But, now, they are in a referendum with a simple choice. Unity is shown like this two hands clasp, separation like this. But the southern Sudanese, all they can sing about, all they can talk about, all they can even dream about is separation.
JOHN DUKU, SOUTHERN SUDAN GOVERNMENT: It's a goal (INAUDIBLE). If you go out on here, you don't see the symbol of unity here. People have decided.
The referendum process is just to confirm what people already know. That is the independence of south Sudan. Majority of the people are for independence. And there is already independence because they hate northern Sudan or they don't want to be together with northern Sudan. It is because unity for people of south Sudan mean only one thing, it means war.
MCKENZIE: So, southern Sudanese are hoping for peace. And as the music can sound (ph) to that first ballot card, they say this is not about unity or separation but a vote about freedom.
Dave McKenzie, CNN, Juba, southern Sudan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Let me stay in Africa for a minute and take you to another part of it, a little farther south and west, to the Land of the Mountain Gorilla. The World Wildlife Fund has just released some encouraging news about this critically endangered species. Take a look at the map. That's where gorillas live.
Now you can see the number of gorillas has jumped more than 26 percent in one of the two locations where they exist in the wild. And that is the Virunga Massif region. And as the map shows, it's down at the bottom, the blob sort of in the middle. That is the part that spans the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and on the top, Uganda.
Since 2003, the population has increased from 380 to 480 gorillas. There's also 302 mountain gorillas in the northern part there in Uganda. That is Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The World Wildlife Fund calls this a remarkable recovery and attribute it to the unique collaboration between all three countries to protect the mountain gorillas.
OK. Homeless kids with the odds stacked against them when it comes to education. Where can they turn to start turning their lives around? I'll show you when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Homelessness is a huge problem in California. With high unemployment, rise in foreclosures, more families are finding themselves on the streets and they are struggling to keep their kids in school. There's one school now where homeless students make up the entire student body.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHASE KNAUL, STUDENT, MONARCH SCHOOL: My name is Chase Knaul. I have my mom and my little sister. This is my horrible neighborhood.
My brother's wife has kicked us out of his house. This is where we came to seek shelter.
MICHAEL YOUNG, STUDENT, MONARCH SCHOOL: Hi. I'm Michael Young.
Some people over there, I feel very sorry for them.
I'm real tired right now. Tired but I have to go to school and get an education to get a better life.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're in the heart of San Diego where Monarch School is located. What make this school so unique is that the entire student body is homeless.
(voice-over): Sarita Fuentes is principal at Monarch.
SARITA FUENTES, PRINCIPAL, MONARCH SCHOOL: Historically, we have always hovered at a hundred students. And we went up to 165 students last December?
GUTIERREZ (on camera): A lot of this due, of course, to the economy.
FUENTES: Yes, absolutely. And for the first time ever, our population, the face of the homeless student changed because we receive students that had actually lost their home due to foreclosure.
GUTIERREZ: How difficult was it to uproot your life to move here and then to become homeless?
KNAUL: It was very hard because I had just turned 9 and I had to leave my best friend. We don't get to like see each other grow up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chase, give me one.
KNAUL: (INAUDIBLE). GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Monarch students are taught by credentialed teachers. They also get free tutoring to make up for any gaps in their education, and free medical and dental care, and simple things to make life better, like new shoes, a place to shower, and a laundry room to wash their clothes.
(on camera): Were you treated differently by other kids when you went to the other schools?
YOUNG: Kind of.
GUTIERREZ: How?
YOUNG: Like teasing.
GUTIERREZ: What would they say to you?
YOUNG: Like bum or something.
GUTIERREZ: Did they actually call you a bum, knowing that you were homeless?
YOUNG: Yes.
GUTIERREZ: That's a terrible thing. That's very mean. How did that make you feel?
YOUNG: Sad, mad.
GUTIERREZ: What did you tell them?
YOUNG: Like if they were in my situation, they wouldn't be saying the same thing.
KNAUL: That's my mommy. She loves me a lot. Every day we have to wake up about 5:00 in the morning and then we had to be out of here by 7:00. On the weekends, we had nowhere to go, and if it was raining, we'd just be sitting somewhere under a tree trying to keep dry.
GUTIERREZ: What do you want to do when you grow up?
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Be the president of the United States.
GUTIERREZ: You want to be the president?
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Yes.
GUTIERREZ: What do you like studying? What are you good at?
KNAUL: Math, science, and handwriting.
LORI MCCALLOPS, CHASE AND FANNIE'S MOTHER: Those parents they came, picked up their kids, and took them home. She didn't have that.
GUTIERREZ: Do you think kids get embarrassed? MCCALLOPS: Oh, I'm sure that they do. Oh, yes, I'm sure that they do. I know they must be.
