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House Explosion in Washington State; U.N. Measure to Condemn Syria Fails; Egypt Putting Americans in Trial; Unusually Warm Weather in U.S.; Jody Watley Talks About Don Cornelius; Freezing Temperatures Paralyze Parts of Europe; New Zealand Finds Six Rare Super Giant Crustaceans Off Coast

Aired February 05, 2012 - 18:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Don Lemon here. Thank you for joining us. It is the top of the hour.

We're going to begin a developing story and it's breaking news out of Washington state. Three people have been killed in an explosion at the home of Josh Powell.

Now, you may remember his wife, Susan Powell Cox, who went missing in 2009. Police are saying that two of the victims are believed to be the Powells' young children. And that video, look at that, unbelievable. That house just really wiped away right there.

I'm joined now by Graham Washington, deputy fire chief -- Gary Franz, I should say, the deputy fire chief there in Washington.

What is the latest on this? Two bodies believed to be the children and a third body found.

GARY FRANZ, DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF, GRAHAM, WASHINGTON (via telephone): Yes, that's correct. That third body appears to be an adult, can't tell at this point if it's male or female.

But, you know, everything that we have, we have very credible reports of, you know, a person working with the Powell children who brought those children to this house just prior to this event and then after the children were let inside, she was prevented from going inside herself. She smelled some gas and tried to get back in but as I understand it, but she just couldn't do it. And she saw Mr. Powell, and she brought these two Powell kids to this home.

So within moments to have minutes after those kids were let into the house, this place exploded. So, there's every reason to believe these are, in fact, the Powell -- this is the Powell familiar here.

LEMON: Deputy Chief, it's -- not confirmed the identities, but you have ever reason to believe it is the family?

FRANZ: Yes, that's correct. That's probably -- that's the assumption, those are the presumptions we're operating under.

LEMON: No one had complained of anything, of any smell of gas or anything that was irregular in the neighborhood. It was just this one home involved, right?

FRANZ: Yes. That's correct. One home involved. No previous reports. Under the fire, you know, report looking back in our records, we don't have anything about gas of any kind in this neighborhood.

So, you know, the police are clearly operating under this -- you know, this is now a crime scene. They believe this has been purposely put together by Josh Powell, and they're operating with the belief that he caused this to happen.

LEMON: Sad story. We're going to follow up. Thank you very much for joining us, Deputy Chief Gary Franz. We appreciate it.

In the meantime, we're going to go overseas now.

In Syria, the violence is unrelenting. At least 43 people killed today, including five children, most of them in the city of Homs, where hundreds have died in recent days. Opposition groups called for a two-day civil strike starting today to put pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Meanwhile, Assad attended prayers marking the Prophet Mohammed's birth at a mosque in Damascus. The Syrian government insists the whole crisis has been manufactured.

The U.N. Security Council tried to formally condemn Syria's government. It didn't happen. Russia and China used their veto power to block it.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice says the U.S. is disgusted that the council is being held hostage by a couple members.

CNN's Richard Roth asked Rice for why the resolution failed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN RICE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: At the 11th hour, Russia tried to introduce amendments that would have gutted the text that were unacceptable to the other members of the council. The one silver lining in this is that 13 members of this council supported the resolution, made strong statements in its favor. The countries that had originally not supported the resolution last time changed their position and voted in favor.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: South Africa, a country such as this. Take us into the back rooms, if you can. Do you feel Russia was stalling all along, they were presenting a more conciliatory front, we're working together, sleeves are being rolled up? Do you feel they ever intended to either abstain or vote yes?

RICE: I can't speak for Russia, Richard. I think our colleague, Ambassador Churkin, was negotiating in good faith. But I also think that, at the end of the day, the decisions were made in Moscow and Moscow decided it would rather stand with Assad against the people of Syria than do the right thing. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And more strong words today from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. During a stop in Bulgaria, Clinton said China and Russia now bear full responsibility for protecting what the Syrian government has been doing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: What happened yesterday at the United Nations was a travesty. Those countries that refuse to support the Arab League plan bear full responsibility for protecting the brutal regime in Damascus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Elise Labott is our senior State Department producer and she joins us now from Washington.

