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New Hope for Amanda Knox?; Protestors in Algeria Demand Political Reform; Woman Convicted of Kidnapping a Baby 23 Years Ago; Top 5 Rudest Cities in the U.S.; Financial Fresh Start in 2011
Aired January 23, 2011 - 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: Protesters in Algeria defied a government ban on demonstration and filled the streets this weekend, demanding political reform. And protesters in Pakistan have a message for the U.S., stop unmanned drone strikes.
And Amanda Knox, the American student convicted of killing her British roommate at their home in Italy is said to be cautiously optimistic about her appeal that after an Italian judge agreed to have two pieces of forensic evidence retested. All those stories straight ahead in the next hour.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Our top story, a woman suspected of stealing a baby 23 years ago is in custody. Federal authorities say Ann Pettway turned herself in after being spotted in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Our Susan Candiotti has the latest from there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): As CNN reported exclusively, the search for Ann Pettway over. The FBI tells CNN that Pettway turned herself into the FBI on Sunday morning in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A law enforcement source tells CNN this that she contacted a Bridgeport, Connecticut, police officer via Facebook on Sunday before turning herself in.
Now, she is wanted for questioning in the baby snatching of a child back in 1987 from a hospital in Harlem, New York. She was picked up on a warrant out of North Carolina for violating a parole violation on embezzlement charges there she was not to leave the state without contacting the police.
Now, Bridgeport police tells us that on Saturday, Pettway was sighted at this pawnshop. She had gone inside to see how much she could pawn some jewelry for. She wasn't happy with the answer she got and she left alone on foot, according to police. They were able to confirm that it was her by looking at the store surveillance cameras. She remains in custody while this investigation into the suspected baby kidnapping continues.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Bridgeport, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: On to California now, where police are still looking for a four-year-old boy and the man who allegedly took him. Giuliani Cardenas has been missing since Tuesday when his grandmother says he was snatched from her arms. The suspect, the ex-boyfriend of the boy's mother. A three-day search of the canal near Patterson, California, was suspended today. No sign of them. The sheriff says divers may go back tomorrow.
And the man charged with the Tucson shooting rampage two weeks ago appears in court again tomorrow a federal grand jury has already indicted Jared Lee Loughner on attempted murder charges for the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and two aides. Tomorrow is his federal arraignment.
So, Giffords, she is not yet talking, nor is she breathing without help, but the doctors who are treating her say that they are very impressed. We are told that she is sitting and standing, in Houston, smiling and moving with little assistance. Giffords is still in intensive care but doctors say they are surprised at her progress so far.
I spoke to a rehabilitation specialist, a brain expert, yesterday, right here in Atlanta. And listen to what he told me about Congresswoman Giffords' injury, in particular.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So, you mentioned memory then are you at least encouraged, based on what we have heard from her husband, she recognizes him that says something about her memory, that her family traveled with her, that there has been the squeezing of the hand, does that tell you that that portion of her brain seems to be intact? Is there a way of measuring memory?
DR. DONALD LESLIE, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, SHEPHERD CENTER: Yes, there certainly is. There is a good way to measure memory. Unfortunately, memory is not just on or off there are basically two types of memories that we train, that's short-term memory and long-term memory. Her husband's name, who she is, that's all long-term stuff.
Unfortunately, with acute brain injury, often times the brain injured person cannot do the short term, did you have breakfast yet? You don't remember. There will be a lot of testing done as to what her memory is, what her memory capabilities are later.
WHITFIELD: And we know that there is this sort of lid, you know, part of her skull has been removed, you mentioned for the swelling, any potential swelling. How long would that stay off or would that be detached?
LESLIE: No, oftentimes, they - the neurosurgeons will take the bone off and put it in the freezer and actually freeze it, sterilely. Or we also can implant it in the body of the patient surgically. I'm not sure which they did with the congresswoman but it will, at some point in time, when all the swelling is down and when she is very stable medically, they will elect to do a cranioplasty, which is putting that piece of bone back where it was.
WHITFIELD: Does it sound encouraging to you or what judgment do you make when you hear our Elizabeth Cohen who is there in Houston who says there is some fluid, the drainage of the fluid is then channeled to the abdomen, the stomach?
LESLIE: Correct.
WHITFIELD: What does that tell you about the recovery or how her body is responding to all this?
LESLIE: Well, what they have done if I take off the cerebral hemispheres and you see these sac-like organs here, these are the ventricles. Those hold the cerebrospinal fluid, the CSF, the fluid that bathes the brain and bathes the spinal cord.
WHITFIELD: That is good that the body, that the brain is creating the fluid?
LESLIE: It is. And what we don't want is for there to be an excess of that. So, that takes it off out of the brain to allow the brain to go back to normal size and it is channeled down into the body cavity.
