Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Tropical Storm Slams the Philippines; Senate OKs Spending Plan; Powerful Bloc Quits Parliament; Fortune Brainstorm; Hottest Video Games; Star Witness Testimony; Ron Paul Talks Fellow GOP Hopefuls; Romney Courts Tea Party in S.C.; Alive Thanks to A "Safe Room"; Big Shrimp Causing Big Problems; Band Death Ruled A Homicide
Aired December 17, 2011 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to the Newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Live pictures right now in Manhattan where Wall Street organizers of the Occupy Wall Street, they are reoccupying Wall Street. Today's demonstration marks three months since the movement began. The protesters were cleared out of this area of New York last month and are no longer allowed to sleep there. The church that owns the property says it supports the movement but warns a reoccupation could result in, quote, "legal and police action."
Some technical problems today as Army PFC Bradley Manning's pretrial hearing continued in a military courtroom at Fort Meade, Maryland. An army investigator's attempt to testify by phone from Hawaii was delayed. Manning supporters held a rally today outside Fort Meade's main gate. He is accused of providing classified government documents to WikiLeaks, which made them public.
Police on Long Island today confirmed that the human remains found last week are that of a woman missing more than a year now. The Suffolk County medical examiner positively identified the body as that of 24-year-old Shannan Gilbert. Her disappearance in May of 2010 triggered a search that eventually turned up four bodies along a remote stretch of Long Island Beach. The cause of death is still undetermined.
And authorities have identified the gunman in a shooting yesterday at a Southern California Edison Office. Forty-eight-year-old Andre Turner opened fire killing two of his co-workers and wounding two others. Turner then committed suicide. According to the "L.A. Times" he was shooting at specific people.
The Breast Cancer Awareness Bible also known as the Pink Bible is being pulled from stores. The publishing wing of the Southern Baptist Convention ordered the recall. The group says the bible helped raise money for a foundation that contributes to Planned Parenthood. Many conservative Christian groups oppose Planned Parenthood because of its rule as an abortion provider.
In the Philippines, a Tropical Storm Washi has left more than 400 people dead and more than 100,000 displaced. Hundreds more are still missing. There are reports that an entire village was swept away. Government officials say 20,000 people are staying in evacuation centers throughout the region. And my colleague Jonathan Mann with CNN International spoke with Richard Gordon of the Philippine Red Cross about the challenges the government faces in helping people.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD GORDON, PHILIPPINE RED CROSS (via telephone): This is one quick, deep fix that we never expected out of what is considered a storm that brought an awful lot of rain that brought a lot of landslides caused by high tides and swollen rivers. And all of the sudden you have a flash flood that suddenly kills people in most of the villages in the area. And that is why today we have 436 people dead and over 350 people missing.
And certainly, the misery and the vulnerabilities that have been generated by this cataclysmic, you know, storm has really created untold suffering.
JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL (on camera): How are authorities coping there now? Do they need outside help?
GORDON: Well, obviously they will try to put up a brave front and try to say, OK, we can handle this. But obviously, in a situation like this, we will have to reckon with the fact that we have to rebuild homes. We have to rebuild lives and provide livelihood and perhaps resettle many of these folks. I don't think the government has the political will - none of our governments have had the political will to address these problems.
MANN: Now, they're talking about 100,000 people being displaced by this storm. What's your first priority at the Red Cross? What's the most immediate need?
GORDON: Well, relief, food for those who are in the evacuation centers and for those who are trying to restore their homes. They would certainly be stressed by the fact they have not only lost their homes but their livelihood, in fact, all disasters and poverties all over again.
So at the moment, the Red Cross is preparing 10,000 food items for 10,000 families, 5,000 non-food items such as blankets, mosquito nets, hygiene kits, et cetera. And this is just a preliminary relief effort. We're providing hot food, or we're trying to do that.
And certainly, you know, people have to be buried, as well and that would have to be - that would have to be addressed as well. The Red Cross is also looking and tracing for people who are missing so that we can reunite families, restore family names.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And a last-minute cliffhanger in the U.S. Senate today with a deadline looming. Senators passed a massive spending plan and a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut. We have a live report from Capitol Hill in a moment.
But first, here's what Senator John McCain had to say about today's vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Here we are again. A bill 1,221 pages long. Not one member of this committee has read, of this body has read. One thousand two hundred and twenty-one pages representing $915 billion of the taxpayers' money, and here we are with not an amendment.
I can't - we do have minutes to debate. We have 15 minutes. Fifteen minutes to consider a document 1,221 pages long representing $915 billion of the taxpayers' money filled with unauthorized, unrequested money. $100 million for the next generation bomber, which the Air Force says they don't want them, they don't need. Some cockamamie outfit like the combat dragons which is - which will be crop dusters equipped with weapons. It's outrageous.
