Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Toddler Found after Tornado has Died; Dan Rather Talks Election Politics; President Obama Addresses AIPAC
Aired March 04, 2012 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Angel in the storm.
JACK BROUGH, ANGEL BABCOCK'S GRANDFATHER: I want to tell her that it's time for her to meet her mommy and daddy.
LEMON: She was once a symbol of hope, the only member of her family found alive after a devastating tornado. We will hear from little Angel Babcock's grandfather.
Veteran newsman Dan Rather speaks to us about those unusual twists and turns on the road to the White House. His take on the GOP race, just two days before the all-important Super Tuesday.
Mea culpa, Rush Limbaugh style. The radio host apologizes after calling this woman a prostitute and a slut.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK RADIO PERSONALITY: It means you're a slut, right?
LEMON: Is it too little, too late? That's tonight's "No Talking Point." All that and more, right here, right now on CNN.
Hello, everyone, I'm Don Lemon and thank you so much for joining us. Tonight, her story captured hearts around the nation. She survived a tornado that killed her entire family, her tiny body thrown into a field by incredible forces.
Fourteen-month-old Angel Babcock, a girl who became a symbol of hope in the destruction, but her hold on life was too fragile. Angel died just a few hours ago after she was taken off life support. The decision rested with her grandfather, who spoke to our affiliate in Louisville, Kentucky.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (voice-over): Camouflaged by twisted metal and broken wood, a baby monitor rests near the wreckage of homes that housed a young family, taken by the March 2nd tornado.
BROUGH: I never have been through nothing like this. It's horrible.
LEMON (voice-over): Jack Brough knew there was a storm that fateful Friday. When it passed he made a trip to Pekin (ph) to run some errands. We was going to pay the water bill and they told us there that had been some people hurt at Worley (ph) Lumber Company. So that made me think of my daughter and her kids.
As Brough approached the mobile home park, it hit him.
BROUGH: And as we got closer, I thought oh, my God, oh, my God.
His 20-year-old daughter Mariah (ph) wasn't there.
We got out and we just started calling her name. We was walking through mud and water. It was really horrible.
LEMON (voice-over): Mariah (ph), her longtime boyfriend 21-year- old Joe Babcock and their children did not make it.
BROUGH: The little boy was laying on the ground. They was trying to bring him back to life.
LEMON (voice-over): Two-year-old Jaden (ph) and 2-month-old Kendall (ph) were also dead.
BROUGH: We walked out towards the road. And then they was bringing the other little baby up from way up the road.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, Angel's grandfather spoke to Scott Atkins (ph) of WADE before taking her off life support, surely the toughest decision he's ever had to make.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROUGH: My pastor's going to in with me, and we were going to pray -- we're going to pray there and I am going to tell that little girl that -- I'm going to tell her that it's time for her to meet her mommy and daddy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Heartwrenching. And now a CNN exclusive on this story. Our Susan Candiotti talks with the man who found her and did all he could to save her life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fire burning debris make the twister's aftermath look like a battlefield. This is all that's left of the trailer inhaled by this enormous twister that killed four members of a family and spared a toddler.
Angel Babcock, just 14 months old, somehow survived, but was critically injured. A friend of a family found her in a field about 100 yards away from their home. The bodies of her parents, only 21 and 20, a 2-year-old brother and a 2-month-old sister were nearby. ANDREW LANHAM, FAMILY FRIEND: The man and woman was laying right here behind the sawmill, and all three of the kids was found right in this area.
CANDIOTTI: Right in the muddy field. And one of the babies was still in a car seat, a baby seat?
LANHAM: Yes. I don't know what to say, you know, just it's devastating.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Angel was scooped from the mud and rushed to a hospital. Another man, Jason Miller, was stumbling nearby. He had been in the same trailer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They found him walking down the road, his arm dangling, you know. He's one tough son of a gun.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Tough, but badly injured.
PAUL MILLER, JASON MILLER'S BROTHER: His elbow is in three pieces. His shoulder blade is fractured in two places and he has a fractured back, just slightly fractured. And so he's -- yes, he's in pretty rough shape.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Earlier with THE twister bearing down, he tried to help angel's family. Jason Miller convinced the Babcock family of five to get out of their smaller trailer and hunker down with him in his double-wide. So they crouched down in the floor in the center of the trailer as the tornado got closer and closer.
