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Another Controller Asleep on Duty; Deadly Storms Pummel South; No Signs of Missing Woman; Search for a Serial Killer; Trump Hits Campaign Hot Spots; Cubans Remember Bay of Pigs; Misrata, Libya Under Siege; The Plot to Kill Anwar Sadat; Learn to Read at Any Age; Lebron's Mom Sued Over Slap; Detroit Teacher Layoffs; Teachers Speak Out; Cuba's Communists Convene; The Day Sports Changed Forever
Aired April 16, 2011 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon. I'm Deborah Feyerick. Thanks for joining us. I'm in for Fredricka Whitfield. You're here with us in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Let's get you caught up on our top stories. The FAA has another one, an air traffic controller suspended from the job today after being caught asleep in the control tower. CNN's Jeanne Meserve updated us just a few minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): This latest incident happened in Miami at the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center or Tracon. It was one controller there who is now suspended after falling asleep on the midnight shift.
He was reported by another controller. According to the FAA, the preliminary review of the air traffic tapes indicates that the controller did not miss any calls from aircraft and there was no operational impact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Now FAA officials promise to rework air traffic controllers schedules and identify conditions that contribute to these sleeping incidents.
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FEYERICK (voice-over): Deadly storms have pounded the south for two days and two nights spawning at least 100 possible tornadoes, killing 17 people. One of those tornadoes hit Tushka, Oklahoma, where two people died. The damage, as you see, extensive. Listen to this report from CNN affiliate KOCO about a family who narrowly escaped with their lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Derrick Baxter had just gotten his family to safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's when it all happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fierce EF-3 twister pounded his house, taking the entire thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was devastation. There was nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tornado left just cinder blocks on the dirt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My house was there, and all of my belongings are over here.
FEYERICK: And look at this from Jackson, Clinton, Mississippi area. State officials say a tornado damaged several homes and businesses and narrowly missed an elementary school and daycare center packed with 650 kids. The city's mayor says no one was injured.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Let's bring in Jacqui Jeras in the weather center. Jacqui, this is not over yet.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No. We're real concerned about what's going on and developing at this hour in the Carolinas, parts of Virginia as well as the mid Atlantic states. Take a look at the latest areas that we're worried about where conditions are favourable.
At the tornado watch box, these two red boxes you see here, the one to the south is what we call a PDS watch or a Particularly Dangerous Situation, meaning we could have strong violent tornadoes that are on the ground and last for a long period of time.
We've got a number of warnings, which are in effect right near the North Carolina-Virginia state line. This is southwest and northwest of Raleigh-Durham. And in between we've got severe thunderstorm warnings so damaging winds and large hail. We'll have to watch at these storms continue to intensify at this hour.
You can see the lightning strikes associated with them as well. You definitely need to stay indoors, even if there's not a warning at this time for Raleigh-Durham. Now we've also got a warning down here in South Carolina, Darlington, Dillon and Marlboro counties.
You can see a nice a little hook there associated with the radar, which is indicative of some strong rotation. We've got thunderstorms which are developing just west of the Washington, D.C. area. So watch for this area to become riddled with strong to severe thunderstorms in the upcoming hour.
This is what we call a high-risk day. It's a small area of the country right here, but this is extremely dangerous. There's about a one in three chance, Deborah, of a tornado coming within 25 miles of any given point in the bright pink area.
FEYERICK: Is this just the start of the season?
JERAS: Yes, just the start of the season. We're well above average in terms of numbers that we're seeing so far this year. May is the busiest tornado month on average.
FEYERICK: More to come. All right, Jacqui, thank you so much.
Well, searchers are back out today looking for a missing Tennessee nursing student.
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FEYERICK (voice-over): The 20-year-old Holly Bobo was reportedly snatched from her carport and taken into the woods early Wednesday morning by a man dressed in camouflage. Police have not named a suspect. The TBI is expected to hold a news conference in the next two hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: And turning to New York, police are using airplanes and helicopters with sophisticated imaging equipment to look for human remains on Long Island.
They found eight bodies so far believed to be the work of a suspected serial killer. CNN's Susan Candiotti joins us from Oak Beach. Now, Susan, no helicopters in the air today. They're taking a little bit of break. What's the latest that they found?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest that they've found or a number of clues, they found in the last two weeks another set of remains that they're still waiting to try to identify.
But the reason they're taking a break, look at these terrible conditions out here. It's dark. It's rainy. It's blustery. They have to sift through all these twisted and prickly brush to try to look for clues, but they better do it now before they all come into full bloom.