I have 100 - I have amendments to save the taxpayers billions of dollars as associated with this bill. But never mind because we're going to go home for Christmas. Well, all I can tell you, I'm going home to a state where they don't have enough in the food banks to take care of the homeless this year. I'm going home to a state where half of the homes are under water. And what have we done? We just wasted billions and billions and billions of the taxpayers' money on projects that are either unneeded, unwanted, unrequested, and this system is broken. This system is broken.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Some strong words from Senator John McCain there. The final vote on the spending bill with 67 for, 32 against.
Kate Bolduan reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In a rare Saturday session, the Senate wrapped up its business for the year with two big votes, a vote on a massive spending bill to fund the government through September.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The conference report to accompany HR 2055 is agreed to.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): And a vote to extend the payroll tax cut and extend unemployment assistance as well as other measures, but only for two months and that's because Congressional leaders could not reach agreement around -
(on camera): a more comprehensive deal to extend these measures that they wanted to accomplish and that they were negotiating to extend the measures for up to a year.
This short-term extension also includes the Keystone Pipeline Provision that Republicans had been insisting be part of any final deal, but then many Democrats and the president had stood opposed to. The House still needs to vote on this short-term tax cut extension. They could come back in as early as Monday. But with these final votes, senators head out of town to begin their holiday break only to return into the New Year to almost certainly pick back up with this battle over the payroll tax cut as soon as they get back in town.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And almost all American troops are now out of Iraq. And a powerful voice there says the country is being left in the hands of a dictator. Next.
But first, memorable images from the Iraq War. Shock and awe over Baghdad as the war begins in March 2003. Remember that? And Iraqi kids caught in the middle of the violence in their homeland there on the street as a car burns as you see there. And former dictator Saddam Hussein getting a medical exam after he was captured, he was later executed. And charred bodies of U.S. contractors hanging from a bridge over the Euphrates River in Fallujah.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Checking headlines overseas now.
A state of emergency declared in Kazakhstan. That's after violent clashes between striking oil workers and riot police left 10 people dead. The unrest reportedly broke out when police tried to clear protesters from a main town square.
And it's a big but symbolic milestone for Japan's nuclear reactors damaged by this year's earthquake and tsunami. The prime minister says the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant is no longer leaking substantial amounts of radiation. Still, experts say complete cleanup at the plant could take decades.
And one year ago today, the event that triggered the so-called Arab Spring, well it happened in Tunisia when a street vendor set himself on fire in an anti-government protest. Demonstrations have followed and spread throughout the Arab world.
And in Iraq, just a few days remain until the last American combat troops are scheduled to depart. The final action of the U.S. war there. That deadline is arriving at a time when the Iraqi government is in very real danger of falling apart.
CNN's Arwa Damon is in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The so-called National Unity Iraqi Government appears to be falling apart even before the last U.S. soldier has departed Iraqi soil.
The Iraqiya Bloc, the largest block in parliament headed by the former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced on Saturday that it would be suspending its membership from parliament because the bloc says the Iraqi Prime Minister Mouri al-Malaki has absolutely no intention of ever implementing the power-sharing agreement that was established between Iraqiya and al-Malaki State of Law Coalition.
Iraqiya lawmakers have been accusing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al- Malaki of consolidating power. He does still maintain full control over the security portfolio, which of course includes the ministries of defense and interior.
Now, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Suuni, who is also a member of Iraqiya, had some pretty harsh criticism during an interview with CNN that took place just a few days ago. He simply called al-Malaki a dictator and said that al-Malaki was playing both the U.S. and Iran. And that one day America would grow to realize this and regret its decision to back al-Maliki.
Meanwhile, there have been other concerning signs when it comes to the so-called democracy in Iraq, which is why so many Iraqis are concerned about their future. When we talk about freedom of speech, one of the main cornerstones of democracy, it would certainly seem as if this Iraqi government is either unwilling or unable to safeguard it.
A CNN cameraman on Friday was beaten up following an anti-government demonstration, ripped from his vehicle, taken down an alleyway by pistol-wielding pro-government thugs. The Iraqi Army that was present, all of this happening within their sights did not do anything to stop it.
And this is not an isolated incident. Human Rights Watch since the end of February has cataloged numerous violations by the Iraqi Security Forces against not only journalists but activists and bloggers as well. Many Iraqis of course are growing increasingly concerned that as the U.S. continues to leave, their country could descend into chaos.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And many service personnel are returning home with post- traumatic stress disorder. One female soldier explains how she gets through all of that. Her story is coming up in 30 minutes.