WHITFIELD: Giffords' rehabilitation is expected to take four to six months.
All right. In Utah, new questions about a traffic stop involving a state trooper and a 53-year-old woman. The trooper is under investigation after pulling Darla Wright's car over and then striking her several times. The incident was captured on the trooper's dashboard camera.
He is seen punching Wright through the driver's window. The incident happened last summer but the video has just been released. Sergeant Andrew Davenport is currently on administrative leave. Wright was arrested on suspicion of DUI, eluding police and other offenses. Davenport meantime, the officer, wrote in his report saying, "she refused to comply with commands to give us her hands. Due to my close proximity with the suspect and my experience with taser failure at such close distances, I delivered three close-hand strikes to her head in an attempt to gain compliance with our command. I did this to distract and stun her and to stop her from trying to drive off and strike our vehicles or possibly run us over. The strikes worked and we were able to grab her hands." Again, that from the police report.
All right, some crazy weather taking place across the country, crazy because it is not that comfortable. It means it is cold. It is snowy. It is rainy, all of that. Jacqui Jeras in the weather center. You look at the calendar, it's really not that crazy.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know -
WHITFIELD: What is it supposed to be?
JERAS: We had weather extreme and certainly expect cold weather in the winter but it is really cold. It's uncomfortably cold, and you know, it is dangerous at times, quite honestly. If you are outside too long in conditions like this you can get frostbite and eventually hypothermia as well. And this is really the coldest air of the season now that started out in the Midwest, it's been working its way across the Great Lakes and now starting to filter into the northeast.
And tomorrow morning when you wake up, I hate to say it but it is going to feel like a big old slap in the face because that is how brutally cold it is going to be. In advance of this cold air, watches and warnings have already been put into place, and there you can see them across the northeastern corridor, and while they're not here yet in New York City, I wouldn't be surprised to see this area also get included on those advisories as we progress throughout the day.
Five to 25 degrees below zero, the temperature that your body is going to be feeling with this cold tomorrow morning. Now, what does that cold do to you? Take a look at some of these i-reports. These are just amazing. These were sent to us from Matt Dewitt. He is a firefighter from Jettison (ph), Michigan. He works for the Georgetown Township Fire Department and then he was fighting this fire last night and basically said that it was so cold out that his gear got frozen.
That is a stick that they use to help tear down a ceiling in a fire. He said that nobody was hurt in the incident but certainly the cold slowed them down, extinguishing those fire. He said the temperature was about five degrees below zero. So a big thanks to Matt for sending us those photos and give us an idea what it is like to work in these kind of conditions.
Our other big weather story today and tomorrow in addition to this cold air, is that we've got a little system which has been developing across the nation's midsection. This has been bringing snowy conditions across parts of the middle Mississippi River Valley and then rainy conditions on the south side of it. It is relatively light but kind of a nuisance unfortunately for you by the weekend.
And then we're looking at an area of low pressure developing along this somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico, we think. And that is going to be the big story, Fredricka, in the next couple of days. You were kind of hinting the last couple of days that looked like it might be a wintery storm for the southeast but models are trending warm so that is some good news. So maybe a big rain event Monday, Tuesday in the southeast but then the storm is going to ride up the coast into the mid-Atlantic and northeast.
So still some uncertainty with it, but it's something certainly everybody east of the Rockies wants to pay attention to.
WHITFIELD: Yes, not sure if that will translate into snow, sleet, ice for the northeast? Not sure.
JERAS: It is looking rain in the south and definitely colder, snow mix in the north.
WHITFIELD: Got you. All right. Thanks so much, Jacqui Jeras. JERAS: Sure.
WHITFIELD: We know where there is a lot of snow, Park City, Utah that means we are going to the Sundance Film Festival right now. A powerful documentary about the civil rights movement is actually premiering at Sundance and it's called a "The Barber of Birmingham." Foot soldier in the civil rights movement. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought about (INAUDIBLE). I've been to the mountain top and I look over, saw the promised land. I may not get there with you, but you will get to the promised land, just keep on, keeping on. Yes, indeed. Things are changing. A black man president of the United states. How do you say that to yourself?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Robin Fryday is the film's co-director and Darren Armstrong is the grandson of the man you just saw, James Armstrong, "The Barber of Birmingham." Both joining us from the festival. Good to see both of you.
DARREN ARMSTRONG, GRANDSON OF JAMES ARMSTRONG: Hello, Fred.
ROBIN FRYDAY, CO-DIRECTOR "THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM": Hi. Thank you for having us here.
WHITFIELD: Well, fantastic. I'm glad it could work out, you know, sometimes it is sketchy when trying to get through the mountains over there but I'm glad it all worked out.