MILLER: They were laying in the hallway. I think they were holding hands and -- but they were laying down, as we understood it.
CANDIOTTI: And praying?
MILLER: And praying, yes.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Neighbors were doing the same.
JEANIE LEWELLYN, NEIGHBOR: I prayed to God when I heard the tornado was coming through to please keep my family safe, which He kept my family safe, but them poor kids that -- I don't know.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): And now one more blow for this shaken community, Angel also has died. She was pulled off life support late Sunday -- Susan Candiotti, CNN, New Pekin (ph), Indiana.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Susan, thank you very much. This has been a day of taking stock for victims of that deadly rash of tornados that hit 11 states. Many of them lost everything. The extreme weather now has claimed at least 39 lives in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Alabama and Georgia. This is West Liberty, Kentucky, one of the hardest hit communities. It seems that no corner of this small town was spared. Homes annihilated, cars flipped over, trees plucked right out of the ground and there were scenes like this all over the Midwest and South tonight. The number of people killed from Friday's storm has risen to 21 in Kentucky. But despite extensive damage, we are hearing remarkable stories of survival. Here's CNN's Tim Spellman. He is in the hard hit town of West Liberty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM SPELLMAN, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): On the outskirts of West Liberty, Kentucky, tornado survivors return home.
SPELLMAN: This was your house, right?
ROSE MAY, TORNADO SURVIVOR: This was my house, yes.
SPELLMAN: Where is the house now?
MAY: It's across the street in the parking lot.
SPELLMAN: A pile of rubble across the street is your house?
MAY: Yes.
SPELLMAN (voice-over): Rose May said she had only moments to make it into her basement and rode out the storm in this corner.
SPELLMAN: Can you believe that you are safe and sound?
MAY: I tell you, it was all rather quickly. It was so quickly that you don't really -- or I did not have a lot of time to think. But you think back on it and you think, wow. But I'm glad that my own little plan worked.
SPELLMAN (voice-over): Up the street, Doris Sheck is picking through what's left of her house. She also sought shelter in her basement.
SPELLMAN: So, Doris, you were right here when the storm came through.
DORIS SHECK, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Yes. As you can see, there's parts were just -- have fallen all around where my body was.
SPELLMAN (voice-over): She emerged to a scene of devastation.
SHECK: I could hear people crying and people asking for help. You know, there was people with small children already walking down the street, trying to get help.
SPELLMAN (voice-over): Both credit their faith for giving them strength.
SHECK: I feel blessed. I feel like the Lord protected me and let me get out of it alive. I'm thankful for that. MAY: I did have strength from God, that I could feel as I was walking down those basement steps and making my way to my corner, and it was OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Jim Spellman reporting tonight. The stories of disaster and loss are pouring out of the regions hit by the storms, but at least for one community in Indiana, it's what's pouring in that matters most: prayers, help, and most of all, hope. Athena Jones has that part of our story tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did this happen? I don't care. It did.
ATHENA JONES, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): At Henryville Community Church in southern Indiana, the focus is on healing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of our folks could not get in this morning. So many of you have lost everything. Many of you have lost vehicles. Some of you slept in your garages last night.
JONES (voice-over): And the 80-member congregation in this small town is getting a lot of help from a disaster relief group and ordinary people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got here at 6:00 am at dawn when they allowed us in, and these guys were already here. They've had a couple semis that have come and brought lots and lots of materials.
JONES (voice-over): From food and water to bedding and clothing, they have got it covered for families that lost everything in Friday's storm.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And today we are just trying to see if we can organize everything to be able to distribute food, be able to distribute clothes, toiletries as people come in and need them and the things that they need so that they can get their life back together.
JONES (voice-over): The church has been feeding the needy for the past two years with the help of a food bank in Louisville, Kentucky, just 20 miles south. Pastor Cheek said that was practice (ph).
PASTOR RICH CHEEK, HENRYVILLE COMMUNITY CHURCH: I keep hearing this phrase about this little church Friday night, people from all over the country, and the world, people from England, people from all over the world were calling my cell phone. That's scary. I don't know how they got it.
(LAUGHTER)
CHEEK: And they're saying we're coming, we're coming, we're coming.
JONES (voice-over): Cheek said the church has much to be thankful for. Despite badly damaged homes and cars and families deeply shaken by the storm.