Elise, what can the U.S. and the rest of the U.N. Security Council do now?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN SR. STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Well, it's really back to the drawing board in many ways, Don. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling it a travesty but saying that the work will go on not only to try and get a U.N. Security Council passed, a resolution passed. This is the second time the council has been blocked by Russia and China, but also trying to impose new sanctions on the regime, strengthen existing sanctions if not through the U.N. Security Council then, bilaterally, regionally, to try to dry up sources of funding for the regime to continue the crackdown.

And for their part, the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, will be in Damascus on Tuesday to meet with President Bashar al-Assad to try to get him to change course.

But Secretary of State Clinton and many other leaders saying really this is terrible what happened because they really want the whole United Nations Security Council to speak with one voice. You can try and dry up sources of funding for the regime but they really want the Security Council to finally condemn the violence. They feel that would pressure the regime even though, legally, it wouldn't do anything.

LEMON: Well, Russia and China say they agree on stopping the violence. Their issue -- wording of the U.N. resolution, any idea what they're planning next?

LABOTT: Well, don't really think there's going to be much action at the U.N. It's really going to go between the United States, the European states like Britain and France to go to other nations to try and get them to impose their sanctions. Really don't see any sanctions coming by Russia and China.

But there will be additional pressure by Russia and China, maybe using their influence now that they blocked the resolution. Maybe they'll have a little bit more in with the Assad regime to try to stop the violence. Nobody obviously optimistic about that, but certainly something needs to be done.

And now, the onus is really on Russia and China. They blocked the resolution. What are you going to do about it now?

LEMON: Elise, you're also following another major international story. This one is out of Egypt. Nineteen Americans are among 43 people facing trial there. They all work for nongovernmental organizations, NGOs, accused of illegal foreign funding. Among the Americans facing prosecution, the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

What else do you know right now?

LABOTT: Well, Sam LaHood and a few other Americans are really taking refuge in the U.S. embassy to try to avoid this prosecution. They were detained from leaving the country. They're not allowed to leave the country, and there are about a dozen or so, a little more than a dozen or so other Americans that seem that there will now be legal prosecution. They were facing some investigating because of this raid in November about raiding their offices because of foreign funding regulations, that they were receiving foreign funding and they weren't registered with the Egyptian government.

So, this is really coming at a horrible time. You have seen those riots that are going on with Egypt. The economy is in shambles.

And right now, the U.S. is in a standoff with the Egyptian military over what to do with these Americans. And there are several other people from other NGOs right now that are having this problem.

LEMON: How far could their cases go?

LABOTT: Not sure at this point. The NGOs haven't been officially notified or arrest warrants given out to them. Obviously, the NGOs are speaking out very forcefully and so is the State department, coming out with a statement from Mark Toner, deputy spokesman. Let me read a little bit to you.

"We've seen media reports that judicial officials in Egypt intend to forward a number of cases involving U.S.-funded NGOs to the Cairo criminal court. We are deeply concerned by these reports and are seeking clarification from the government of Egypt."

So that's what the State Department is saying right now.

LEMON: Well, this happened days, Elise, after 41 members of Congress, as you know, in a letter they pressed the Obama administration to withhold aid to Egypt. Is that going to have any effect? How might it affect the relationship?

LABOTT: It's going to have a major effect, Don. The U.S. has so much important business to do with Egypt right now. Egypt is seen as such a critical country in the region. And its economy is seen in shambles. You know, several officials, including the deputy secretary, Bill Burns, was out to meet with the new government led by the political party of the Muslim Brotherhood, to say, listen, we want to work with you. We know that your economy is really terrible, we want to work with you.

But now, Congress is facing increasing pressure on the administration to do something about the aid. If these Americans are not released, ready to let it go from the country, there's going to be a significant pressure on the Obama administration to cut that aid at least temporarily until this is resolved.

There was a military delegation in town last week trying to deal with this. But certainly, it's going to drag on for several weeks.

LEMON: Elise, thank you. Appreciate that.

Moving on to politics now. Mitt Romney is feeling good after his second straight win, but Newt Gingrich is angry at Romney's tactics. We'll talk about that, next.

And later , singer and dancer, Jody Watley. You don't want to miss this. She's going to join me live to remember television pioneer Don Cornelius.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Mitt Romney scores a big victory out West, his second contest in a row. And Newt Gingrich is still angry about Romney's campaign tactics.