And the Internet and globalization figure in this week's Fortune brainstorm. Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi recently got a chance to speak with J.W. Marriott, Jr., the current chairman and CEO of Marriott International, and Arne Sorenson, the company's president. They talked about the new age of travel and how their company is responding.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Let's talk about you and hotels. You love the hospitality industry. What's different about it from - from when you worked in the company with your dad over those 40 years that you were CEO to today? What's the same and what's different?
J.W. MARRIOTT, JR., CHAIRMAN AND CEO, MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL: Well, what's the same is taking care of people. We take care of our associates so they'll take good care of the customers and the customers will come back. And we're providing a good room, a good bed, a nice check-in experience.
But, boy, it has sure gotten to be complex. The Internet has made it complex. The use of the computers has really changed the whole scene. The globalization of the industry has been huge and tremendous. And we're now in 72 countries and we had 10 new countries on the board the other day we were looking at hotels in. So it's really become a very big and complex and global company.
VELSHI: Arne, one of your big challenges is not just that globalization, which I know you and other hotel companies are really into, the expansion in places like China and areas of India.
One of the things that Marriott's been very involved in is making sure that America continues to be a great destination, particularly for these tourists coming out of other countries, business travelers out of China and elsewhere. You have been lobbying the government of the United States to say make it easier for people to visit the United States. Make it more welcoming.
ARNE SORENSON, PRESIDENT AND COO, MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL: That's absolutely right. We're at the cusp of a new golden age of travel. And it's really driven by the fact that we've got tens of millions of new travelers from places like China and India. They're estimating now that we'll have 100 million people every year leaving China to go somewhere else on travel. And the U.S. ought to get its fair share of that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. The job company Glassdoor has released their annual - their fourth annual employee's choice awards ranking the best companies to work for based on employee surveys.
Here are the top five ranked tech companies. Number five, Rackspace; number four, Apple; number three, Google. Stick around to hear the top two best tech companies to work for.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Before the break, we revealed some of the best tech companies to work for according to employee surveys. Moving on to number two, Mitre. And the number one best tech company to work for in 2011, Facebook.
So as the year ends, we're taking a look back on the hottest gadgets. Today, we're going to get our game on with some of the hottest video games of the year.
Joining us via Skype from Toronto, syndicated video game critic Mark Saltzman here to talk about the top picks of 2011. Are these your top picks or universally topped picked?
MARC SALTZMAN, SYNDICATED TECHNOLOGY WRITER: Yes. I don't think I'm alone. These are mine. I don't think I'm alone here. A lot of top video game publications are releasing their best of 2011s and I can see I'm in good company here.
Why don't we start, Fredricka, with my game of the year and that's called the "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim." This is an epic fantasy adventure. It's a role-playing game for those 17 and older, as you can see here in the corner here rated "M" for mature. There's some hack and slash game play there.
But using might and magic, you set out in this huge kingdom to fight foes and to interact with characters, take on missions and quests. You can battle ancient dragons with truly like a mere limitless customization for your character. And, of course, it's a role playing game or RPG so you're leveling up. You're always getting stronger. You're choosing where your strengths are. And, you know, it's like no two gamers are playing this the same way because there's so many places to go.
This is just an idea, by the way. This is a map you get in the game. You can see how big it is.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my. Oh, my.
SALTZMAN: Yes, enormous. It's for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and the PC.
WHITFIELD: So really -
SALTZMAN: (INAUDIBLE).
WHITFIELD: Yes, really placing you in fantasy land, though. OK. So now let's talk about some super hero games. What's been popular?
SALTZMAN: Yes. Well, without question "Batman Arkham City" is one of the best games of the year. This is the collector's item here, by the way, where you got the action figure in the box.
But this is the sequel to a two-year-old game, "Arkham Asylum." So you play as Batman, the Caped Crusader, as well as, with a code in the box, you can play as Catwoman as well. But from the moment that Bruce Wayne dons the mask on top of a snowy building, it's just the most engaging, cinematic game of the year.
It's so great. It's an open-ended game where you're, you know, taking on all kinds of missions. You've got some familiar faces like Joker and Two Face and Mr. Freeze and the Riddler. And it's just so well done. It's a combination of combat, puzzle solving, acrobatics, using gadgets. And then you unlock a detective mode where you use forensics to solve all the different puzzles and challenges in the game. Just a real fun, Immersive, super hero themed game - "Batman Arkham City" for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and the PC.
WHITFIELD: Wow. OK. And I guess you can add your own little, you know, Bam, Pow, Shazam sound effects.
SALTZMAN: That's right. With a little sound effect.
WHITFIELD: Yes. OK. And then there's been a lot of - a lot of buzz about the new "Uncharted" game. School me on that one because I'm unfamiliar.