CHEEK: It was just a few weeks ago that we said this phrase, don't just go to church. What? Be the church. Nobody in our community, I think, has lost hope. I think it's renewed hope.
JONES (voice-over): Athena Jones, CNN, Henryville, Indiana.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: To find out more on how you can help those affected by the severe weather, go to CNN.com/impact.
Up next, two days and counting to Super Tuesday. A look at the Republican candidates and 10 states up for grabs. And then later, legendary newsman Dan Rather is on the political trail. He is passionate about the GOP presidential race and he certainly has a lot to say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The countdown is on, Super Tuesday, Republican presidential contest in 10 states with 419 delegates on the line. And CNN's political director, Mr. Mark Preston, already here in Atlanta, getting ready for our big coverage.
So, Mark, you got some new poll numbers to share. And so give us the very latest before going to Ohio. What's going on there?
MARK PRESTON, POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Sure. Let's start off in Ohio, and look at three states, Don, out of the 10. Ohio, look at these numbers right here. It shows that Rick Santorum right now and Mitt Romney are locked in a tight fight in Ohio, the Rust Belt state that a lot of people think that Mitt Romney really needs to do well if not win to show that he can appeal to those voters.
Well, let's come down south here to Tennessee, another state right now where Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney are locked in a tight fight as well down here in Tennessee, which, of course, is just a couple hours north of where we sit.
And then where we are, here in Georgia, here in Atlanta, Georgia right now, Newt Gingrich, the state where he was the Speaker of the House, served a long time representing back in Congress, he is taking the lead right now, has a pretty comfortable double-digit lead, leading the Georgia primary.
LEMON: You have to win your home state or native state or what have you. I mean, come on, if not, that's a bad showing if you don't do that.
PRESTON: Well, you have to, especially when you're Newt Gingrich and you say I have to do very well in order for my campaign to do well, Don.
LEMON: All right. So he put the pressure on himself. So tell us whether Republican candidates, how they are spending their time. Because sometimes we can read some things into their strategy by where they're spending and how they are spending their time.
PRESTON: Sure, and let's start with tonight. This is something that I found out like literally, and I didn't tell you this. I just found out in the last 10 minutes. So Newt Gingrich --
LEMON: Secrets --
PRESTON: Yes, I am keeping secrets, but we're going to let them out here for the national audience. We know that Newt Gingrich was off the campaign trail today. We know that Newt Gingrich did all the Sunday shows this morning, including CNN. We know now because of a tweet from his wife, Callista Gingrich, that they were in Virginia and they had a birthday dinner.
So very interesting two days before Super Tuesday, Newt Gingrich is not on the campaign trail, but rather out having a birthday dinner. But come tomorrow he is back on the campaign trail. He is going to be in Tennessee campaigning in Tennessee.
Meanwhile, Rick Santorum will be in Ohio as will Mitt Romney. And then of course Ron Paul will in Idaho. Now on Super Tuesday. The big day. Where is everyone going to be? Rick Santorum will be in Ohio. Mitt Romney will be in Ohio, but he will end it in Boston, his home state of Boston, Newt Gingrich will be right here, and Ron Paul will be in a caucus state of North Dakota.
LEMON: Are they going to be where they think they are going to fare the best? Is that what's going on here?
PRESTON: I think so. I think that's absolutely right.
LEMON: All right. Good stuff, Mark Preston. Sorry your tie didn't make the trip.
PRESTON: I know, but it's cool down here. I don't want a necktie.
LEMON: It's warm down here. But you don't want a -- thank you very much, Mark. Always good to see you in person.
PRESTON: Thanks.
LEMON: CNN is the only place to be on Super Tuesday, starting with a special edition of "JOHN KING, U.S.A." at 6:00 Eastern and complete coverage of all 10 state contests, 7:00 Eastern of course right here on CNN.
Other news tonight, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets tomorrow morning with President Obama at the White House. Sunday Netanyahu welcomed the president's remarks to a pro Israel lobbying group in Washington. Mr. Obama said that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is in the national security interest of both Israel and the U.S. CNN's Dan Lothian has more on the speech and the Monday meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): President Obama talked tough on Iran and delivered reassurances to Israel when he addressed Sunday's meeting of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Whenever an effort is made to delegitimize the state of Israel, my administration has opposed them.