We're going to talk about it now with CNN contributor Will Cain in New York and Democratic strategist Jamie Harrison in Washington.

Will, I just saw you, what, like two hours ago here, 2:00 in the morning, at the studio.

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's right.

LEMON: And now you're back in New York.

CAIN: Can you take a moment now and just give me credit? I put on a tie. Last week, you chastised me about my tie. Look what I did for you.

LEMON: And look at Jamie. I didn't have to say anything to Jamie. He shows up in a tie, dressed appropriately. Some people need chastising. Obviously, Jamie doesn't.

But anyway, even though you did, I'm going to start with you because it was a big night for Romney -- a Romney victory, Will. But today we heard Rudy Giuliani voice a familiar complaint about Romney.

So, both of you listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: He's changed his position on virtually everything. He was a traditional moderate Republican, strong on fiscal matters, conservative, strong on foreign policy, but basically socially moderate, and he changed all that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Man. So is Mitt Romney, Will, ever going to be able to escape the flip-flop criticism, and this is -- that was preventing some conservatives from getting on board with him?

CAIN: Well, that is probably at the core of his problem. That is, that people can't seem to trust him. They don't know what he stands for.

But I have to say, last night, Don, that narrative I think began to shift. I can't say if Nevada is going to translate over to the next couple states, but Mitt Romney won among people who describe themselves as very conservative, people who describe themselves as very supportive of the Tea Party.

LEMON: Listen, can I ask you something?

CAIN: People starting to realize, Mitt is the guy. Yes?

LEMON: Can I ask you something? Do we -- because, you know, we talked about women not voting for Newt in South Carolina. And then we talked about the whole, you know, poor comment. I don't care that much about the poor.

And then, now, this about the flip-flop. Is it something that we talk about and the pundits like you and then the voters are like, I really don't care about that, because it seems they're voting for Mitt Romney regardless of what Rudy Giuliani or anybody else says?

CAIN: Yes. But look, I mean, when you look at this Republican field, Mitt Romney is the obvious choice by default. You look at the alternatives and you go, no, that's not going to work, no, that's not going to work. I do think that's happening in the voting booth. I think people are going in and going, I guess I'm going to vote for Mitt Romney.

But that being said, all these issues are problems. They do see him as a man that they can't seem to trust and don't have a core. It's not that that's not a problem. It's just that he's the inevitable guy.

LEMON: All right. OK. Now it's time for Jamie to come in here. Jamie, who dressed appropriately, needs no chastising.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Jamie, the Obama camp has consistently gone after Mitt Romney, never mentioning any other Republicans even when Newt Gingrich was high in the polls, never really mentioned him. He's now won two battleground states in a row. Is that what Democrats want? JAMIE HARRISON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, listen, if that's what we end up with, let's go. You know, looking at Mitt Romney's campaign is like watching a remake of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I mean, he is one way -- before he decided to run for president, he was pro-choice, you know, pro-gun control, pro-health care reform. And as soon as he drank that elixir to run for president, he's now anti-everything else.

So, you know, if we get Mitt Romney, we're really salivating because the campaign that they ran against Kerry in 2004 is going to pale compared to what we run against him in 2012.

LEMON: All right. I want to talk more about Newt Gingrich. He didn't hold back last night, and we were watching it live here, Will. He didn't hold back in that post-caucus news conference which was very unusual as well.

Here is a taste of what he had to say about Mitt Romney. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I didn't have any good mechanisms to turn to somebody who was being blatantly dishonest to the entire country as a candidate for president. If you can't tell the truth as a candidate for president, which is, by the way, a charge that has been made by McCain, by Fred Thompson, by Huckabee, if you can't tell the truth as a candidate for president, how can the country possibly expect you to lead as president?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. Jamie, watching this, what are Democrats thinking? What's the president thinking or his strategists are they're watching Newt Gingrich last night go after Mitt Romney this way, but then saying I want a more positive tone but then he comes out and he's very negative against Romney?

HARRISON: Yes, I think the theme from last night is Newt Gingrich really dislikes Mitt Romney.