So Robin, you first. Give me an idea why you decided to do a film about the civil rights movement as told by "The Barber of Birmingham," Mr. Armstrong, who is right now 85, right?
ROBIN FRYDAY, CO-DIRECTOR "THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM": He is - actually passed away a year ago so he no longer is with us. We had with the honor of spending the last year of his life with him, filming him and leading up to the election of Obama. I started to think about the people who brought us to this day, the people who paved the way, who made history, all of the foot soldiers and it made me think about those who are still living what it must be like for them to be experiencing this moment.
So, I took a trip to Alabama to do some research and was introduced to Mr. Armstrong, the barber. And as soon as I met him and saw his barber shop and saw him with his plaid pants and bow tie and big smile, and then started to learn of his own personal history, of integrating his children into an elementary school and his dedication to the fight for civil rights, I knew he was the person to making the film about.
WHITFIELD: So you thought that was a great way in which to talk about the civil rights movement. He - by way of him, he is kind of the microcosm of the journey. So Darren, how much of your grandfather's journey did you know before this documentary got under way? Sometimes we don't know about our own parent or grandparents' struggles until it to told to us by way of somebody else. How much did you know?
ARMSTRONG: Actually, when I was younger, you know, I learned a lot from my grandfather about the civil rights movement. So at a very early age, I knew about Dr. King, Ralph David Abernathy, my dad and my uncle desegregating the Birmingham Public School system. So, this was nothing, of course, new to me. But I will say that it definitely, you know, knowing the things that my grandfather did and how he sacrificed his life and sometimes having to sacrifice, you know, time away from his family, that pushed me further to, you know, give back in my own way and to take advantage of opportunities my grandfather didn't have.
For instance, I wanted to make him very proud and that is one of the reasons why I attended Morehouse College, of course, where Dr. King is one of our most esteemed alum. So, you know, just being around my grandfather and just listening to him, and you know, and really soaking up his principles and everything that he stood for which, of course, was for justice, for peace, and having a vision beyond the things that happen to him, you know, those things really inspired me to just, you know, be the best that I can be and do things for other people.
So you know, history, the civil rights movement, all those things were like secondhand nature to me. I'm very blessed to have him as a grandfather and have somebody who was walking history and be part of that legacy.
WHITFIELD: So, Robin, how much of Mr. Armstrong's lessons or experiences did you want to make sure you crystallized as best you could so that last night, when this premiere was sold out, everyone, including the Robert Redford that was there, apparently, you know, walked away feeling like they were that much more educated because of this story being told?
FRYDAY: Yes, I think that telling it through the lens of Mr. Armstrong, hearing his story, HIS perseverance through all the years of his life and learning that we can make a difference, we can make change but it does take time, it takes time, it takes patience and one person can make a difference and collectively, we can make a huge difference, but that the youth should know that -- to always remember never take for granted the rights that we have, the rights that somebody paid the price for. I think there's many lessons that Mr. Armstrong teaches us and he represents all of the foot soldiers who fought for these rights.
WHITFIELD: Robyn Fryday and Darren Armstrong, thanks so much and of course, everyone is looking forward to being able to see "The Barber of Birmingham, the Foot Soldier in the Civil Rights Movement." Thanks so much for your time and I know you must feel very proud, very gratified that this project has been completed and that it has an incredible audience and what a great outpouring of support you've already been receiving there at Park City. FRYDAY: We do. Thank you so much.
ARMSTRONG: Thank you for having us.
FRYDAY: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. All the best. Thanks so much.
FRYDAY: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. That's Park City and the Sundance Film Festival when so many different things are happening there and lots of great hits and lots of these great movies that you will be able to see in a theater near you, possibly.
All right. Meantime, it is a harsh reality, under aged girls are being bought and sold online for sex. The web makes it easier than ever for Johns and prostitutes to find each other. We will tell you what we found in a year-long investigation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Sex crimes flourishing online, under aged girls selling their bodies to men, all with the help of technology in a year-long investigation, CNN's Amber Lyon revealed the devastating realities of the sex trade business involving young girls. Amber is here to talk about a disturbing high-tech facet to the sex trade. This as a prelude to your special tonight.
AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It airs tonight at 8:00 and also 11:00 on CNN for those football fans thought out there or you can DVR it. But yes, Fred, we spent a year looking at the sex trade of under aged American girls. A lot of people are under the assumption this is only happening to foreign girls and we found a disturbing trend of the sex trade moving from being on street corners to on-line on these web sites, what used to be Craigslist was the number one site. Now the business has migrated more to another site similar to Craigslist, back page.com. Every aspect of our investigation came back to that site, back page.
WHITFIELD: So it's making it a lot more accessible to any John, whether they want somebody under aged or someone who is over 18, et cetera because the internet makes it so?