SALTZMAN: Sure. We'll school you on this, Fred. All right.
WHITFIELD: School me.
SALTZMAN: This is the Playstation 3 exclusive. It's from Sony and it's the third game in the popular "Uncharted" series from Naughty Dog.
This is best described as, like, an Indiana Jones adventure. You are this fortune hunter named Nathan Drake. He's an ancestor of Sir Francis Drake. And he goes out across the world, globe trotting, looking for treasure. This time around, he's looking to discover the mythological city, the Atlantis of the Sands. And he ruffles a few feathers along the way.
It's just one of those games that is like a movie. You are the star of this action movie. We're probably looking at some great video of it right now. It's just so thrilling. Like Batman, it's very cinematic. Yes, played from a third person perspective. It's rated "T" for teen but there is some violence. There's some shooting in there and some off-color language. But, you know, it's really a great game for - for teenagers and older. A lot of fun. "Uncharted 3." There's a multi-player component as well.
WHITFIELD: Incredible. And then there's the, you know, mobile gamers. There's something for everybody. Tell us about "Where's My Water," real quick.
SALTZMAN: Sure. So very quickly, "Where's My Water" is from Disney Mobile. It's as addictive as "Angry Birds," if not more so. It is a puzzle game that introduces a character named Swampy. He's an alligator who just wants to take a shower, likes to be clean. But his peers have chewed through the pipes. You have to use your fingertips to draw the water to the shower. Sounds easy. It is very challenging. New levels introduced all the time. Disney did a great job at that. All for only $1. It's for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
WHITFIELD: Oh, neat stuff. OK. It's been an incredible 2011, hasn't it, in all things tech.
SALTZMAN: Correct.
WHITFIELD: And you've brought them all to us. Thanks so much, Marc Saltzman. Happy Holidays. All the best to you. See you in 2012.
SALTZMAN: And to you. Got it. Take care.
WHITFIELD: All right. More high tech ideas and reviews, just go to CNN.com/Tech and look for the Gaming and Gadgets tab. Or follow Marc Saltzman on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul enjoys some late night laughs with Jay Leno and takes a big swing at Michele Bachmann.
DON LEMON, ANCHOR: I'm Don Lemon. Coming up tonight on CNN WEEKEND PRIME, the Florida A&M hazing scandal. One student is dead. Other are coming forward. And one student who was beaten is giving up her scholarship and leaving school. I'm going to talk to her attorney about the case.
All that and more tonight on CNN WEEKEND PRIME at 7:00 P.M. Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A key witness in the Penn State molestation case tells what he saw in a university locker room. That story straight ahead, but first, a look at the other top stories.
In the Philippines, Tropical Storm Washi has left more than 400 people dead and more than 100,000 displaced. Hundreds more are still missing. There are reports an entire village was swept away. Government officials say 20,000 people are staying in evacuation centers throughout the region.
And the Barefoot Bandit will have nowhere to run for the next seven years because he has been sentenced to prison. Twenty-year-old Colton Harris-Moore pleaded guilty Friday to a two-year crime spree that stretched from the Pacific Northwest to the Bahamas. Moore reached cult-like status while dodging police on a manhunt that included stealing cars, boats, and planes often while barefoot.
And 30 days of house arrest and two years probation, that's the sentence handed down yesterday for Barry Bonds, the homerun king. He was convicted of obstruction of justice in a federal probe of illegal steroid use in professional baseball.
And the Chicago Bears have dropped wide receiver Sam Hurd. This follows his arrest Wednesday on federal charges of conspiring to possess and distribute cocaine. Investigators say Hurd was trying to set up a drug distribution network in Chicago (ph). He is freed on $100,000 cash bond. Hurd is a former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver.
Coming up later on at 4:00 Eastern Time, we'll hear more on Hurd's troubles from the "Dallas Morning News" writer, Selwyn Crawford.
And now to the University of Vermont, the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity has officially been closed. The chapter was shut down after an online survey surfaced asking members who they would rape. School officials are trying to figure out who created that survey.
And the perjury case against two former Penn State officials will go to trial. That's the judge's ruling following dramatic testimony by the prosecutor's star witness in the child sex abuse case against an assistant coach.
CNN National Correspondent Susan Candiotti reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was his moment. Mike McQueary walked into court, took a deep breath, and became the prosecution's star witness. He methodically described what he called a horrifying, alleged 2002 sexual assault between Jerry Sandusky and a young boy in a Penn State locker room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "When I opened that first door, I heard rhythmic slapping sounds. Two or three slaps, skin on skin."
CANDIOTTI: He says he moved closer and looked in the shower.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The boy was up against the wall, facing the wall. Hands were shoulder height. Jerry was close to him with his hands wrapped around his waist. I believe Jerry was sexually molesting him."