(LAUGHTER)

HARRISON: It's gotten really, really bad. And I think if I had to give Romney any advice, it is just don't talk about Newt Gingrich at all and just continue to run your campaign. Because the more he prods Gingrich, the more angry he's going to get, and that means he's going to stay there until the end of the race. And so, if I were Romney, I would just be quiet about Gingrich and continue to run a campaign.

LEMON: So, Will, is Gingrich -- is he running out of steam by doing this? Because is he focusing on the wrong person because Romney was all Obama, Obama, Obama, and Gingrich is Romney, Romney, Romney.

CAIN: Well, I don't think Gingrich is real interested in winning the presidency anymore.

LEMON: Wow. CAIN: I think all he's interested in is denying it to Mitt Romney. I think -- that's not just a reflection of his speech last night, Don, which basically is this huge massive I hate Mitt Romney tone, from invoking George Soros to calling him a liar, just from start to finish. Let's put it this way, it wasn't presidential.

But strategically, I also don't see his path. He'll have some strong states in the South, but it doesn't add up to 1,144 delegates. It just doesn't. But what it can do is deny Mitt Romney that number of delegates just stringing this thing out and trying to deny it to Mitt Romney.

LEMON: All right. Will Cain in his necktie. Jamie, thank you. Of course, you're very appropriate, so I don't need to say anything. I'll see you both very soon. Appreciate it.

Coming up, parents in one New York state community want answers about a medical mystery. Listen to this town hall meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am done listening to you. You guys need to do something. My child, my children, all of them, I run a business in this town, it is not safe. Why is it? You need to prove --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: More from these parents, two minutes away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A community meeting in LeRoy, New York, turned ugly after officials told parents a local school was safe despite a group of children developing involuntary twitches and gestures. Doctors diagnosed most of the children as suffering from conversion disorder, a condition induced by stress. Some parents suspect the problem is linked to a train derailment 42 years ago that spilled toxic chemicals a few miles from the school. School officials defended science showing no environmental link but enraged parents weren't satisfied.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM COX, LEROY SCHOOL DISTRICT: What I have to do as the superintendent is take the experts -- what the experts are telling me, and the experts are telling me and the data is showing me that there is no environmental cause here linked to this condition.

MELISSA CIANCI, PARENT: You need to prove to us that it is safe to put our children in this school. As a community, we need to come together, we need to pull our children out. There's other places we could take them and give them the education they need.

You are not doing your job. You are not doing your job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not answering questions --

CIANCI: I am -- I want people to stand up as parents to fight for the rights of our children. You're not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Environmental activist Erin Brockovich is among those investigating whether environmental factors are causing the illnesses.

Another story making headlines in the medical community, the Susan G. Komen Foundation's reversal of a decision to stop giving grant funds to Planned Parenthood. Susan Candiotti has more on the two organizations' off again/on again relationship.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, fallout from the funding flap is far from over.

(voice-over): Susan G. Komen for the Cure is known for its races and other events that draw huge crowds and big donations. But those donations may take a dive after Komen reinstated its funding for Planned Parenthood which provides health care for women, including abortion.

National Right to Life says Komen will face consequences, urging the anti-abortion movement to stop writing checks to Komen.

SUSAN MUSKET, SR. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL, NATL. RIGHT TO LIFE: When people and women want to run in races, people want to donate to cancer research organizations, they want to support the work they're doing. But they ultimately want to make sure their donations, their hard- earned money is not going to be going to the nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood.

CANDIOTTI: Planned Parenthood says abortions total 3 percent of its health care services. Komen says it's funding to Planned Parenthood paid for breast cancer screenings and referrals, not abortion. It doesn't matter, says Right to Life.

For a fund-raising juggernaut like Komen, what does matter is whether it can win back donors who rallied support for Planned Parenthood, including a quarter million dollar donation from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Even some of Komen's critics, who have questioned its corporate ties, say it was right to restore funding to Planned Parenthood.

KARUNA JAGGAR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BREAST CANCER ACTION: I don't think Komen's job is to make everyone happy. I think our job as breast cancer advocates is to ensure that women's health comes first. Women's health needs to come before politics. It needs to come before religious pressure.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): After alienating those on both sides of the abortion divide in just one week, Komen must now try to convince them to focus on a shared cause: fighting breast cancer -- Don.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: All right. Susan, thank you very much for that.