They are taking a short break this weekend, as you said. One other thing that we're talking about is that we have learned that the suspected killer had the gal to use of one his alleged victim's own cellphone to make taunting phone calls to the victim's little sister, a teenager who lives in Buffalo, New York.
This was done after she disappeared between July and August of 2009. He even used graphic detail to talk about what he did sexually to the victim. And in that final call that he made, according to the victim's mother, he even confessed. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNN BARTHELEMY, MURDER VICTIM'S MOTHER: He was basically torturing her. She kept asking where her sister was, and he just wouldn't tell her. She would ask, you know, if she was alive. He wouldn't answer. We always had hope until that last call when he told Amanda that he killed her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: In that final call, this is precisely what he said, quote, "you think you'll see her again? You won't. I killed her."
Now the family's attorney says the police tried to triangulate these phone calls, tried to track them down. But the suspected killer has managed to stay one step ahead of police and they couldn't find him. Here is what he said?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE COHEN, BARTHELEMY'S ATTORNEY: So the caller seemed to have an understanding of how long it took to triangulate. The caller made sure he called from very busy areas, Madison Square Garden, Times Square, the Port Authority, so that the cameras and the webcams that are out there would look down into a crowded field. And at any given time there were at least dozens of people who were talking on the cell phone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now, the victim in this case we're talking about is Melissa Barthelemy from Long Island area. Her family is back in New York.
They said that she would have turned 26 -- Buffalo, New York -- they say she would have turned 26 years old this week. They even baked her a birthday cake to honor her memory. Deborah --
FEYERICK: Susan Candiotti, thank you so much. She disappeared two years ago. The latest victim I suppose went missing in May. Thank you so much. We'll check back with you a little later on the latest. Thanks so much.
Well, you don't want to miss a CNN special on the suspected Long Island serial killer. It includes a closer look at the timeline of the deaths and what leads the police are following. It airs tonight, 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
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FEYERICK (voice-over): On the political front, look who spoke a few minutes ago at a Tea Party rally in South Florida, Donald Trump, the maybe but not-yet presidential candidate. He's scheduled to hit all the campaign hot spots in the coming weeks, Florida, Iowa and New Hampshire. Today, Trump says he's not the only one who thinks he's qualified to lead the country.
DONALD TRUMP, CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT, THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION: "Business Week" magazine said in a vote of its leaders that Donald Trump was the world's most competitive business person with Bill Bates being number two and Warren Buffett being number three.
Steve Forbes stated that I was one of the greatest entrepreneurs in the history of free trade, something which this country is not doing very well in.
(END VIDEO CLIP) FEYERICK: Well, he may be either running for president or drumming up business. Tomorrow morning tune in to "STATE OF THE UNION." Candy Crowley talks to Donald Trump.
And actor Nicholas Cage, well, he has been arrested in New Orleans. Police documents list the charges as domestic abuse, battery and disturbing the peace. That's his photo there.
Well, he plotted to assassinate Egypt's Anwar Sadat, nearly 30 years later he's out of prison. You wouldn't believe what he wants to do next. His one-on-one interview with CNN coming up just ahead. Stay with us.
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FEYERICK: Some international headlines. A national celebration taking place in Cuba today.
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FEYERICK: An enormous military parade filed past a saluting President Raul Castro this morning. Cubans are marking the 50th anniversary of the failed CIA-led invasion of the Bay of Pigs. Also this weekend, the first communist party congress since 1997 convenes in Havana.
This is Misrata, Libya, where troops loyal to Moammar Gadhafi are reportedly laying siege with rockets and so-called cluster bombs that's according to an opposition official who showed CNN what he says are remnants of the rockets and explosives.
In Egypt, a dispute over the whereabouts of Hosni Mubarak. An Egyptian military spokesman says the ousted former president was moved from a hospital in Sharm El Sheikh to a military hospital in Cairo.
Hospital and police officials say he's still in Sharm El Sheikh Hospital. Mubarak is under investigation for corruption and the death of protesters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Mubarak came to power after Egypt's long-time president Anwar Sadat was assassinated. One of the men convicted of plotting the assassination is talking. He sat down with our Ivan Watson for his first American television interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): October 6, 1981. This was supposed to be a celebration instead moments after triumphant jets roared overhead, assassins struck. Four Egyptian soldiers turned their guns on the main pavilion, targeting the president of Egypt, Anwar Sadat.