LYON: Oh, yes. Think about it, if you are a John and you are going to do this illegal activity, before you used to have to troll the street corners, now you can pick up your phone, as one John told us, surf the web, pick out a girl, call her and sometimes they're delivered quicker than you can get a pizza.
WHITFIELD: OK and in fact, you kind of give us a little view of just how easy it is for someone to engage in this activity.
LYON: Everyone was telling us this was going on. So we said our style of journalism, we are going to see if this is really happening, so I took a picture of myself from when I was 14 years old, posted it on an ad on back page.com, and four minutes later, no kidding, the phone rings. So here's what these guys had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LYON (on camera): It says my name is Winter, and I would love to meet new people. The ad price, five bucks, they posted it on line. So there I am at 14, let's see if we get any calls.
(voice-over): Four minutes later, the phone rings are, I tell the callers, I'm underage. Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Alen, I saw your ad on back page. And I was wondering what your rate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
LYON: How old are you? You sound kind of young.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm 34.
LYON: I'm 16.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
Hold on, we got another one. Hello. What are you looking for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sex.
LYON: Oh, you're looking for sex? OK. I'm not old enough to drink. I'm 17. I can't - I don't have a fake I.D..
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are 17?
LYON: Mm-hmm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LYON: Oh, turned it off just before the creepiest call of the night. We got - the phone was ringing for the next two days, Fred, and I continually told the guy that I was under aged, whether it be 16, 17, it's still illegal and they agreed to the meetings.
WHITFIELD: And you actually followed through? Somebody who did say they wanted -
LYON: It depends on what you mean by follow through.
WHITFIELD: The meeting. Yes. And then what happened?
LYON: We ended up getting a call from a guy who said he was representing a high-rolling client, a former CEO out of North Carolina, we told them we were in Georgia, so they said, well, we will give you $30,000, the guy wants to spend the week with you, come up to North Carolina. They sent us pictures of this check that was waiting for me if I went and so we ended up following the bait and went up to North Carolina and you will see in the documentary what ends up happening but a lot, just from one ad, countless phone calls, and a proposal to be trafficked two states away.
WHITFIELD: So clearly this has to be very frustrating for law enforcement, too, because now we're talking about a public domain, you know, on the internet, where people are meeting or they're making a first connection. It's difficult for police to follow or nab or follow up even, isn't it?
LYON: Yes, before police used to be able to tell if a girl was under aged because she was standing on a street corner, they could tell, OK that girl looks like she might be 13. Well, now these girl are being kept in crappy motel rooms on the side of highways while the pimps sell them out of the comfort of their living room.
So both are sheltered from the eyes of the law and we've heard that from countless police officers across the country that it's just really hard for them to find these pimps and the girls and it has become so much easier for the pimps, that Fred, we're seeing more and more women get involved in the business. We found a 27-year-old mother of a three-year-old who was -
WHITFIELD: Wait, hang on.
LYON: Women pimping?
WHITFIELD: OK.
LYON: Not your typical pimps, they're internet savvy, and they're selling this girl out of a hotel room, this 27-year-old mother.
WHITFIELD: OK. We're going to watch the rest of it tonight at 8:00 and this is about the under aged sex trade that continues to grow.
Amber Lyon, thanks so much. And again, 11:00.
LYON: Yes, 11:00, for football fans out there, 8:00 and 11:00, "Selling the Girl Next Door." Thanks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Amber. Appreciate that.
All right. Meantime, a four-year-old Giuliani Cardenas well, he is still missing much. The California boy was last seen on Tuesday. His grandmother says he was snatched from her arms by his mother's ex- boyfriend. No sign of either since.
And maybe Wednesday, maybe not, it's still unclear just when the newly elected parliament of Afghanistan will get down to business. The president and many lawmakers are locked in a disagreement about when and whether - if the new Parliament members will be inaugurated. Allegations of election fraud last year have not been resolved.
And five missing American boaters are now safe and sound. Their sailboat, "The Pineapple" was found in Philippine Waters, the boat set out from Guam, two and a half weeks ago but it ran into bad weather. Officials say it lacked long-distance emergency distress signaling equipment. Its rudder and radio were damaged as well.
All right. Making a point about high tuition in a very graphic way and did you know that Washington, D.C. has been named the fifth rudest city in America? Wondering what's the absolute top rudest city is? We will explain in the "Chat Room."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. I would say it is time for the "Chat Room," kind of things that we think should be on radar, but kind of aren't but we're going to put it on radar. How about that?
JERAS: And have a little fun.
WHITFIELD: And have a little fun as well while at it as well. This is for the dog lovers out there.
JERAS: It is.
WHITFIELD: At first, it is kind of like screech.