Hundreds of passengers get sick aboard two ships belonging to the Princess Cruise Line. That and more of your top stories are next.

But first, each week, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta profiles innovators from all walks of life and all fields of endeavor. The program is called "THE NEXT LIST." Next Sunday, he talks to Dale Dougherty who believes we are all born to be makers of things instead of just consumers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DALE DOUGHERTY: One of the things that happens in making is we are gaining some control over the world we live in. This world is awfully complex, and it's hard sometimes to figure out what are the building blocks. You know, how do you get going? How do you get start? You can have impact today. You can do things today and encourage yourself to participate, to build things and make things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I want to check your headlines right now.

An explosion at a home in Washington state has killed three people, believed to be Josh Powell and his two children. A case worker who dropped off his children today reported smelling gas but said she was prevented from entering the house. Powell's name has been in the headlines because of a custody battle with the parents of his missing wife, Susan Powell Cox. Powell said the last time he saw his wife was on a December night in 2009 before he left on a camping trip.

An outbreak of illness aboard two Florida-based cruise ships. Nearly 500 people traveled aboard the Ruby Princess and Crown Princess arrived in port this weekend suffering from norovirus infections. Norovirus is spread easily. It causes stomach pain, diarrhea and vomiting.

The Fort Lauderdale-based ships have already been cleared, cleaned, and returned to service.

A breakthrough resource for people curious about their ancestors, especially those descended from slaves. A new online database has been created featuring the names of 3,000 slaves, slave holders, and freed blacks who once lived in Virginia. The resource project has compiled more than 8 million documents through the years, mostly from wealthy families.

As many as nine people were killed today when a suicide car bomb exploded in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. Witnesses say the blast occurred near a police headquarters. A doctor at the local hospital said at least five of the victims were police officers. Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the explosion a cowardly act of terror. The Pentagon is investigating the death of the highest-ranking soldier to die in Afghanistan. Brigadier General Terrence Hildner died Friday in Kabul Province, apparently of natural causes. The 49-year-old general was based at Fort Hood, Texas. He was deployed in Afghanistan to assist the NATO training mission.

Military helicopters are being used to evacuate thousands threatened by record floodwaters in Australia. And at least one tragic scene already from that tragic flood. A woman was swept away minutes after she was able to hand off her 7-year-old son. Hardest hit is the eastern Australian state of Queensland.

Unreasonably warm temperatures for much of the United States.

Jacqui Jeras, I shouldn't say unreasonable -- unseasonably.

(LAUGHER)

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Nothing is unreasonable to me about warm temperatures.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is I know. In fact, we were looking at this on the break, this beautiful shot of Atlanta.

LEMON: It's so gorgeous.

JERAS: If you could pick a perfect day --

LEMON: Wow.

JERAS: -- 70 degrees.

LEMON: Look at it turning (ph) for us.

(LAUGHER)

JERAS: Isn't it just beautiful? It's still 65 at this hour. Should be 55 for a high this time of the year. So you're talking 15 degrees above where you should be. and that's really been the rule across much of the rest of the country. It's been a gorgeous weekend for most people.

We've been tracking some travel concerns and that's been focusing in on parts of Texas into Louisiana. We've had a lot of flooding rains in the last couple days. Today, the rain much lighter but still a lot of swollen rivers. We have been reporting on and off some airport delays in Houston but right now those have cleared up. So that's the good news out of all this.

There you can see the big picture across the country. Really, that's the only storm system we're dealing with. We will see a few storms in the week ahead impacting the west coast and parts of the south. And that will be our main focus. Almost every else is going to see nice weather.

You want to talk strange, Don, let's talk tropics in February. How about that?

(LAUGHTER)

Believe it or not, we're tracking this system here near the Yucatan that shows some tropical characteristics. This could be maybe a little subtropical thing that we're watching. And we have had one other tropical system develop, back in 1952. So it's not unprecedented. Either way you slice it though, it's going to bring in some nice and much-needed rain across parts of south Florida. A couple inches expected here over the next couple of days.

So those will be our big weather concerns and maybe I broke my master -- did you hear that? Did you hear that?

LEMON: What was that?

JERAS: I'm not sure what happened.