They unloaded their weapons into the president and the dignitaries seated around him killing the man who led Egypt to war against Israel in 1973 and who six years later signed a peace treaty with Israel that won him the Nobel Peace Prize.
ABOUD EL ZOMOR, HELPED PLOT SADAT'S ASSASSINATION (through translation): The idea was just change, to provide an alternative leader that could save Egypt from the political dead-end we were living in.
WATSON: Aboud El Zomor was one of the men convicted of plotting Sadat's assassination. This former Egyptian intelligence officer said he wanted to start an Islamic revolution. In his first sit-down interview with a western TV news crew, Zomor reluctantly described his role in the assassination.
ZOMOR (through translation): Our role was a facilitator, not a decision maker. All we did was provide the ammunition.
WATSON: Egyptian authorities released Zomor last month after he spent nearly 30 years in prison. A crowd of supporters gave him a hero's welcome.
TALAT SADAT, NEPHEW OF ANWAR SADAT: He thinks that he's hero. Hero for what? For what? For kill Sadat? This is not a hero. Not a hero.
WATSON: Talat Sadat is a nephew of the murdered president. He went to prison in 2006 for announcing his conspiracy theories about the assassination on Egyptian TV.
(on camera): You accused Hosni Mubarak of killing your uncle.
SADAT: Yes, yes, was the minister of defense.
WATSON: You believe that?
SADAT: Yes, of course.
WATSON: What happened after you said this on television?
SADAT: Next day, go to the military court.
WATSON (voice-over): Mubarak was Sadat's vice president. The assassination propelled him into the president's chair for the next 30 years until he was toppled by popular protests.
Last month, Sadat's daughter filed a case in court accusing Mubarak of complicity in the plot to kill his predecessor. Hatred of Mubarak, one thing Sadat's relatives and his killer seem to agree on.
SADAT (through translation): Turned out Sadat was more merciful than Hosni Mubarak. The Sadat era was better than the Mubarak era, which was more oppressive.
WATSON: The closest Zomor comes to apologizing for the assassination. But he says he renounced violent Jihad and now wants to form a political party to compete in future Egyptian parliamentary elections. He'll have a hard time winning votes from Egyptians who still come to pay tribute at the grave of the assassinated president. MUSTAFA SHAWKI, EGYPTIAN CITIZEN: He killed one of the best presidents in the Arab world, and in my opinion he was the best one, not one of the best.
WATSON (on camera): The pavilion where Anwar Sadat was murdered nearly 30 years ago still stands in Cairo today, across a busy highway from Egypt's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier where Sadat was buried. The inscription on his grave calls him a hero of war and peace, a martyr who died for his principles. Ivan Watson, CNN, Cairo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Well, Lebron James' mother allegedly slapped a Miami parking valet. Now he's suing for $15,000 in damages. Our legal guys just two minutes away with all on that.
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FEYERICK: Right now, some 30 million adults in the U.S. cannot read well enough to get through the newspaper or fill out a job application. One man is on a mission to change that. He didn't learn to read until he was 35 and he had an unlikely tutor, his son. CNN's education contributor Steve Perry sat down with him.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: David's mom always said, no, David!
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): John Zickefoose is known as Mr. Z. His mission is to get kids excited about reading.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm having probably more fun than all of you. There's a special reason for that. Mr. Z didn't learn to read and write until I was 35 years old.
PERRY (on camera): How did you get out of high school not knowing how to read?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Obviously that still hurts. I will say I was a master at deception.
PERRY (voice-over): As a young boy Zickefoose was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD.
JOHN ZICKEFOOSE, LEARNED TO READ AT 35: I'm not trying to jab at the education system. Today, we are so much better equipped at dealing with the learning disabilities.
PERRY: He managed to keep his illiteracy a secret from everyone.
ZICKEFOOSE: Including my wife. She didn't have an idea until our son busted me. Sitting with both my boys, Shawn and Adam, reading simple children's books, my son, Shawn, would actually fix the words that I got wrong. And say, no, dad, that's not what it says.
PERRY: Then Zickefoose had back surgery, which made returning to his restoration job impossible.
ZICKEFOOSE: At that same time my wife saw an article for the literacy program here at the library and called them. They said come in. It wasn't easy.
PERRY: Not only did Zickefoose learn to read and write. He's now the outreach coordinator for the library.