(APPLAUSE)
So there should not be a shred of doubt by now. When chips are down, I have Israel's back.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): With an election year backdrop for a high stakes meeting between President Obama and Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran's nuclear program and how to deal with a looming threat are fueling tensions.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER: The warnings that I and others have been giving over the years will materialize unless Iran is stopped.
HAIM MALKA, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: We are heading into dangerous territory because the Israeli-U.S. partnership has already been under strain over the last couple of years.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): Haim Malka, a Middle East expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says while the U.S. and Israel share the same objectives, they don't always share the same strategy.
MALKA: The Obama administration is going to try to convince the Israeli prime minister that he should give sanctions a bit more time to work while the Israeli government, the Israeli prime minister is going to try to convince the president that time is running out, and that Iran needs to be confronted with explicit military threats.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): The White House insisted all options, including military action, remain on the table and while some critics may doubt the president's resolve, in a recent interview with "The Atlantic" magazine, he said, quote, "As President of the United States, I don't bluff."
But there seems to be less clarity, at least publicly, about the red line that would prompt the use of U.S. military force against Iran.
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Speculation or about what we would do if this were to happen and what would trigger what response is not something I would do here from the podium, and it's not productive to the success of our -- of our policy.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu have met eight times over the past three years. A stalled Mideast (sic) peace process is always the central focus of the temperatures rising amid talk of a possible attack by Israel on nuclear sites in Iran.
LOTHIAN: Even though the relationship between the president and the prime minister is often characterized as frosty or dysfunctional, the White House downplays their differences. The president said that the relationship is, quote, "very functional." And while he admitted that they are not always aligned on every issue, he insisted they share the same goals. Dan Lothian, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And coming up next here on CNN, he is on the political trail and he's all fired up. I'm talking about the legendary anchorman, Dan Rather. He's right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Less than 48 hours away from Super Tuesday, one of the biggest battles of the primary season, contests in 10 states all at once, 419 delegates at stake, the biggest single day of voting in the Republican race for president.
Legendary anchorman Dan Rather is covering Super Tuesday for HDNet, where he has his own show. It's called "Dan Rather Reports," and earlier I asked him if Super Tuesday is more important because of the GOP than not having such a -- they're having a hard time uniting behind one candidate at this time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN RATHER, NEWS ANCHOR: The question remains as it has been through most of the primary and caucus season, can anybody stop Mitt Romney. Now I think it's important to note, as you did just a few minutes ago, Don, that this doesn't mean -- even if Mitt Romney should do extremely well on Tuesday night, which he could do, it will not mean that the nominating process is over. Far from it.
I still believe this will go at least deep into May and maybe right through the early part of June. It may not be -- well may not be settled until they get to the nominating convention on -- in August. But this is the context in which this Super Tuesday is being held, that Mitt Romney has come from behind in the polls to draw at least even in Ohio, which is the crown jewel of these 10 states.
If he can also -- if he can also do well in Tennessee, a southern state, demonstrate he can do reasonably well in a southern state, he will not have sewn up the nomination, but he will have taken a major step.
Here's what to look for. More than 400 delegate votes are at stake. If any candidate takes four or five of the 10, that candidate will be presumed -- will be called the winner of the day. For Mitt Romney, if he gets, say 170 or 75 to 205 to 210 of those votes, this will be a giant step forward for him.
On the other hand if he doesn't, it's going to raise even more questions about is this really the guy we Republicans want to go to the well with against Obama in November. Most important point, it is a key voting time with 10 states and 400 delegates at risk -- at stake. But it will not be decisive, not yet, and I think not yet for a while.
LEMON: Well, what I want to ask you, to follow up more on what you are saying, and my original question, we hear a lot in the media about how long and grueling this race is compared to past years. Is that true? I mean, tap into your memory banks. Is that true? Is that -- is it really unusual to see so much uncertainty this late in the primary season?
RATHER: Well, it's not unprecedented, it is unusual. 1988, when you had a lot of candidates on -- in both parties running, was up and down. Of course, we had the last presidential time around with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. But to have this many candidates and to have things this unclear at this late date is unusual.
I don't subscribe to the idea, Don, that in the end this would necessarily be hurtful for the Republicans, that Mitt Romney is a much better candidate today than when he started out in Iowa. I'm not saying he's a good or bad candidate. I'm saying he's a whole lot better than he was.