(LAUGHTER)

I just heard a noise. Hopefully, it will work next hour.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: I think John King left something on the magic wall back there.

JERAS: That could be. I know. We're all sharing.

LEMON: Thanks, Jacqui. Appreciate it.

Now to the big stories in the week ahead. From the White House to Wall Street, our correspondents tell you what you need to know. We begin tonight with the president's plans for the week.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Lothian at the White House. As Italy, the Eurozone's third-largest economy, deals with its economic woes, President Obama welcomes its prime minister, Mario Monte, to the White House on Thursday. They will talk about a range of issues, but in particular what the Italian government is doing to restore market confidence. Then on Tuesday, President Obama will host the second White House Science Fair, a chance to celebrate kids from across the country, but also push initiatives to make sure that more students, not only excel in math and science, but also earn degrees in those fields.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kate Bolduan in Washington. This week on Capitol Hill, the House is expected to take up a bill that would explicitly ban insider trading among lawmakers and thousands of executive branch employees. The Senate passed its version of the bill with broad bipartisan support last week. And the Senate is expected to vote on a long-debated plan to fund the Federal Aviation Administration for four years. The House adopted the measure Friday, bringing to a close months of negotiations and multiple short- term extensions. This could also be a key week in the negotiations to extend the payroll tax cut for a full year as the House/Senate Conference Committee tasked with working out a deal inches closer and closer to their deadline.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Following Friday's strong jobs report, Wall Street is gearing up for a slew of corporate earnings. We'll hear from Coca-Cola, Disney, Cisco, B.P., Visa, and Sprint. And there could be a massive foreclosure settlement. State attorneys general have until Monday to agree on a deal with the nation's biggest banks that is could be worth as much as $25 billion. It would settle the robo-signing scandal of 2010 when we learned that some mortgage servicing companies signed off on foreclosures without checking that all the paperwork was accurate. That's all ahead. We'll keep an eye on that on Monday and all the business news of the week on "CNN Money."

LEMON: All right, thank you, guys.

I have been waiting to do this all week, to pay honor and tribute to Don Cornelius. Next, one of the original "Soul Train" dancers, Jody Watley. There she is.

Love the hair, girl.

She's going to join me live to talk about the passing of the legendary Don Cornelius.

We'll see you after the break, Ms. Watley.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: In 1971, Don Cornelius spent just $400 to film the pilot episode of "Soul Train." That's virtually nothing now. And for the next 22 years, he became the voice that changed music in America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

DON CORNELIUS, FORMER HOST, SOUL TRAIN: That's Cool and the Gang running down the sound (ph). We think it's one of the baddest things around. It's called "Jungle Boogie."

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: "Jungle Boogie," I remember that. But his impact on America was so much bigger than the music. Just ask Jody Watley. You remember her, her dance moves as a regular on the show. Take a look.

(SINGING)

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: That's Jody. That's Jody dancing. Look at her doing the robot right there.

Over the years, you know, Cornelius gave a number of performers their big break. He really hand picked Watley to be a member of the group Shalamar.

Look at her. Go on, girl, with your bad self.

(LAUGHTER)

Jody Watley joins me now from Los Angeles.

Jody, you and I were talking during the break, we're sad at what happened to Don Cornelius, but we're really celebrating his life and his legacy. and, as I said to you, people have been going back, looking at all of these old "Soul Train" clips and doing the "Soul Train" line all week because they're honoring him.

JODY WATLEY, GRAMMY-AWARD WINNING SINGER & DANCER, SOUL TRAIN: Absolutely. What an incredible legacy, great man, trendsetter, pioneer, legend. And so many of us, needless to say, shall very shocked and saddened by his passing but his legacy is incredible and it will live on.

LEMON: When you found out -- you knew he had been sick, I'm sure. And when you found out, I'm sure it was just unbelievable to you. What ran through your mind?

WATLEY: Well, the first -- I was, you know, shocked, and I had seen Don last year. I sat on a panel with him at the Grammy Museum here in Los Angeles, celebrating the 40th anniversary of "Soul Train." And the first thing I thought of was I was happy that I did have the chance to thank him again. I have been thanking him my whole career, and to let him know how much we all appreciated him and everything, the doors that he opened for us.