ZICKEFOOSE: I know in my heart of hearts that when I do that and share my story there's a child out there who is going through the exact same thing that I went through that says, wow. If Mr. Z can do it, maybe I shouldn't give up on myself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Just ahead, more on education, the documentary "Race to Nowhere" has teachers speaking out about the stress of tests, students and parents that's ahead in 10 minutes.
We're now going to go to Jacqui Jeras. More tornado warnings. Jacqui, what's going on?
JERAS: Yes, this is one for the Raleigh area right now. Doppler radar indicating amazing rotation right in this area right here just northeast of Sanford. The storm is moving towards the Raleigh-Durham area.
At the minimum, you're going to get winds in excess of 60 miles per hour and some large hail maybe the size of quarters. You need to be seeking shelter immediately, getting to your basement or the lowest level of your home away from doors and windows.
Once again, a tornado warning in effect. That includes you in Raleigh. If we get any confirmed tornadoes on the ground or any damage reports, we'll bring that along to you. Of course, a very particularly dangerous situation unfolding in the eastern Carolinas at this hour.
FEYERICK: OK, Jacqui, thanks for staying on top of that for us.
Well, a slap, then a lawsuit and right in the middle the mother of Lebron James. This one got our legal guys talking.
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AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: You couldn't hire screen writers to come up with this one, Deb. The guy's name is Rockfeller not Rockefeller, Rockfeller Sorrell. Rockfeller became a slapped feller. He claims the slap was so traumatic that he's lost the quality of life and future value of life.
It's a jackpot justice case because it's Lebron James' mother. By the way, if they wouldn't have left Cleveland, they wouldn't have gotten in this trouble. In any event, the case is going to be settled. She's going to be convicted of some minor misdemeanours. The case is going to go away. FEYERICK: Richard, for Rockfeller to prove that actually he suffered this kind of humiliation, he's unable to work -- the other side of the story, she slapped him. The mom slapped him after he came after her. She also had words with police. There is some video. Could she argue that maybe he was just getting to rough with her?
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, he wasn't getting rough with her. She was plastered, Deb, and she was a little upset at 5:00 in morning that he was late with her car. Who knows how late he was.
Listen, there's one thing for liability. There's another thing for damages. If he wants to prove all this emotional distress, he's going to have to go to a shrink three times a week three times a week for two years, unable to prove damages. Do you think Rocky would really be suing her if she wasn't Lebron's mommy? I don't think so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Well, you can catch our legal guys here every weekend at noon eastern.
Every teacher in Detroit school system, well, they're about to get laid off. We'll have that coming up.
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FEYERICK: We're going to be checking our top stories, but first we want to go to the weather center. Jacqui Jeras getting warnings of the tornadoes touching down. Jacqui, what do you have?
JERAS: Yes, we have a confirmed tornado on the ground right now. This is just near the town of Sanford, the one I was telling you about with this warning, numerous homes have been damaged here, one possibly flattened and lots of trees down as well.
This is being confirmed by the fire department there. Watching this through the National Weather Service as the situation unfolds. So confirmed tornado. This is a storm heading towards Raleigh as we speak. This could be hitting Holly Springs, New Hill, Apex, Carrie, Lakewheeler, Garner and Raleigh itself.
You need to be seeking shelter right now. This is confirmed tornado on the ground near the Sanford area moving northeast. This is the hook, the area we're talking about for the tornado, very dangerous situation.
We're getting in touch right now with our affiliates out of Raleigh and we're trying to get a tower cam. So we'll continue to keep you up to date, but get to the lowest level of your home away from doors and windows and stay under cover until this storm passes.
FEYERICK: All right, Jacqui, thanks so much. We'll check in with you. Keeping an eye on that for us. Thanks so much.
Deadly storms have pounded the south for two days and two nights spawning at least 100 possible tornadoes, killing 17 people. Two people died in Tushka, Oklahoma. Two people died there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: The damage, as you can see, extensive. Listen to this report from CNN affiliate KOCO about a family who narrowly escaped with their lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Derrick Baxter had just gotten his family to safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's when it all happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fierce EF-3 twister pounded his house, taking the entire thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was devastation. There was nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tornado left just cinder blocks on the dirt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My house was there, and all of my belongings are over here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Another air traffic controller busted sleeping on the job. He's suspended today. This time it happened overnight in Miami. The FAA says the controller did not miss any calls, but all seven sleeping incidents that reported this year have occurred on late night or midnight shifts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): Nearly 6,000 teachers and administrators in Detroit are about to receive their pink slips. The district says it must determine staffing needs based on lower enrolment. The notices are required by the union's current contract with the district. Many of those laid off will be hired back, but some say it's just a bad idea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trying to correct the budget problems on the backs of the teachers, that's unfair because we do all the work.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Definitely uneasy. You know, job security is important and we have the teachers educating our students. It concerns me. You know, will their heart be it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Reading, writing and arithmetic, but my child's school is better than yours? Really? Is that what you want your child to learn in school? We're taking a look.