And to go through, what, 20 debates, all of these states, a Super Tuesday, have it strengthened out, the Republican candidate will be tough to beat in November. I know there's a school of thought that says, listen, Obama is going to walk in November.
Anybody who thinks that, I think, is dreaming. Particularly if Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee, this is going to be a tough, close race and it's a race President Obama could lose.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Dan Rather. Coming up next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
LEMON (voice-over): Opposition forces come under rocket attack in the Syrian town of Razdan. That and more of the day's news coming up.
Also, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh saying he's sorry for calling an activist a slut. Is it too little too late? Tonight's "No Talking Point," right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, let's check the headlines right now. Syrian opposition forces celebrated as they left the town of Razdan today. They say they have driven government troops from the town, but as soon as they pulled out, Syrian artillery unleashed a barrage, at one point a shell a minute rained down.
Also across Syria, intense street fighting killed 59 people according to opposition reports among them seven children.
Hospitals are overflowing with the wounded after an explosion at an arms depot in the Republic of Congo's capital. Government says at least 123 people were killed in that blast. It is thought that an electrical short caused a fire which ignited a supply of tank shells.
Vladimir Putin is calling for unity after winning a third term as president of Russia. With more than two-thirds of the vote counted, Putin leads his closest rival by a 4-1 margin. He will give up his current job as prime minister to replace President Dmitri Medvedev. One of his opponents said Putin won by massive fraud.
President Barack Obama meets tomorrow at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Today the president told a pro-Israel lobbying group that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is in the security interest of both Israel and the U.S.
The president's words: "All elements of American power remain an option to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear state." That includes, he said, a military effort to be prepared for any contingency.
It is time now for "No Talking Points."
Rush Limbaugh's comments about a woman, a law student, testifying in favor of President Obama's contraception plan. Here he is on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO PERSONALITY: What does it say about the college coed Susan Fluke who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Rush Limbaugh on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIMBAUGH: So, Ms. Fluke, and the rest of you feminazis, here's the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. And I will tell you what it is. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Rush Limbaugh on Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIMBAUGH: Obama just called to make sure she was all right. Aww! That is so compassionate. What a -- what a great guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And Rush Limbaugh on Saturday -- we want to be fair so I am going to read his entire statement, a statement -- he calls it -- of apology.
"For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.
"I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities.
"What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit?
"In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone's bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a presidential level.
"My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices."
Limbaugh's statement came after he started losing sponsors. At least six have reportedly either canceled or suspended advertising on his program. Also, to be fair, Limbaugh is not the first personality to use such language. The Left has done it too -- a number of times. One example.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: President Obama is going to be visiting Joplin, Missouri, on Sunday. But you know what they are talking about, like this right wing slut, what's her name, Laura Ingraham? Yes, she is a talk slut.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That was MSNBC host Ed Schultz in May, using the same word against conservative personality Laura Ingraham.
Well, there was similar outrage from both the right and the left. Schultz was suspended for a week without pay. He also apologized. And the media, including this very network, reported on it just as in the recent Limbaugh incident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": You just say she's a slut, she's a right wing slut. I mean, you know, it's a -- clearly a sexually derogatory term. And, you know, and Schultz is smart not to try to, well, defend it by saying, well, what I really meant to say and this was demeaning. He realizes what he did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So here's tonight's "No Talking Points" point. Though some would like to make this a left versus right debate, it really isn't.
As cooler heads, both Republican and Democrats have said to me on this very program this weekend, no woman, regardless of political leanings or beliefs, deserves to be called such demeaning words. This is simply about respect, and in this case, respecting women. And that's tonight's "No Talking Points."
Up next, a look at some of the big stories we will be focusing on in the week ahead and what you can expect for your Monday morning commute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Now to the big stories of 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Lothian at the White House. President Obama and Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu have met eight times over the last three years, but some see Monday's face-to-face as the most important.
Iran and its nuclear program will be front and center as President Obama pushes for a diplomatic solution. Then on Wednesday the president heads to the key battleground state of North Carolina. An event in Charlotte is expected to focus on the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Barbara Starr. This week in Washington, two countries for the Pentagon to continue to worry about. First up, Syria as the killing continues there. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will be on Capitol Hill trying to explain to Congress what the Pentagon has in mind, if anything, about the crisis in that country.