JERAS: And scary.
WHITFIELD: Yes. A four-pound Chihuahua got swooped up by an owl while out on a walk. The dog's name is Lucky, by the way, but very unlucky on this evening of a walk. But in the end, becomes lucky.
JERAS: It does. So it is night time, the dog goes for a walk with his owner, per usual there you see and an owl, a great-horned owl swoops in and grabs the dog and kind of got caught on the leash and the owner was able to scare it off. And that is the coat. That is why it is OK to dress your coat.
WHITFIELD: I'm all for it, it's just a small little pooch.
JERAS: My husband says no sweaters on our dog, honey. This is why we need to wear -
WHITFIELD: Because those talons didn't puncture.
JERAS: That's right. It did puncture and it did have a little injury.
WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) the animal.
JERAS: But what would have been much worse if it wasn't wearing that coat. So there you go.
WHITFIELD: Lucky in the end was very lucky.
JERAS: Has very lucky.
WHITFIELD: A very lucky little pooch. And now, maybe this college or university was not so lucky when this sophomore walked up and said, "yeah, I'm ready to pay tuition, but I hope you don't mind small change." JERAS: Leave it to a economics major to come one with something creative like this.
WHITFIELD: To the make a point, right?
JERAS: Yes basically, this guy, his name is Nick Ramos, wanted to bring some attention to the rising costs of college tuition and it is a lot, he paid it, more than $14,000 in $1 bills.
WHITFIELD: That's unbelievable.
JERAS: How about that?
WHITFIELD: First of all, how risky it was walking around town or on campus-
JERAS: With that much money.
WHITFIELD: A duffel bag with that kind of money.
JERAS: Well, he said he had to go to several different banks.
WHITFIELD: I'm sure because nobody (INAUDIBLE)
JERAS: Nobody wants to give you all that in single - in singles.
WHITFIELD: So I wonder what his point was?
JERAS: I just think his point was it costs too much to go to college and -
WHITFIELD: And you really don't see the figures until you see the singles.
JERAS: Yes, when you see $14,000 in singles, I would think you are like, wow, look at all this money, this is crazy. This is heavy, you know.
WHITFIELD: They said we will go ahead and collect that $14,000. Thank you very much.
JERAS: I'm sure they were happy.
WHITFIELD: Lowering your tuition -
JERAS: He used a 50-cent piece and a penny too. OK. Got to get the change in there.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well, sometimes you travel and you get to a city and you say "I love this place, I could live here, because people are so nice" and then sometimes, it's a complete -
JERAS: Not so much.
WHITFIELD: No, people are rude here. So we got a list. Maybe the top five of the rudest cities in America. Any surprises on here for you?
JERAS: Not really. "Travel and Leisure" interviewed people. So basically this was, you know, the general public who was deciding who was rude and not based on their experiences. And you know, just their travel. So I was a little surprised at number one. But we'll start here at -
WHITFIELD: I'm surprised at Dallas. I used to live in Dallas.
JERAS: Yes, friendly folks?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
JERAS: OK. Orlando, nine, Las Vegas, Baltimore, Boston, Massachusetts.
WHITFIELD: I like Boston.
JERAS: There is your top five D.C.
WHITFIELD: You see that at all, of course.
JERAS: Miami.
WHITFIELD: Why it would be rude.
JERAS: Friendly in Miami?
WHITFIELD: I lived in Miami. I can see that. Sorry.
JERAS: But here is the shocker. Number two is New York. And number one is L.A. That's what people are buzzing around. Usually the other way around that people tend to see it. Basically --
WHITFIELD: I do not find New Yorkers to be rude. I like frank, to the point and I think that is honest.
JERAS: I like frank and to the point, too. Basically they said that the most congested cities are the --
WHITFIELD: Traffic. Rudest. Gets people tense.
JERAS: There is too many people around, can make you crazy.
WHITFIELD: All right. Fun. We will be he polite the rest of the hour. No rudeness here. We will see you again in a bit though. Whatever. All right, thanks very much, Jacqui.
President Barack Obama dropping some hints on what to expect in his State of the Union Address this week. We will reveal some of those hints, after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address Tuesday night but he has already made it crystal clear what his focus will be. Here now is CNN's Kate Bolduan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That is why jobs must be our number one focus in 2010.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Similar to his first State of the Union Address with unemployment still hovering over 9 percent, President Obama in his second address will focus largely on jobs. He offered a preview of the speech in a videotaped message to supporters.
OBAMA: My number one focus is going to be making sure that we are competitive, that we are growing and we are creating jobs, not just now, but well into the future.
BOLDUAN: The president's push for jobs will be joined by another reoccurring White House theme, American innovation and competitiveness.