LEMON: Did you know, Jody, back then when you were -- as I'm sure a little pipsqueak dancing on "Soul Train," did you have any idea the impact of what you were doing, what Don Cornelius was doing? Because everybody watched it, not just black folks. It was watched all over the world.

WATLEY: Right. We all lived to be on "Soul Train."

(LAUGHTER)

It was our culture. And, you know, it's where you found out what was hip, what was hot. And when I moved to Los Angeles with my family -- I'm from Chicago -- it was a dream come true. And that was my goal. I said, I'm going to get on "Soul Train," and to become one of the popular dancers on the show. It was great. But all of us, we did it for free for the love of it. Freestyle dancing, and it was great. And, again, Don made that happen.

And as an artist, "Soul Train" was, and probably, you know, will always be a place that you could go whether you were hot 100, top 40, top 10, R&B, whatever. "Soul Train" was always there for black artists and music --

LEMON: It's home.

WATLEY: -- so I'm grateful to Don for that.

LEMON: It was home. Now, I have to ask you this. So you're a dancer, and we saw your dance moves, and you doing the robot and all that.

(LAUGHTER)

Then to come back -- there you are.

(LAUGHTER)

That's Jody, you all, believe it or not, the one who is showing out right there in the camera.

(LAUGHTER)

So to come back and perform with Shalamar and then to come back and perform years later as a solo artist, what was like? That must have been surreal for you.

WATLEY: Don Cornelius is the reason why Shalamar came to be. He had Soul Train Records. He formed it and created it. He had bought a master to a song called "Uptown Festival," which was a medley of Motown hits, which is the music that influenced me growing up, loving Diana Ross and the Supremes and Smokey Robinson and everything. And they didn't have a group -- the single, "Uptown Festival," took off and they needed a group to perform it. It was Don Cornelius selected myself and Jeffrey Daniel to be the group to promote the song because of our popularity, our style, and what he thought was star quality. And his partner didn't want me, but it was Don that convinced him that I needed to be in Shalamar. So again, just very grateful for him. And if you talk to other dancers, we all have stories of how Don Cornelius was so pivotal in our lives and in our careers.

LEMON: Yes. On a Saturday morning, we would watch the Osmonds cartoon and the Jacksons cartoon and "Bandstand" and "Soul Train." And a lot of people compared --

(LAUGHTER)

WATLEY: Me, too.

LEMON: You too, right? And a lot of people would compare "Soul Train" and "Bandstand." They were alike, but obviously very different.

WATLEY: Well, "Soul Train" was, you know, for us, you know, for African-Americans --

LEMON: Black folks.

WATLEY: But then -- yes, for black folks. And then it went on to be for the world, you know. I have been around the world and people know "Soul Train." If they don't know "Soul Train," they know the "Soul Train" line. At one time, Don even opened a dance studio in Los Angeles and I was one of the instructors and got to teach the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin, how to do the robot, which was surreal. So there's just a lot of great and a lot of good that came out of "Soul Train" and all the jobs that he provided for the cameramen and talent coordinators. I mean, again, I just really can't say enough.

LEMON: Yes. You're maybe not prepared, but if there was a song you could sing to Don Cornelius, what would it be? Maybe you can sing us to break if you wouldn't mind, Jody Watley.

(CROSSTALK)

WATLEY: Oh, my gosh. I don't know what song I would sing, but I know that as he would say, in departing, I wish him love, peace, and soul.

LEMON: And soul. And you got to do the hair because he would do the soul and the hair and the afro would bounce around.

(LAUGHTER)

WATLEY: And soul! And soul!

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Jody Watley, you're the best. Thank you so much.

Jody Watley is my Twitter buddy. It's @JodyWatley, W-A-T-L-E-Y, right?

WATLEY: Yes.

LEMON: Yes. So --

WATLEY: And thank you for having me. And just my condolences continue to go to his family, to his sons, and all of us and those who he impacted and touched in such a positive way.

LEMON: Thank you, Jody. We'll chat on Twitter. See you later. You take care of yourself.

Moving on now, a new kind of sea animal? Well, this thing gives new meaning to the -- look at that. Holy cow! Is that a shrimp? Prawn? Jumbo shrimp?