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FEYERICK: There's a huge debate in this country about what your children are learning in school and how they're being taught. The documentary "Race to Nowhere" has a lot of people sharing their opinions.
Our Julie Peterson focuses on teachers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF SMITH, SECOND GRADE TEACHER: Say the sound.
JULIE PETERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jeff Smith calls himself an educator, not simply a teacher. Smith works in this second grade classroom at a large public elementary school in Atlanta. He and a group of colleagues went to the movies together recently and not just any movie.
It's "Race to Nowhere," the documentary that says our nation's education system and too much pressure afterschool, at home, are making students stressed out, to the point of getting sick. The teachers joined over 1,000 people and experts to talk about what the film says is too much of everything -- homework, testing and scheduled activities. This screening and discussion were sponsored by Trinity, a private elementary school.
One of the education critics, Alfie Kohn, says it's largely due to a corporate-type accountability when it comes to test scores, grades and quantitative measurements.
ALFIE KOHN, AUTHOR, FEEL-BAD EDUCATION: It's not about the quality of learning, it's about winning. It's about this kid beating that kid, this school being better than the one down the street.
PETERSON: There's no one villain in the movie's claims. Producer, director and mother, Vickie Abeles, says there's lots of culprits, including parents, who share some of the blame.
VICKIE ABELES, PRODUCER, RACE TO NOWHERE: Why do you think we should put all the seeds in there?
PETERSON: A couple of our teachers say they do see this from time to time. They also agree with one prominent education professor about making sure homework is appropriate.
DR. PEARL KANE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Many, times it's parents who think school isn't serious unless there's a lot of homework attached to a class.
GRACE WHITE, SECOND GRADE TEACHER: Somebody who gives more homework is a harder teacher, or their grades have greater value. Teachers have been pushed to teach more and, therefore, somehow it's ended up in homework, too, because there's not enough time in the day to get it all done.
SUSAN HASSLER, FIRST GRADE TEACHER: I love a little homework, to have a chance for that communication between parent and child to reflect upon what happened during your day.
PETERSON: They agree that all too often, parents make the pressure worse, because they're way too involved in their kid's work. KIM ZEMMALI, FRENCH TEACHER: The parents mostly have good intentions with what they want. It's not like they're trying to take away. At the same time, they don't know when to stop either.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I won't send projects home now because I don't feel I can fairly evaluate a project.
PETERSON: "Race to Nowhere" focuses on older students. Even so, these veterans say that the message absolutely applies to the younger children they teach. And they advise parents to pay closer attention for signs that their kids might be stressed in an unhealthy way.
DR. MARCIA MAYO, SECOND GRADE TEACHER: Watch for the signs of being over burdened with too many things to do, watch for the signs of someone who can't keep running this race.
HASSLER;: Talk to your children early on, often, all the time. Get to know them.
PETERSON: They say keeping development healthy requires parents and educators working in tandem. And they also feel this film affirms how they try hard to balance how and what they teach.
SMITH: There's a difference between a teacher and an educator. And, you know, you can come in and be labeled a teacher, but to be an educator, like you said, you're not just teaching children, you're teaching parents, you're teaching the community, even they're teaching you.
PETERSON: It's a conversation that's brewing across the country, one auditorium at a time.
Julie Peterson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And joining us now is Vickie Abeles. She's the director/producer of "Race to Nowhere."
And, Vickie, my takeaway is that parents are micromanaging. Standardized testing is not teaching kids. It's just sort of corrupting the process. And students themselves are not focused on the learning so much as they are the getting through it, to get to college or get onto the next thing.
Is this going on all over the country?
ABELES: You know, the pressures that we're seeing are happening in all kinds of communities. We've screened the film now in urban settings, as well as suburban settings, and what we're hearing is the same across the board -- that in a system and ultimately in our culture dominated by high-stakes tests, competition and pressure to perform, we see unintended consequences -- ranging from teachers burning out to students burning out, to unhealthy outcomes. And, in the end, children who are arriving in college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired. FEYERICK: And that's a big part of all of this -- the part where students are uninspired. You would think that college might be the beginning, but you saw that by the time students get to college, they're so tired, they're so exhausted mentally, that they need a break. We're learning more about these break years now.