OBAMA: We are going to have to out innovate, we are going to have to out build, we are going to have to out compete, and we are going to have to out educate other countries. That is our challenge.
BOLDUAN: To do that Mr. Obama will likely say, requires a combination of tackling the federal deficit along with new investments in targeted areas as he suggested last week in upstate New York.
OBAMA: That means spurring innovation in growing industries like clean energy manufacturing, the kind of stuff that is being done right here at this plant, ensuring our economy isn't held back by crumbling roads and broken down infrastructure. It means educating and training our people.
BOLDUAN: But more government spending will be a tough sell as the president is facing a very different political landscape this time around. Republicans are now in control of the house and have a stronger minority in the Senate.
REP. ERIC CANTOR, HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Washington investment means more spending and right now, more spending is anathema to where most American people are right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Kate Bolduan joining us live now from the White House. So what else can we expect the president to hit on during this address?
BOLDUAN: Fredricka, we expect the president to build a bit off his message from that Tucson -- that memorial service following the Tucson shooting, talking about the need for unity, civility and finding common ground to tackle the country's problems. For the Republicans' part, Republicans have tapped the chair of the House Budget Committee, Congressman Paul Ryan to deliver the party's official response to the president's address. And that choice in and of itself is a very clear signal of where Republicans' priorities are in the coming year. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Kate Bolduan at the White House, appreciate it.
All right. Time for a CNN equals politics update now; we are keeping an eye on all the latest headlines on the CNNpolitics.com desk. Here is what is crossing right now.
Even though the Senate is not expected to vote on repealing the health care reform law it may make some changes. Democrats and Republicans appearing on this morning's Sunday talk shows predicted that the Senate will tinker with the law, most likely with amendments to other bills. Majority Leader Harry Reid still insists there will be no Senate vote on full repeal.
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is sounding more and more like a presidential candidate. After visiting the politically key state of Iowa, the Minnesota Republican and Tea Party favorite says she is encouraged by the support that she has found. In a GOP presidential straw poll this weekend in New Hampshire, Bachmann came in fifth place. Mitt Romney actually came in first place.
And former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani says he is more likely to seek the Republican nomination for president if former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is also in the race. In an interview on CNN's "Pierce Morgan Tonight" Giuliani said he could run as a moderate alternative to Palin. You can catch the whole interview tomorrow night, 9 p.m. Eastern.
WHITFIELD: All right. He started out with suspicions and he ended up wearing a wire. Meet a whistle-blower who helped bring down a multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Checking our top stories right now, a woman suspected of stealing a baby 23 years ago is in custody in Connecticut. Police say Ann Petway turned herself in after being spotted in Bridge Port. She was wanted for allegedly violating her probation on attempted embezzlement charges in North Carolina. Petway is also suspected of snatching Carletta White from a hospital back in 1987 and raising the child as her own.
Angry crowds in Algeria clashing with police. They are demanding changes in the government, more individual freedoms and they are breaking a law that officially prohibits protests in the city of Algiers. Tensions have been rising in Algeria since similar public protests ousted the president of neighboring Tunisia.
And the recent flooding in Australia may prove to be one of the most costly disasters in the nation's history. More than 3 million people have been affected. The Federal Treasurer says the floods have devastated crops and tourism and that coal exports are likely to be one of the biggest casualties.
Bernard Madoff ran the most infamous Ponzi scheme in recent history but he isn't alone. New scams surface every year and investors can lose millions before the truth comes out. CNN's Poppy Harlow reports on a Minnesota Ponzi scheme and the whistle-blower who helped expose it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TY SCHLOBOHM, WHISTLEBLOWER: The one instruction the FBI says is you can't break the law.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM. CORRESPONDENT: In 2009, Ty Schlobohm stumbled upon one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in Minnesota's history.
SCHLOBOHM: By luck or by circumstance was inserted into this scheme.
HARLOW: Then money manager, now convicted felon, Trevor Cook told investors he was running a risk-free foreign currency trading program.
TREVOR COOK, MONEY MANAGER: There's no risk, OK. They are risk less transactions.
HARLOW: In fact though, more than 900 investors lost nearly $160 million.
MARY DINGMAN, INVESTOR, INVESTED FOR COOK: Everything is gone. I have lost everything.
HARLOW: The government accused Cook of running a Ponzi scheme out of this Minneapolis mansion. Nearly six months after we first reported this story, Schlobohm surfaced as a focal point of just how this Ponzi scheme came crashing down.
SCHLOBOHM: I was brought over to the mansion, introduced to Trevor, had a very introductory meeting of strategy.
HARLOW: Take me into the meeting.
SCHLOBOHM: I'm largely unimpressed by the lack of infrastructure, the basement of this mansion was almost out of a set of "The Boiler Room" but I spent an hour with him, heard the strategy, it sounded like pure alchemy.