And as U.S. and Israeli officials hold talks this week about the crisis over Iran, the pentagon will also be on the hot seat, trying to explain whether it has any new ideas about how to make Iran turn away from its nuclear ambitions. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Coming up this week on Wall Street, more earnings from companies, including Anheuser Busch in bev and Ann Taylor. And the economy will be in focus ahead of that all-important February jobs report, which is said to be released on Friday morning.
We will also get key manufacturing readings on Monday, and we're expecting pretty big news out of Apple. The company is holding an event in California on Wednesday and all bets are that it will release the iPad 3. We'll have to see if that's the case. We'll keep an eye on that and all the business news of the week for you CNNMoney.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
A.J. HAMMER, HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": I'm "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer. Here's what we are watching this week. Fran Drescher's bold new move.
The star of "Happily Divorced" is going to tell me why she is preparing to officiate a gay marriage and she opens up about how she found out her own ex-husband was gay. That's "Showbiz Tonight," exclusively week nights at 11:00 pm Eastern and Pacific, right here on HLN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Continuing now our look ahead. Jacqui Jeras in the CNN Severe Weather Center, and it sounds like the people who got hit last week getting hit again. How much more?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, but not severe weather. We're talking, you know, snow and rain on top of those tornado-ravaged areas. And it's coming down and it's heavy enough that we could be looking at one to three inches. In fact, there's Susan Candiotti there, and Pekin, Indiana, called and said, yes, the snowflakes are flying.
So we're seeing that ground truce (ph), so to speak, on our radar image. So southern Indiana, southern parts of Ohio into eastern Kentucky, into West Virginia. Those are the places that are going to be seeing this rain changing over to some snowfall and accumulating. That's going to stick around through tomorrow morning. And then high pressure builds in and clears things out.
The other concern, Don, is that those temperatures are going to be very cold behind it. And so freezing conditions overnight tonight, and there's still a lot of people whose homes are fine, but they don't have power. And there you can see the big picture for the weather map tomorrow. Our clipper moves towards the mid-Atlantic and a big storm in the Pacific Northwest. So tomorrow's commute, tonight our top five cities, the cities you don't want to be included in, at least if you're now traveling there. City number five, Atlanta, Georgia, very blustery conditions expected here tomorrow. Weather-wise, it's fine outside of the wind, but keep that in mind.
City number four, Dallas, Texas, wind an issue here as well. Could be seeing gusts up to 25 miles per hour so that can cause some issues at the airports.
City number three, Baltimore, Maryland, looking for light rain and snow, but low clouds also could cause some problems at BWI.
City number two, Washington, D.C., your neighbor, with the rain and snow.
And city number one, we've got a tower cam to show you from -- what's the city? Don, you know this one.
LEMON: I can't really see it -- what -- ?
JERAS: Look at the Space Needle.
LEMON: I can't see it.
JERAS: Space Needle.
LEMON: The Space Needle says it's Seattle?
JERAS: Hint, hint -- Seattle.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: That monitor is tiny. Should we -- can we let people know how small these monitors are?
(CROSSTALK)
JERAS: You can see the shaking. (Inaudible) a little bit of shaking going on already. Strong cold front is moving through for Seattle. They're looking at rain and then snow levels are going to be dropping down, might reach all of the valleys and they could pick up a slushy inch or so of snow tomorrow so --
LEMON: Can we pan over just a little bit, Rob (ph), on 2 to show people how small the monitor is on that camera that I can't see because --
JERAS: Sounds like "I really know my geography better than this."
LEMON: (Inaudible).
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: I do, I just can't see. It's like it's a little TV (inaudible) --
JERAS: All right, it is.
LEMON: Hey, listen, we called each other.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Gray plaid and lavender, right?
JERAS: The gray checks and the purple.
LEMON: Yes. Rat (ph). (Inaudible) do your thing, Jacqui. Appreciate it.
Up next, this man became one of Atlanta's first black deejays. And we'll tell you who he is and how his voice revolutionized radio back in the days of Jim Crow, right after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Back in the days of Jim Crow, James "Alley Pat" Patrick was a dominant voice among Atlanta's black radio and he was in an all- white medium until Alley Pat became one of the city's first black deejays. Blunt, opinionated, controversial but never dull. Looking back, he would say that's what matters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"ALLEY PAT" PATRICK, RADIO DEEJAY: Ladies, let me tell you this. You can always get a good deal on getting your hair done at Betty's (ph) Hair Fashions. And if you hair has come out or if it's coming out and you're about bald-headed, you ought to do something about it, because no man wants no bald-headed woman.