What effect are you seeing on that?
ABELES: That's right. Well, I think historically education used to be more of a natural progression. I think today in our outcome-based education system, there's so much pressure starting at a very young age as you just pointed out, even beginning in kindergarten and elementary school, to hit the standards and hit them now. We've got a one-size-fits-all approach to education. And we've taken the emphasis on learning out of the equation.
So, I think what's so great is to see communities coming together across the country, parents, educators and importantly the students, engaging in dialogue and trying to be part of the solution.
FEYERICK: All right. So maybe this sort of snap-out-of-it mentality, let's sort of learn for the right reasons. Did you the balance -- does the socioeconomic makeup of the school matter?
ABELES: Well, I think the pressures come from different places depending on the community that you're in. But whether you're talking about the high school exit exams or the A.P. exams, we see a great deal of pressure to perform and compete. And the same consequences, unhealthy children, children who are anxious, sleep deprived, depressed, some kids who are checking out or dropping out. And the same thing for the teachers, we see teachers burning out after three to five years.
And so, this film is a wake-up call and it's a call to action. And anybody can bring the film to their community and the dialogue, and I think that once we come together, we realize that we all want the same things for children. We may get there slightly differently, but it's very clear that parents, educators and students need to be the voice around transforming our education system.
FEYERICK: Yes. It's a package deal.
Well, Vickie Abeles, thank you so much. We really appreciate it. The movie is "Race to Nowhere." And again, you can watch that.
Thanks so much, important work. Really appreciate it.
ABELES: Thank you.
FEYERICK: Well, just look around your house. There's probably stacks of CDs and shelves of DVDs that you no longer use. Donate them to our CNN Hero.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kaylee Marie Radzyminski became a CNN hero in 2008 when she was a sophomore in high school. At the time, her organization Tunes for the Troops shipped more than 200,000 CDs and DVDs to U.S. military members overseas and it was Kaylee's way to say thank you.
KAYLEE MARIE RADZYMINSKI, TUNES FOR THE TROOPS: Tunes for the Troops has gone so far these past five years. There's absolutely nothing that I would change because it has made a difference in so many people's lives.
COOPER: Today, Kaylee's on a military ROTC scholarship at Tennessee Tech University, which has become the home to her new organization.
RADZYMINSKI: Tunes for the Troops is now part of the service learning center here at the university. There's basically a staff and student workers that volunteer for community service hours. This way, Tunes for Troops will be able to continue even once I graduate.
COOPER: This week, volunteers gathered to pack the latest shipment of CDs and DVDs, which included a special milestone, the group's one millionth disk.
RADZYMINSKI: One of the guitarists from Lynyrd Skynyrd showed up at our packing party to actually pack the one-millionth CD.
MARK MATEJKA, LYNYRD SKYNRYD: Number 1 million.
RADZYMINSKI: Once I graduate, I'll be able to know that Tunes for the Troops is in wonderful hands. And who knows, once I'm an officer in United States Army, I can potentially benefit from Tunes from the Troops, getting in CDs and DVDs. And that's -- I mean, pretty cool.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Well, making a difference. We always want to hear from you. Tell us about the heroes in your community. Send your nominations to CNN.com/heroes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Welcome back. We have breaking information for you on a tornado that's caused extensive damage now.
A tornado emergency has been issued for the city of Raleigh. Basically a tornado emergency is issued when we know there's a confirmed tornado on the ground causing destruction that's heading towards a populated area. We've already had reports of damage in Sanford, as well as in the Bethel Hill area. And this tornado now is just to the south of the Cary area.
This is the area of concern. This is where the tornado would be, right in here. This is moving to the north and the east around 50 miles per hour.
So, we've got maybe 10 minutes for the city of Raleigh. You need to be taking cover now. You see the storm is to your west. The skies are likely very black. In addition to this, you're probably going to get in a hail core. So, we could see some very large hail, quarter size, maybe even bigger. And that can very destructive.
And the winds are going to be very strong, 70 miles per hour or more.
Look at all the lightning. This thing is lit up. It's an extremely dangerous situation.