CANDIOTTI: He says he was about five to six feet away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "There was no protest or yelling, so I can't be sure it was intercourse, but that's what I believe was occurring."
CANDIOTTI: When the alleged assault was over -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "They looked directly in my eyes."
CANDIOTTI: Neither said a word. McWueary says he left, called his father, and met with head coach Joe Paterno the next day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I described it as extremely sexual."
CANDIOTTI: But avoided the words "anal intercourse" or "sodomy" because he said he didn't want to offend the legendary coach.
Nine days later, McQueary says he was called to meet with Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "There's no question in my mind that I conveyed to them I saw Jerry with a boy in the shower and then it was severe sexual acts going on and it was wrong and over the line."
CANDIOTTI: McQueary testified he didn't call police because he felt by telling Schultz, who's in charge of campus police, he was.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "In my mind, it was like speaking to a D.A."
CANDIOTTI: But McQueary's information never went any further - not to police or Child and Youth Services.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, presidential hopeful Ron Paul pulled no punches in his assessment of his fellow Republican candidates last night. He told talk show host Jay Leno what he thought about a couple of his rivals.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAY LENO, LATE SHOW HOST: Michele Bachmann?
REP. RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She doesn't like Muslims. She hates Muslims.
LENO: Really (ph)?
PAUL: She hates - she wants to go get them.
LENO: And Rick Santorum, I never see him talk about - it seems like, to him, gay people, oh, my God, that's the end of the world. He doesn't seem to talk about anything else. I mean, does he -
PAUL: Gay - gay people and Muslims.
LENO: Yes. That's (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, Michele Bachmann did respond to Ron Paul's conclusion, calling it outrageous and saying today, quote, "Of course I don't hate Muslims."
Bachmann is ramping up her efforts to regain the top spot in Iowa. The one-time Republican frontrunner is on a bus tour of all 99 Iowa counties. Bachmann's goal is to hit each of those counties by December 28th, less than a week before the Iowa caucuses on January 3rd.
And Bachmann has - has some company today in Algona, Iowa. Rick Perry is on a bus tour there as well. He is also trying to redeem his former number one status. He plans to see 44 Iowa cities in 14 days.
And just in case you're wondering, the temperature in Algona this afternoon is a freezing 32 degrees.
On to South Carolina, Mitt Romney is holding a town hall meeting there. His Myrtle Beach rally comes one day after the South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley endorsed Romney's bid to be the GOP presidential candidate.
CNN political producer Rachel Streitfeld joins us now on the phone from Myrtle Beach. So Rachel, Romney has the governor's endorsement, and she is appearing with him today. But Newt Gingrich, well he has a big lead in South Carolina. What is he doing to maintain that?
RACHEL STREITFELD, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER (via telephone): Oh, well Gingrich will be returning here a little later this month. But I can tell you Governor Haley has been very careful not to talk about him or any of the other candidates.
She said she's focused on Mitt Romney, but she also has said at every stop that she likes Romney because he's not a Washington animal, because he could come in and clean up the mess there, so that kind of makes you wonder what she think about the former House Speaker, Newt Gingrich.
Romney himself is keeping up his attacks on Gingrich. He told the media today about - about the former speaker's work with mortgage giant Freddie Mac. A reporter asked him if that meant that Gingrich had been a lobbyist, and here we can listen to what Romney said to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to let the lawyers decide what is and what is not lobbying, but, you know, when it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, typically it's a duck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STREITFELD: So, Fredricka, I should tell you that today Newt Gingrich was on a teleconference call with voters in Iowa. He said that most of the money, that seven figures that he made while working with Freddie Mac, most of that went to - paid for overhead and to pay for staff salaries.
WHITFIELD: OK. So Rachel, you know, Nikki Haley, she was a Tea Party favorite. She got quite the backing in her win to become governor there. But Mitt Romney hasn't been known to be a Tea Party favorite. Might this kind of change the tune of his backing among Tea Party loyalists?
STREITFELD: Well, I have to tell you, we've seen very enthusiastic crowds for him. Even yesterday the fire marshal stopped letting people into the room where they - where the two were. Of course, some of that is Governor Haley, who does - who does (INAUDIBLE) Tea Party support.
But Romney was actually asked about the Tea Party vote here in South Carolina today, and he said that he thinks that he can start peeling off Gingrich's voters because once he - once his voters learn about Gingrich's record, he thinks they might start to see Romney as a better alternative.
Of course, we - we have to emphasize, he's got a long ways to go. The latest CNN polls here show Gingrich's about 20 points ahead - Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Rachel Streitfeld, thanks so much, joining us from Myrtle Beach.