My name is Alley Pat Patrick.
You go to Betty's (ph) and then they'll put some hair on your head, you hear?
And I'm 93 years old.
I guess I was about 47, somewhere during that time, I went with WERD, because they had just them (ph) on air. This was a new - a new thing in the community, a Negro only radio station, right here in Atlanta (ph). That was unheard of.
TOM ROCHE, CREATIVE EDITOR, CRAWFORD MEDIA SERVICES: He had a personality that was perfect for radio, and he had a way of insulting the sponsors and doing a lot of other things that would get you fired today in a New York second. I'm Tom Roche, and I produced and directed and edited a documentary about Alley Pat.
In the 1970s, I was recording a lot of air checks of Alley Pat because I thought the show was so interesting and funny.
PATRICK: It's all right to leave your car over there with Charlie (ph). It's all right to leave it with him if he is sober. Now if he ain't sober, you take the car home with you.
You could talk about an eating place, how bad the food was there. Can you imagine that? Advertising, talking about how bad the food is and people would flock to this place to eat the bad food, because Alley Pat said that's the place to go eat anyway.
People love to be humiliated. Call me an SOB, but don't ignore me.
And, all right. All right. Now, you don't know, nobody does it like Bishop Charles. Let nobody fool you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Atlanta, WERD not only played good music, it gave us our news. It was probably the only station that was able to report on the Civil Rights movement objectively.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alley Pat was at the pulse of Atlanta, you know, when he was on air. He was at the heart of what was going on in the city.
PATRICK: The white kids had to snip down to Alban (ph) Avenue to hear this -- I know their mothers and fathers called it colored music. They crept in there all the time. That's where they wanted to go, to Point Sienna (ph), the Royal Peacock (ph), the Walahadi (ph), and we would bring George Shearing, Ella Fitzgerald, the high-class acts, I know some we do (ph).
One Sunday afternoon, the police were there when we -- when we opened that afternoon. And they were talking to us, and says, well, you can't -- you're disobeying the law. I said, "Why?" "Because you can't have white and black under the same roof." You could, get you a rope.
Now isn't that stupid, they says? Get you a rope and stretch it down the middle of the ballroom, whites on one side of the rope and blacks on the other side of the rope.
And after 10 or 15 minutes, nobody gave it there. Everybody was drunk.
ROCHE: I made this movie for free. I did it to hand back to Atlanta and to Atlanta history, and to Alley Pat and to his family.
PATRICK: Hey, and it's about two minutes after 3 o'clock and the music is recorded and I'm here and I know you are glad anybody is here, other than them gospel folks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Gotta love it.
All right, whether Thin Mints or your thing -- whether Thin Mints are your thing or you're all about the Tagalongs, well, you'd better think twice before you try to cross a Girl Scout. A couple of thugs in Texas found out the hard way. The story behind the daring Do-si-do cookie heist, that's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's check your headlines right now.
Her story captured hearts around the nation. Fourteen-month-old Angel Babcock became a symbol of hope in the destruction of this week's tornadoes. She survived a twister that killed her entire family, her tiny body thrown into an Indiana field by the incredible forces, but her hold on life was just too fragile. Angel died a few hours ago, after she was taken off life support.
In Carlsbad, New Mexico, fire officials say the search for a 4- year-old boy is now a recovery operation. Samuel Jones's went missing Saturday evening. It was initially thought he had been abducted.
Now his body has been spotted at the bottom of a hole near his home. The narrow hole is 30 feet deep. And officials don't believe he survived the fall. (Inaudible) rescue team is trying to help recover the body.
Mass murderer Jeffrey Dahmer is still causing pain. The sister of one of his victims calls a walking tour of Dahmer's haunts evil. Vann Media and Marketing offer the tours in the same Milwaukee neighborhood where Dahmer trolled for his victims. The online dealmaker Groupon even sold discounted tickets until criticism forced it to stop. Dahmer admitted killing 17 young boys in the 1980s and was murdered in prison in 1994.