We have confirmed storm spotters as well as emergency law enforcement confirming that there's a tornado on the ground with the history of leveling homes. So, you need to be taking this very seriously, get to your basement, get to the lowest level of your home, away from doors and windows.
There are multiple warnings which are in effect across parts of North Carolina and into Virginia right now. This is a very dangerous line that is moving eastward. The watch is what we call a particularly dangerous situation, this is a high-risk day and we only get a handful of these types of a day per year.
As we get more information, we'll pass it along to you. In the meantime, a tornado emergency in effect for Raleigh -- Deb.
FEYERICK: Thanks, Jacqui.
Well, something starts today in Cuba that might trigger the biggest social and economic changes there since the Cuban revolution. I'm talking about a relatively rare occurrence, a congress of the communist party in Havana.
Ralitsa Vassileva is here from CNN International.
And, Ralitsa, what kind of -- we're talking major changes that could shift the entire country.
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNNI ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Well, they could and they could not.
We have an inkling of what this would be last fall when President Raul Castro said that this model, the Cuban model, doesn't work for us anymore. We have to change it. It's inevitable.
And what he said is he is going to cut 20 percent of the state workforce.
Now, bear in mind that 80 percent, 90 percent of the people work for the state in Cuba. Everything is dominated by the state. Twenty percent, 1 million people he's going to be cutting from the workforce. He was supposed to cut half a million by now, by the congress, this congress that's beginning which is going to vote on these changes -- but that has been delayed.
Now, where are these people going to go?
FEYERICK: Right. VASSILEVA: Where are they going to work? There are no other businesses but those for the state, where they work already.
So, what Raul Castro, the president, has come up with, he has started loosening restrictions on small private enterprises, hoping that the people who would lose their jobs in those lay-offs will be able to start private -- little private businesses or get hired by somebody starting a private business.
FEYERICK: So, he's really promoting sort of small business entrepreneurship which if you look a little closely, isn't that kind of capitalism?
VASSILEVA: Well, he says it is saving the socialist or communist system. It's gotten into some economic trouble. We will preserve it by reforming it.
We know that Gorbachev, the president -- the last president, Soviet president, tried to do this, but he didn't succeed without having the political liberalization.
China has succeeded without political reforms to open up the country to market reforms.
FEYERICK: What's fascinating to me, also, is that I read 170,000 people have actually applied for business licenses. So, could you see a groundswell of people, maybe that's where the political shift comes from, if they're able to have their own businesses?
VASSILEVA: Well, in fact, Shasta Darlington, our reporter, went to talk to some of these people who've taken out license. And it's fascinating what they have to say. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since November, more than 170,000 Cubans have bought licenses from the government to open up a business.
High-end restaurants El Carwaje have their eye on tourists.
Julia does a brisk business selling coffee and homemade eclairs at a stand in her driveway.
"It's a good place because we're across the street from the hospital," she says.
Clients say it's a new option and much more popular than the state-run restaurant down the street.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VASSILEVA: So, these are the lucky ones. Some people have failed. They haven't been able to pay their taxes. They are taxing these people with extremely high taxes.
The restrictions that they have to work with, they don't have enough bank credit or cash to do this.
FEYERICK: Right.
VASSILEVA: So, it's very interesting, because this system that they've been living in is a subsidized system which creates dependency on the state. All of the sudden, they are told, you have to be responsible for yourself, you have to work hard, take care of yourself. Huge change in thinking -- in the way of being.
FEYERICK: Complete shift. And, clearly, we would love to know what Fidel Castro is thinking. But he was not at the parade today. He is apparently going to take part in this communist congress that they're holding.
Ralitsa Vassileva, thank you so much.
And as always, you can watch Ralitsa when you travel, on CNN International.
Well, there is a growing trend among working women. More and more moms are getting out of the rate race. They're creating their own jobs, cottage industries that grow into profitable enterprises.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROD KURTZ, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, AOL SMALL BUSINESS: I think a lot of moms are saying, you know, "The heck with the rat race. I'm going to get out there, I'm going to start my own company." And they often target these niches that frankly corporate America is ignoring, and we see these businesses grow to be quite big.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: And next hour, we'll hear from some working moms who say they found the best of both worlds -- jobs that balance careers with their need to care for their families.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JERAS: Welcome back.
We want to bring you up to date on a tornado which is moving into the Raleigh-Durham area as we speak. This is a confirmed tornado. A tornado emergency has been declared.
This is the area that we're talking about for that tornado. A large tornado, four miles south-southwest of Raleigh has been reported. It has a history of producing damage.