And join us every Sunday afternoon, 4:00 Eastern Time, when we dedicate an entire hour to the presidential contenders in the 2012 election.
All right, it was a single image of shock and amazement that went viral. This family could not believe that they were still alive. How they survived a killer twister and plan to survive the next one. Their story's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: An Alabama family is convinced they're alive today because of something that was bolted to the floor of their garage.
CNN's John Zarrella goes back to the day almost 250 people died in a massive tornado strike.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There wasn't much left. The Harrisons, Kevin and Sara Beth, navigated through the debris that was once their home.
SARA BETH HARRISON, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Oh, it was her - her bath doll that she used to take a bath, but that's OK.
KEVIN HARRISON, TORNADO SURVIVOR: But it's (INAUDIBLE) dirty now.
S.B. HARRISON: Yes. It's a little dirty now, but --
ZARRELLA: The tornado had done what big tornados do - wrecking just about everything in its path as it careened through Athens, Alabama last April, one of a series of storms that killed nearly 250 people. A memory here or there is all that Kevin and Sara Beth hoped to find.
S.B. HARRISON: We found our family picture. It's this year's Christmas picture, which was one of our ornaments. I found one.
ZARRELLA: This was a week after the tornado hit, a catastrophe that could have kept their young children, Sophie and Mason, from seeing this Christmas.
K. HARRISON: It only lasted about 30 seconds. That 30 seconds, I thought there was a high chance of, you know - you know, (INAUDIBLE) in the papers.
ZARRELLA: This is what kept the Harrisons alive - a safe room. Kevin and his dad built it inside the family's detached garage. After the storm, the garage was gone. All that stood was the homemade concrete and cinder block safe room.
K. HARRISON: It's just a humbling experience altogether, you know, the - how little we are, you know, and how it can all change in a second.
ZARRELLA: This single image of the Harrisons emerging alive with their children in their arms went viral, a survival story captured without a word needing to be spoken.
A couple of months ago, the Harrisons were honored at a Federal Alliance for Safe Homes gathering in Orlando where they got an early, unexpected Christmas gift.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Deluxe model, triple dead bolts.
ZARRELLA: A company that manufactures safe rooms donated one to the Harrisons.
(on camera): This saves your father a little bit of work too, right?
K. HARRISON: It does. Yes. He doesn't have to be -
(CROSSTALK)
ZARRELLA: He's going to be upset.
K. HARRISON: Oh, he probably -
ZARRELLA: He's going to be happy.
K. HARRISON: He'll be happy. Yes.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): So, where to put it? Kevin and Sara Beth have just the spot - bolted to the garage floor of their new home in a new neighborhood.
K. HARRISON: This is the Christmas season, so we're going to buy a new doll (ph) and new Christmas ornaments and decorations. We're - we lost all that. You know, we ain't even got an ornament left. So, you know, it's an interesting experience, to start from scratch.
ZARRELLA: Since the Alabama tornados, All Weather Safe Rooms has installed an average of two a week, most in towns and communities hit hard last April.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's heart wrenching to go in and see the devastation and know that a lot of these people didn't have to die. They could have had a safe place to go.
ZARRELLA: The Harrisons know that what happened in their old neighborhood that April afternoon will always be with them. The moments of fear, the numbness at the sight of all that destruction, smoke rising from piles of rubble, and an orange sun setting over the one thing left standing, the reason they're here this Christmas - that handmade room that saved their lives.
John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Incredible.
Now let's talk about other travesties that have brushed up against the Gulf of Mexico. We've seen a lot in the past couple of years, and now a new problem, Jacqui, that they're talking about is a type of crustacean that some are saying is really threatening, you know, other marine life and perhaps even industries.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. So we've been dealing with the gulf oil disaster, and we had major flooding along the Mississippi River. All that dumps out into the Gulf of Mexico. So it's been a rough couple of years for the shrimping industry.
WHITFIELD: It sure has.
JERAS: Certainly, and it's a $700 million a year business.
WHITFIELD: And now we're talking about the big threat. It's called the giant - well, it's a type of - it's a type of giant shrimp.
Doesn't that look like a lobster?
JERAS: It does look like a lobster.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: But that is a shrimp. You can see the flatness of it. It's kind of - so it's a black tiger.
JERAS: Yes, it's a black tiger shrimp. It's the largest salt water shrimp in the world.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.
JERAS: And when it's fully grown, it can be as much as about, you know, a foot. So that's 12 inches. It can weigh about a pound. So it is kind of comparable to - to a lobster.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
JERAS: Now, the concern is that this is an invasive species. This is predatory, and they also can carry diseases. So that's a concern. And it also competes for the same kind of food as the native shrimp species that you've got - your pink shrimp, your white shrimp, as well as your brown shrimp native to the Gulf of Mexico.