Some pretty brazen thieves in Texas decided to rob a group of Girl Scouts selling cookies outside a Wal-Mart. Police say a man walked up to the stand, acting like he wanted to buy cookies. Then he grabbed the money box and ran to his car. But these girls, well, they didn't give up the money without a fight. Two suffered minor injuries while trying to chase after the car.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IRAVIA COTTON, GIRL SCOUT: I started hitting the boy that was in the passenger seat. So I think he got a -- you know, learned his lesson a little bit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The men got away with about $200. The girls will be OK.
Some call it the last great race on Earth, but just a day after kicking off the first Iditarod dogsled race, route had to be changed because of worsening weather conditions. Sixty-six mushers and their dogs left Anchorage Saturday to begin the nearly 1,000-mile trek. Near-record snowfall has made Alaska's notorious winter terrain even more treacherous.
Nazi war planes hidden beneath an Indiana air field -- one team is working to uncover history and piece it back together, bit by bit. Jacqui Jeras has that and two other great mysteries coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Ah, look at that. You see the "Saturday Night Mysteries" became "Sunday Night Mysteries," right, we had to put it on hold. Nice try with the producers, it's Sunday night, right?
So we had to put it on hold because of the storm coverage that need to be covered. And a lot of coverage devoted to that. So, Jacqui, "Sunday Night Mysteries," you got a lot on tap. What's up first?
JERAS: We do. OK. The first one has to do with a mystery that's been going on literally for over 100 years and it's still happening today, believe it or not. This is in North Carolina. We want to start out with some video to show you. Take a look at the lights. This is Brown Mountain in North Carolina during the day.
But when the sun goes down, look at this. Stories and sightings of the Brown Mountain lights are still -- have people wondering what the heck is causing that. This is in Burke County, North Carolina, this in the Blue Ridge Foothills. And nobody really knows what causes this. Take a look and take a listen to this next video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's off to your right there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at that. Look at that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you got?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a blue -- ooh! I got a blue light. Oh, there it is again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JERAS: (Inaudible). That was shot by Joshua Warren and Brian Irish, and you know, the things that have been consistent about this is that the same place that people are seeing it, it's just above the horizon.
There are these little orbs of light that seem to be floating around in the area, and believe it or not the USGS researched this back in the 1920s and they said, you know what, we think this is lights from automobiles. But --
LEMON: I was going to say that or either a flare from like an airplane or something above. No?
JERAS: That's a good guess. Well, a bridge got washed out. And so the lights still appear, so that theory went out the window. A geology professor says that there's a high concentration of quartz and granite which is in the mountain, and that could cause some kind of electrical kind of connection, but basically some people say it's paranormals.
Nobody really knows, but they are starting to make money off of this, believe it or not. There's a song written about it. There's a beer that's been made, called Brown Mountain Light.
LEMON: Oh, no, Brown Mountain. I'd like to try that. They could use that. OK, you have another mystery. People are craning their necks in the newsroom to see this. What is it?
JERAS: You know, it's Jesus. At least that's what one New Mexico man says. He was eating a tortilla on ash Wednesday. Judge for yourself. Look at that. You see the brown hair --
LEMON: He probably just had beer from the other thing --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: -- Jesus Juice.
JERAS: I don't know. This was in Espanola, New Mexico, and he said nothing would surprise him when it comes to a Higher Power, so you can be the judge on that one.
LEMON: OK. Anyway, real quickly, we got 20 seconds. What do you have?
JERAS: Yes, last one. This is Nazi secrets being revealed or uncovered in a field in Indiana. Sixty-seven years ago, Freeman Field airport was a place where they took World War II planes from Germany.
They brought them here, they took them apart and put them back together. It's called reverse engineering, basically, because at the time the technology was better than ours. All right? But what happened to all those planes? There were 81 different ones, including some missiles. And, well, they're finding them now. Guess where?
LEMON: Where?
JERAS: Underground.
LEMON: Oh, cool.
JERAS: And so they buried them. So hundreds of pieces of planes have already been found. They haven't found the big fuselage so far, but they are hoping that once the ground thaws out a little bit --
LEMON: Very nice. Thank you for "Sunday Night Mysteries," and can we say happy birthday, Chicago, 175 years old. Yes.
All right. I'm Don Lemon, she's Jacqui Jeras. I'll see you back here next weekend. Thanks for watching. Good night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