COOK: Our technology can move billions and billions of dollars and within a milliseconds last year.
SCHLOBOHM: I was walking down the steps of the Van Dusen, the first floor, there had to be 20 to 25 potential investors which were all gray-haired, 60 to 80-year-old women, married couples and such.
HARLOW: That is when your conscience kicked in?
SCHLOBOHM: My conscience said you have to do something about it. I was walking away from a mugging.
HARLOW: Schlobohm said he quickly called the FBI and financial regulators leaving voice mails for all. SCHLOBOHM: I'm in Minneapolis, I'm pretty sure I just stumbled over a Ponzi scheme, I have a great deal of material that I can e-mail you, notes, things of that nature, call me back, here is my number.
HARLOW: A moment later, Schlobohm said the FBI called him in for a meeting, asking him to wear a wire. He agreed.
SCHLOBOHM: I would be sent there to record presentations, I was trying to engender the team that I was a scumbag, a criminal.
HARLOW: You tried to get in with Cook?
SCHLOBOHM: I tried get in.
HARLOW: Three months passed which Schlobohm feeding information to the feds. The FBI would not comment but the U.S. Attorney's Office confirmed Schlobohm did assist in the investigation.
SCHLOBOHM: But I became furthermore frustrated with the prime line. I didn't know where my boundaries were in terms of saying let's go, guys, let's go.
HARLOW: Did you ever say that to the FBI, you got to stop it now?
SCHLOBOHM: Yes. I said what's -- what do we need? We need the smoking gun? Do you need more material? Why and where and when the S.E.C. needs to come in?
HARLOW: The S.E.C. did later file a civil suit against Cook and Schlobohm admits the government can't do it all.
SCHLOBOHM: I think the onus lies on the private sector to be proactive in regulating their industry. The regulators shouldn't always be the fall guy, I think they are failing us in what we are asking them but what we are asking them is unfair.
HARLOW: Unfair?
SCHLOBOHM: Unfair to interpret and anticipate crimes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The S.E.C. says it has no record of any contact from Schlobohm prior to its investigation. As for Cook in August, he struck a plea deal, admitting to one count of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. You can see this full story on CNNMoney.com.
A fun-loving couple got married at the mall. Pretty different. Their unusual wedding video went viral, in fact. I will show you in a minute.
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WHITFIELD: "Viral Video" usually means cute, funny, weird or all of the above. Jacqui Jeras has been compiling a few things. JERAS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Going to laugh first, right?
JERAS: Are we going to laugh first?
WHITFIELD: Make you laugh or -- just sigh.
JERAS: No, heartwarming. It is all good.
WHITFIELD: OK.
JERAS: You have heard of the flash mobs, right?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
JERAS: People show up at a mall or a landmark or something like that and they all just --
WHITFIELD: Something in unison.
JERAS: Check out this, this was a flash mob; this was in a mall which was in Boston, right? So, it was just a couple of people and then all of a sudden, turns into this huge celebration, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
WHITFIELD: Cute.
JERAS: You will like it. Then all of a sudden, guess who shows up? Let's go to the next video. Here comes the bride and groom. Just like that, they roll out the runner, cue the flower girl with the flowers, there she is, right?
WHITFIELD: So sweet.
JERAS: The next thing know, the I dos.
WHITFIELD: Voila. Let's go to the next video.
JERAS: Made everybody smile.
WHITFIELD: She is crying.
JERAS: Isn't that fun? I want to be part of that family, right? How fun is that for a wedding.
WHITFIELD: That is a lot of fun.
JERAS: You don't have to dress up, and you don't have to show up in anything but your mall clothes.
WHITFIELD: Except for the bride and groom.
JERAS: Yes. You get to jam out.
WHITFIELD: I love it. JERAS: I love it, too.
This next one is kind of heartwarming too, actually a little girl singing the National Anthem, 8 years old, voice larger than life, really beautiful voice.
WHITFIELD: Really she does.
JERAS: And something happens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JERAS: Her name is Elizabeth Hughes. This was at Norfolk Admirals game; 5 million people had viewed this. Now guess what happens. All of a sudden, her mike fails. And she is a pro.
WHITFIELD: She keeps going.
JERAS: She keeps going. But then it gets better. So the crowd comes in and saves the day and everybody sings together and she look at her, she is still going, adorable.
WHITFIELD: Very good lesson to everybody and especially for kids. Stumble or something happens around you, keep going.
JERAS: Five million hits on YouTube, 5 million. This thing just got posted a couple weeks ago.
WHITFIELD: I'm sure there are a few scouts in there, too.
JERAS: Why not?
WHITFIELD: She can sing.