WHITFIELD: So when you look at a shrimp like this and you think prawns, and you think that is a great delicacy, that is the centerpiece of a lot of wonderful entrees.
JERAS: Right.
WHITFIELD: This is not something that people are considering or thinking about? This is not something good to eat? This is not something that's going to help the fishermen?
JERAS: Well, you - well, you can eat it, but you don't want to have that at the expense of everything else, right? And it affects the ecosystem. You know, this is native to the Indo-Pacific region, so, you know, it - it shouldn't be in the Gulf of Mexico. They're trying to figure out where it came from -
WHITFIELD: How it got there. Sure.
JERAS: -- and they want any fisherman or any shrimpers, anybody who finds it, to save it and freeze it and then get ahold of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Service.
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's incredible.
JERAS: And they're going to investigate it and see what they can do.
They've seen it on and off. There was an accidental release in 1988, and then they disappeared. All of a sudden they came back in 2006.
WHITFIELD: Wow. That is fascinating, and very odd too. An odd problem.
JERAS: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: -- the folks in the Gulf of Mexico are now dealing with.
JERAS: You think big shrimp is a good thing, but not necessarily.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Not in this case.
All right. Thanks, Jacqui.
JERAS: Sure.
WHITFIELD: We'll see you again a little bit later. Thanks so much.
Meantime, the war in Iraq, it is declared officially over, but that doesn't mean the problems that have come from it are over. American veterans, many of them women, dealing with their combat experience every single day. Their stories and what's being done to help them, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, former Iraq War POW Jessica Lynch - remember her? Well, now she is a college graduate. She graduated from the University of West Virginia at Parkersburg yesterday with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education.
Lynch made headlines back in 2003 when she was captured by Iraqi soldiers and was later rescued by U.S. forces.
The Iraq War produced more wounded women service members than any conflict before. CNN's Kyra Phillips has one woman's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): June Moss and her 15- year-old daughter, Briona, are tight - laughing, dancing, healthy competition.
JUNE MOSS, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: I'm beating you, Bri.
BRIONA MOSS, JUNE'S DAUGHTER: No, you're not.
J. MOSS: Yes, I am.
B. MOSS: No, you're not.
PHILLIPS: But just five years ago, this almost ended.
(on camera): When you attempted suicide by cutting your wrists.
J. MOSS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: And what you told me about your kids and what they said to you.
J. MOSS: I remember my - an ambulance came, and my kids asked me, "Mommy, why did you do that?" And the only thing I could say at the time was I had a bad day.
That was, one, a stupid mistake. Two, I thank God that I wasn't successful.
PHILLIPS: What do you do now when you have a bad day?
J. MOSS: I try to limit those bad days, for one.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): When we first met retired staff sergeant June Moss two years ago, she was confronting PTSD head on.
As a U.S. Army vehicle mechanic, June went into Baghdad in 2003, the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She had an incredible attitude. She wanted to win this war.
But, after a few months of doing checkpoint security and driving in country, a patriotic June Moss went from this to this. She had become a soldier mentally battling the brutal realities of war.
J. MOSS: Decapitations. You saw the charred bodies from the explosions, and from - and seeing all the debris.
PHILLIPS (on camera): Does that still come back?
J. MOSS: It comes back, but only when my stress level is high, so I try to minimize as much stress as possible. But I do notice when I'm stressing out, then I start having dreams about what I saw and the fear and just the all around experience. It does come back, as if to haunt you.
PHILLIPS: PTSD doesn't go away, does it?
J. MOSS: Unfortunately, no. PTSD does not go away.
It's not that simple. You're always one incident from spiraling out of control back to where you were at, being depressed.
PHILLIPS: You know what I remember for our last interview? You talked about anger being a problem.
J. MOSS: Sometimes when you have PTSD, you just lash out.
Yes, I was an angry ball of mess back then.
PHILLIPS: Is anger still a problem now? J. MOSS: Anger's still an issue. Yes. Anger is still an issue. And -
PHILLIPS: Why?
J. MOSS: It's funny, just a year ago I punched somebody in the face, and -
PHILLIPS: You punched somebody in the face?
J. MOSS: Yes, yes.
PHILLIPS: At work?
J. MOSS: At work. Yes. Because of my anger. And I'm not proud of that behavior.
PHILLIPS: What happened?
J. MOSS: I let them push my buttons, and they pushed one too many buttons.
PHILLIPS: Was that a gut check for you?
J. MOSS: Oh, definitely. That even I, too, have to keep my anger in check and keep being mindful.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): She was suspended for three days without pay. But now, committed to weekly therapy, and thanks to her employer, the chaplain at the Palo Alto, California V.A., she's embracing her faith and her family in a whole new way.