GUTIERREZ: Did your kids ever come home?
MCCALLOPS: No, they would never say that to me. They know I was doing everything I could to try to make everything.
YOUNG: Some kids for their birthday, they go to Chuck E. Cheese or something. Us, we just have like not even a birthday party. When I get older and get like a job and everything, I want to buy a house and have my mom move in with me and like I take care of her.
GUTIERREZ: What do you want with Mike?
KIFFINI GARY, MICHAEL'S MOTHER: I'm hoping that he'll remember this and see how important it is. Like half this stuff here, I don't think I would have to go through it had I had a proper education.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Having experienced so much loss so young, homes, friends, even family, parents say Monarch is giving their children something no one can take away.
KNAUL: Monarch has given me a program. Steel bands, I really love it. They've given me a technique and talent.
GUTIERREZ: Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, San Diego.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: It's 43 minutes almost after the hour. Let me bring you up to speed on some of the developments of our top stories.
After 16 years in prison, these two Mississippi sisters were released earlier today on the condition that the one on the left donate a kidney to the one on the right. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're free.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: That's them leaving prison.
The state Department of Corrections says they are no longer a threat to society. The governor noted that the cost of dialysis was a substantial expense for the state. We expect to hear from the sisters at a news conference just a few minutes from now.
We learn that the nation's jobless rate dropped last month to 9.4 percent. It's down from 9.8 percent in November. One hundred and three thousand new jobs were added to the economy -- that was short of expectations.
For all of 2010, though, the United States added 1.1 million jobs and that's the best year for hiring since before the recession started in 2007.
While any gain is good, gains like these do not keep pace with population growth, and they certainly don't replace the 8 million jobs that recession wiped out.
New York City emergency workers criticized for their slow response to the recent Christmas blizzard will get a second chance to prove themselves. Another snowstorm albeit one that is a lot smaller has begun charging across the eastern states. Snow is predicted as far south as Georgia by the end of the weekend. Many Northeast airports began reporting major delays this morning, including LaGuardia, Philadelphia, and Newark. Delays are expected throughout the day in Boston, New York and Philadelphia.
Well, the Queen of Soul talks about her health, sort of. I'll explain what I mean after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right, Aretha Franklin says her health issues are resolved. Now, you all remember about a month ago, Franklin announced that her concerts were canceled until May due to doctor's orders. That led to speculation that she had an inoperable form of cancer. Well, the Queen of Soul told "Jet" magazine otherwise. She added that she will not talk about her, quote, "personal health." Franklins also asked for privacy as she continues to recover from whatever the problem is.
Now onto the Queen of Daytime Talk. Oprah Winfrey making the rounds to talk up her new network. Kareen Wynter joins me now from Los Angeles.
Kareen, Oprah is hoping to duplicate her daytime network success on her new network that's not a broadcast network.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: It isn't. And, you know, she is really -- she is really going to give it her best here to bring the momentum to this huge network that is Oprah, all things Oprah, the Oprah Winfrey Network.
And you know, Ali, if Oprah, if she's able to duplicate the unprecedented success of her day time talk show with OWN, you know, it will be a remarkable achievement. But I'm betting she will, because everything -- you know this, everything Oprah touches, it turns to gold.
And, Ali, you also know, you have received the seal of approval from lady "O," so you know the wonders that she can do for people, even this guy.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, OWN NETWORK: He explained it to her so well, she could explain it to me. So I said this is the guy. This is the guy. Welcome, Ali.
VELSHI: Thank you, Oprah.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WYNTER: Look at that guy. Look at that guy. We all know who he is. Ali Velshi, big-time CNN anchor.
Remember that little experience, Ali?
VELSHI: I remember it well. It was right in the midst of the political crisis. Clearly, I wasn't eating. I looked a little skinnier there than I do now. It's quite, I have to tell you --
WYNTER: And we never get tired of seeing it.
VELSHI: You and I, we meet a lot of interesting people all the time, but there's something about being there around Oprah. She's just something that hasn't existed before in the world of TV.
WYNTER: Larger than life. Such a huge talent.
And really speaking of talents, our own CNN talent, our very own Piers Morgan, well he just landed a wide-ranging interview with Oprah. That will air when his big show launches, January 17. They sat down for more than two hours. It was supposed to be less than an hour and they just were having a good time.
And, Ali, I think we're going to be in for some big surprises from this Brit. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WINFREY: We said when we came back, literally, we all just went, whew, what was that? Did we not, Lis (ph)? And we did say, that's one of the toughest interviews I've had in 20 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Wow.
WYNTER: What a teaser, what a teaser.
Now, you know, Oprah, Ali, she's been here in L.A. this week for the television critic's tour. She's talking about her new network, OWN. And so far, the critics, they're giving this programming the thumbs up and the cable network is drawing some healthy ratings, but some fans are upset.