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LEMON: We are going to go "Globe Trekking" now. And our top story, as we do go "Globe Trekking," freezing temperatures are paralyzing parts of Europe and creating stunning scenes, scary situations. 29 people have died in Poland. That's alone.

CNN's international editor, Azadeh Ansari, joins me now.

Azadeh, how many deaths has this weather caused?

AZADEH ANSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL DESK EDITOR: Across Europe, 300.

LEMON: Oh, my goodness.

ANSARI: Over 300, and the death toll keeps rising, Don. Some of the most deaths we have seen have been out of Poland and Ukraine. And this is unprecedented really in decades. They haven't seen pictures like this or weather like this for that matter. But this is Heathrow Airport. This is earlier today. They canceled 30 percent of their flights. And one other image I want to bring up, and what I want to talk about is Bosnia in Sarajevo. I talked to a resident who said residents literally have to dig out tunnels to get out of their homes.

LEMON: Goodness.

ANSARI: They saw like 43 inches of snowfall. This is the worst they have seen since 1999. And it's not going to end anytime soon.

LEMON: They're getting our cold weather. They must be.

ANSARI: Yes, because we have warm weather.

LEMON: It's crazy. We have these unseasonably warm temperatures.

ANSARI: Look at this car, just spinning out of control. This is from earlier this week.

LEMON: Oh. We're going to follow that.

ANSARI: I just want to -- can I?

LEMON: Yes. Go for it.

ANSARI: I want to point this out. This is a more positive angle. The mannequin piss (ph) is a bronze statue of a young boy urinating in Brussels here. Officials turned off the water because of subzero temperatures and they were afraid it will damage its internal mechanisms. That's what they said.

(LAUGHTER)

ANSARI: OK, moving on.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Saudi Arabia, a woman suing so she can drive.

ANSARI: I just want to point out in Saudi Arabia, there's no traffic law that specifies or makes it illegal for women to drive. It's more of a religious edict that makes it -- is interpreted as a prohibition. But that being said, Manal al Shariff, she has been on our air before, we've talk to her. She's really in the forefront of the women to drive movement in Saudi Arabia. We had video of her driving in May in Saudi Arabia. And after this, she was detained, so I want to look at some of that footage, if we can get it.

This is the YouTube video that she posted of herself driving.

LEMON: So she's just driving. Then after this video got out, she was detained?

ANSARI: She was detained for nine days. She applied for a driver's license after this. She was denied. She went forward and said I'm going to sue. Back in November, she was going to sue. Now, where things stand with her case is that she's -- they gave -- she gave 90 days and hasn't heard from them, and she's filed an objection now with the general director of traffic in Riyadh.

LEMON: Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANAL AL SHARIFF: We have a saying in Arabic -- the rain starts with a drop. So this thing is really symbolic thing for us woman driving. But it basically very insignificant right for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANSARI: Insignificant right, but a big step forward if they are able to make this happen.

LEMON: All right, we'll be following that.

We have to move on real quickly though. Let's show the picture of this. It looks like a big shrimp. Is it a jumbo shrimp. It's in New Zealand. It's news.

ANSARI: It is a super giant. That's what it is called. It is a crustacean. It is a foot long, Don. Never before have they found six of them like this before off the coast of New Zealand as you mentioned. They scavenge the bottom of the ocean and find debris and stuff like that.

LEMON: That would take a lot of cocktail sauce.

(LAUGHTER)

That's like a $5 foot-long shrimp.

All right.

(LAUGHTER)

Azadeh, thank you.

ANSARI: You're welcome.

LEMON: Appreciate it.

Up next here on CNN, an Atlanta man devotes his time and energy to give teens an alternative to gang life and there's even a movie about it.

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LEMON: An Atlanta man, who became fed up with gangs in his neighborhood and young victims dying, decided to quit his corporate job and devote his time to giving teens a positive alternative to the destructive lifestyle. He's also bringing awareness to the big screen in a documentary called "If Streets Could Talk." Dominique Stokes says he understands the plight of today's youth because he was once an at-risk teen himself.

(MAKING THEIR MARK)

LEMON: Next on CNN, breaking news out of Washington State. Three people have been killed in an explosion at a home of Josh Powell. You might remember his wife, Susan Powell Cox, went missing in 2009. That's next.

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