JERAS: Absolutely. Yeah. I would love to hear more from her.
WHITFIELD: OK. That's it?
JERAS: No we have got one more.
WHITFIELD: There's more.
JERAS: It gets better. OK. So, finding that prom date, always a challenge, right?
WHITFIELD: OK.
JERAS: If you're going go big, I guess tough go --
WHITFIELD: Gosh, I don't know what to anticipate. Like what? JERAS: High school student decides he is going to invite Taylor Swift.
WHITFIELD: Oh, yeah.
JERAS: To the prom. Take a look at his request.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dreaming big. I heard our song and it didn't take long for me to remember that prom was near. Said great, I don't have a date --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JERAS: Do you recognize that song, does it is sound familiar, if you are Taylor Swift fan it is one of her tunes, it was "Our Song," he changed it to "Our Prom." There it goes. "Our Prom." It started out as a joke he said and now it is apparently a big hit.
WHITFIELD: Nice to follow it.
JERAS: She has done it before, believe it or not. She went to the prom with a fan back in 2008. So you never know.
WHITFIELD: She will do it again. Two years ago. Maybe she got a hankering for another prom two years later.
JERAS: Good luck. If you could do a redo on your prom --
WHITFIELD: Or three years later I forgot we are in 2011. Yes. All right.
JERAS: Still January.
WHITFIELD: I know. Kind of like that check writing, right you are still putting '10s.
JERAS: Scribble it out, replace the little initials.
WHITFIELD: Thanks Jacqui, appreciate it.
All right. Making sure you get the most out of your money this year, we have advice from financial gurus Ken and Daria Dolan on how to make a financial restart in 2011.
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WHITFIELD: It is a new year but the same old problems in the financial markets aren't going away any time soon. So earlier, we asked our financial experts Ken and Daria Dolan to help us make a financial fresh start in 2011.
KEN DOLAN, PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: We are concerned about this year for a bunch of reasons. Number one, nobody seems to be worrying about it the market is going like let's rock. Number two food and energy prices are up. Food is up 9 percent year over year. Daria, you just filled up your car the other day.
DARIA DOLAN, PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: Fourteen cents difference in five weeks. That is 4.3 percent.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Yeah.
K. DOLAN: Also, high --
WHITFIELD: Little bang for your buck. Go ahead.
K. DOLAN: Yes, I was just going to say this high unemployment, which we will talk become Fred and also the weakening dollar and we have an $88 trillion unfunded liability in our entitlement programs which is a disaster. We are not ready to jump off the cliff or jump off the top of a building but investors, please be careful this year.
WHITFIELD: So one way some people feel like they can squeeze a little bit more out of their paycheck or their dollar is to maybe think about the assets that they have, like their real estate, their homes, they want to refinance because maybe they can shave off a couple bucks a month, a couple hundred bucks a month and that might help.
K. DOLAN: A month of payments.
WHITFIELD: But you say there really needs to be a formula when you think about that, you need to keep a few things in mind and what about people who have a lot of credit card debt who say maybe I should consolidate, might that save me money, too, so can you tackle those two things, refinancing, consolidating credit?
K. DOLAN: Yes. Two good ones.
D. DOLAN: Let me do the house first, because although it is the perfect time, I mean it is almost a little bit late, you could of gotten really good rates about three or four months ago, the rates we ever had, the rates will be going up because of this inflation, which the government continues to tell us doesn't exist. Go to the grocery store and come to the gas station with me and then we will talk about it.
K. DOLAN: Talk about inflation.
D. DOLAN: But here's the problem for people who want to refinance, not everybody can and it is not because of their financial situation, per se, except for one fact.
WHITFIELD: What?
D. DOLAN: Housing prices are still going down. A lot of people don't have enough equity in the house to permit them to get that refinancing.
WHITFIELD: So maybe you thought you had enough equity, you looked at the calendar, maybe you had enough equity two or three years ago. But because of the housing market as a whole -- K. DOLAN: Fred --Fred, maybe you still have it and if you still have enough equity in the home, the Dolan formula is very, very fine. Very, very simple. How much am I going to save per month if I refinance, I will pick number, $200, but it is going to cost me $2,000 to refinance, don't do it if you don't expect to be in the house at least ten months. Cost of refinancing into the savings and dividing -- and finding out exactly how long you are going to be there. If you are long-term and have some equity, consider refinancing now, interest rates are going up.
D. DOLAN: As for the credit cards, yes, yes, yes, if you can consolidate, if you can do it, find which card has the lowest interest rate and consolidate to that one as much as you can.
K. DOLAN: Right now.
WHITFIELD: And of course, you can watch the Dolan's most weekend's right here in THE NEWSROOM. We will try to answer your e-mails, your tweets, help you make good financial decisions.
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