That's right, they're a little angry that OWN isn't available on basic cable. Still, Oprah's hoping that the programming will win over viewers enough to shell out a few extra dollars a month and subscribe.
VELSHI: She's definitely -- she reaches a big audience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WINFREY: The thing is that the channel will be the home base for people who are seeking the best of themselves. My -- your phones ringing.
My dream is that the channel will be on in people's homes the same way that people find their favorite radio station and they just keep that on their favorite radio station. And my dream is that this channel will always be the place that you can come to and you can vibe on the good energy that is there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WYNTER: Who was that person, Ali, disrupting the queen of talk? You know when Oprah talks, everyone needs to listen.
Anyway, the big question will be, will all the positive vibes on cable, will it win over the bickering from the housewives and the reality shows. I guess only time will tell if this dream of Oprah's comes true.
But personally, I think there's, you know, plenty of room on cable for more positive programming. What do you think, Ali?
VELSHI: Absolutely. I was going to watch that Piers Morgan interview on January 17th regardless of whether I heard Oprah that she thought it was one of the toughest interviews she's ever had. Now I'm really going to watch it. I want to know what Oprah thinks is a tough interview.
WYNTER: What a teaser.
VELSHI: Yes, no kidding.
Kareen, great to see you, as always. Come spend more time on my show. We don't talk nearly enough.
WYNTER: Thanks, Ali. I would love to, I promise.
VELSHI: Good. open invitation.
All right, time now for a Political Update. Shannon Travis joins me live from the Washington Political Desk.
What's crossing the Ticker right now? And, Shannon, good to see you. You're another guy I don't see enough of on our show.
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Yes, not enough of it. Who needs to talk about politics, Ali, when we can talk when we're going to watch this Oprah interview on "PIERS MORGAN." But let's refocus back on politics.
A key question, we've been talking earlier about how the House had that test vote today over repealing the health care laws and that the Republicans want to do. The test vote passed. The actual vote will be next week. But what do Americans, what do some of our viewers think about their House -- their representatives repealing this law? There's a new national survey out. Forty-six percent in this Gallup survey say that, yes, yes they want their representative to repeal this health care law. Forty percent say no, and there are 14 percent with no opinion.
But when you look at the party breakdown, how many Republicans say yes versus Democrats, 78 percent of Republicans want their representatives to vote to repeal this law, but 64 percent of Democrats say, no way, no way, keep your hands off of it.
Meanwhile, what would actually repealing the health care law actually do? Well, one Democrat is warning that it will cause more Americans to die. I want you to take -- this is a quote from Representative John Garamendi. He says, quite, "The repeal of health care is actually a killer of human beings." He goes on to say, "Some 40,000 Americans die every year because of lack of health insurance. That's the reality. Repeal this bill and you're going to find more Americans dying."
So a lot of heated rhetoric over the debate over whether to repeal this law or not.
And one last topic, who's afraid of Sarah Palin? Apparently, the former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is not. He's telling ABC News, he's giving some praise to the former Alaska governor, Palin, but he's also saying, hey, I'm not afraid of Sarah Palin, she won't determine whether I will run or not. He also told ABC that he should make that by March or April, Ali.
VELSHI: Shannon, great to see you. Thanks very much. We'll have lots of opportunities to talk about that. Shannon Travis.
Your next update from "The Political Team on Television" is just one hour away.
What can you do to take advantage of rising oil prices? I'll tell you next in my "XYZ."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Time now for "The XYZ of It."
I've been talking a lot this week about the rising price of oil and the prospect that it will even go higher in the coming months. A barrel of crude oil trades for about $90 right now.
It's easy to see why. Total world oil production in 2009 -- and that's the most recent full year for which we have data -- was about 84.4 million barrel as day. We use all but 200,000 of those barrels a day. Now that's one pipeline or one refinery, if it goes out, it doesn't leave much wiggle room between supply and demand, and demand for oil will go up.
Forecasters see the price of a barrel easily crossing the $100 mark soon. And for those of you who drive, you've seen near constant increases in the price of gasoline for weeks. Right now, the national average for a gallon of unleaded gasoline is over $3 a gallon. Many of you in the country are paying much more that that depending on where you live.
When you pay more for same amount of something, like a tank of gasoline, it gives you less money to spend on other things. In fact, oil could be the one thing that slows or recovery down in 2011.
So if you're going to get bitten by oil prices on the hand that fills the gas tank, you might want to identify some good energy investments on the other hand and profit from the higher cost of energy. Whether that's looking at alternative energy or investing in more traditional energy companies or oil futures, our energy needs are going to continue to grow in 2011 and beyond.
Well, that's my "XYZ." That's it for me for the week. Brook Baldwin takes it from here -- Brooke.