Everybody in Raleigh, downtown area, especially the west and north sides of town as well, needs to be getting to the lowest level of your home or business, away from doors and windows. You need to be seeking shelter, underground is best -- if you can possibly do that.
This is a large tornado. It has flattened homes in the Sanford area. We have at least six homes destroyed now in the town of Bethel Hill. Emergency crews are saying they're in the state of crisis right now in Sanford, which is right down here with that tornado was before it moved into Raleigh-Durham.
We're working with our affiliates to try and get you more information on the location of the tornado and as it moves through. But a very dangerous situation and it's not just here in North Carolina. We got a line of severe storms, including tornadic storms, from South Carolina, stretching up into Virginia at this hour -- Deborah.
FEYERICK: All right. Scary situation for the folks on the ground.
JERAS: Yes, it really is.
FEYERICK: We'll look forward to some of the people who are there watching it out for us. Thank you so much, Jacqui.
JERAS: OK.
FEYERICK: Well, a famous moment in American history. CNN is where you'll see it for the first time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You have never heard the story?
KEN BURNS, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: I haven't.
HENRY: This is new?
BURNS: This is totally new to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Well, a quiet unknown story of faith played a role in the historic signing of Jackie Robinson to baseball. I'll bring it to you in two minutes on the other side of the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Well, 64 years ago this week, Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey stepped up to the plate. He broke baseball's color barrier by signing one of the greatest athletes in American history, Jackie Robinson. New details emerging about what preceded this historic moment in African history.
Ed Henry reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Branch Rickey's decision to hire Jackie Robinson as the first African- American baseball player opened doors that changed sport and politics forever. And the details are etched in the memory of Ken Burns, who did the definitive 18 1/2-hour PBS documentary on baseball. KEN BURNS, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: One of the finest moments in all of American history, not just sports history, but American history when, on April 15th, 1947, a black man wearing the number 42 trotted out to first base at Ebbets Field.
HENRY: But we've learned a detail about this historic decision that until now was not known by Jackie Robinson's widow, Branch Rickey's grandson or even Ken Burns.
(on camera): You have never heard the story?
BURNS: I haven't.
HENRY: This is new?
BURNS: This is totally new to me.
HENRY (voice-over): It turns out, just before signing the contract, Rickey secretly slipped into this Brooklyn church. The executive huddled with the pastor, Dr. Wendell Fifield, whose daughter-in-law is speaking with us about it for the first time.
DONNA SHOR, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OF REVEREND WENDELL FIFIELD: He started pacing and he wore a groove into the carpet, he went around and around the room for 45 minutes.
HENRY: Branch Rickey III, now a Minor League baseball executive in Texas says his grandfather was deeply religious and determined to end discrimination, but also fretted about taking on the institution of baseball.
BRANCH RICKEY III, PRESIDENT, PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE: Jackie became something that was not acceptable. I think my grandfather's reputation could have very quickly gone down the drain.
HENRY: That weighed on the Brooklyn Dodgers executive as he paced around this room for nearly an hour, finally shrieking, "I got it," and slumping down in a chair.
SHOR: Branch Rickey wiped tears from his eyes and said, "Wendell, this was the decision so complex, so far-reaching, fraught with so many pitfalls and -- but still filled with so much good if it was right. I had to work it out in this room and with you, and I had to ask God about it."
HENRY: To protect Rickey's privacy, the pastor told only his wife who wrote a five-page essay we found in an archive. The pastor's wife said she wrote the essay which appeared in the church bulletin with little notice it after Rickey's death in 1965 so that Robinson would know how much Rickey struggled with it.
But Robinson died young in 1972 and his widow, Rachel, told us the story never made it to his family until now, and she praised Rickey's courage.
RACHEL ROBINSON, WIDOW OF JACKIE ROBINSON: He needed all the strength he could summon up, you know, to be able to take the step.
HENRY: Burns is now planning to use the story in a film about Robinson's life slated to come out in 2015.
(on camera): I had a chance to privately tell President Obama that I was going to be interviewing Rachel Robinson. And he told me, "I want you to tell her something." The president said, "I think there's a direct line from what Jackie did to me being elected the first African-American president."
And I told Rachel Robinson that when I met with her in the offices of the Jackie (ph) Robinson Foundation. She just beamed and she said she loves hearing that the achievements and the ground-breaking moments of another period are now linked to another.
Ed Henry, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