(on camera): How do you remember your mom when she first got back from war?
B. MOSS: She was overly protective.
She said she had nightmares about, like, people taking us away, or her and war.
PHILLIPS: So, what's your mom like now?
B. MOSS: Mommy is just wild, and just my mother. She's always -
PHILLIPS: She's back?
B. MOSS: She's back. She's back.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Back, but continuing to fight her fears.
J. MOSS: I just couldn't do crowds. It reminded me of when we were in a marketplace and we didn't know if somebody was out there to kill us. And I know I'm back home. I don't have to worry about a suicide bomber, but I still felt as if there was one lurking somewhere in - at the mall or the grocery store.
PHILLIPS: But just over a month ago, June took a huge step. She took her daughter to a concert.
(on camera): You were afraid of crowds, noises.
J. MOSS: Oh, yes.
PHILLIPS: And you took your daughter -
J. MOSS: And I took my daughter to see -
PHILLIPS: -- to see Chris Brown.
J. MOSS: Yes, to see Chris Brown. We went to the concert, and it was amazing, and I am so glad that I am in my therapy now, that I was able to do something like that, because that crowd was massive. Because those kids loved them some Chris Brown.
PHILLIPS: So, would you say your mom's better, healthier, happier?
B. MOSS: All of that. She's - she's just - just how she used to be, and I like it.
J. MOSS: It's a big deal, to know that, you know, from then and now I've come a long way.
PHILLIPS: Are you a better mom?
J. MOSS: I am a better mom. A better person. I'm a better me, you know, from head to toe. I'm a better me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: June Moss encourages the troops coming home to seek some type of therapy, because she says there are a lot of emotions tied to combat. She says without treatment the anxiety and nightmares could get the best of them.
We wish her the best.
The Iraqis have also suffered in this war, and next hour CNN's Michael Holmes introduces us to Iraqi citizens whose lives will never be the same.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: OK, I think everybody agrees - most agree, right? - this holiday season usually brings lots of lights, a lot of music.
JERAS: Oh, my gosh.
WHITFIELD: Beautiful things to see. Generally people are very happy, unless you're in a mall parking lot where people are out of control. Just saying.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JERAS: There's always one person on the block, though, right? WHITFIELD: Yes.
JERAS: That outdoes everybody else.
WHITFIELD: Oh, I know, as it pertains to lights and all that.
JERAS: Oh, yes.
WHITFIELD: So, Jacqui, we're going to take a look at a pretty extravagant house, set to music, yes?
JERAS: Yes. Let's listen.
WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh. That's incredible. Wow.
JERAS: I don't think they know that holiday.
WHITFIELD: Round Rock, Texas. That's where this is happening.
JERAS: OK.
WHITFIELD: John Storms, our iReporter.
JERAS: He's sent us (ph) a lot of stuff.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
JERAS: Thank you, John. Very cool. Twenty-five thousand lights for this display.
WHITFIELD: Wow. That is incredible. I don't want to see their power bill at end of it all, but clearly it's worth it because, look, everybody's enjoying it, including us.
JERAS: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: Thanks, Jacqui. Nice job.
JERAS: Thanks, John.
WHITFIELD: Yes. And thanks, John. And thanks for the folks there in Round Rock, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The death of a Florida A&M University drum major will be treated as a homicide. A medical examiner says Robert Champion Junior died of blunt force trauma in a, quote, "hazing incident."
Earlier I talked about the case with our legal guys, Richard and Avery, who predicted where the investigation might go next.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, it's horrible, Fred. They're going to unturn every stone to look into the hazing activities that have been going on at this university, and, frankly, hazing activities which go on in universities all over the country. And not only universities, but high schools as well.
So every now and then we see a fatality, everybody gets in an uproar. They rant and rave how hazings must end. It dies down for a while, and then an incident like this comes to fruition.
It's horrible. This death was unnecessary. And, you know, the band may be taken away from this university for a while. I think that's what's going to happen.
WHITFIELD: And also at issue here is a pattern. So, Avery, investigators are looking at there are other allegations of hazing incidents on campus. This death is being linked to, you know, alleged hazing on campus. So how are investigators going to look at how far was this common knowledge of such alleged hazing on campus, violent or otherwise?
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, it - let me tell you something, Fredricka, this - this process of hazing, which is nothing more than assault and battery, has been going on for 65 years. But at Florida A&M, it appears -
HERMAN: Longer.
FRIEDMAN: -- that officials have been looking the other way. And the bottom line is, that it will require an intensive effort to look into it. The president --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And you can catch the brilliant minds of our legal guys every Saturday, noon Eastern.
