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Changing Plans Of School Districts Due To COVID-19; Biden Wrestles With Surging COVID Numbers; Betty White's Death; NYPD Detectives Solve Decades-Old Cold Case Of 13-Year-Old's Murder; South Africa's "National Conscience" Desmond Tutu Laid To Rest; Severe Weather Across Much Of U.S. This Weekend; Financial Check List For 2022. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired January 01, 2022 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: in the wild outdoors in Minneapolis forecast, Fred, has temperatures of minus five at game time with potential wind chills of negative 20, which would make it the coldest NHL game in history. It'll be so cold, Fred, even going to have to warm the ice. What a way to start 2022 in the sports world. Happy New Year, Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. And happy 2022. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All right. Monday is the return to school for millions of kids. But many will not be heading back into the classroom. As record numbers of children are hospitalized for COVID-19, some school districts will start with online learning, including in Atlanta, which just moments ago, announced the first week back from the holidays will be virtual.
It's the third largest school district in the metropolitan area in Georgia to make that move. A vast majority of the country. in fact, seen in dark red here is struggling with COVID surges in some places, 50% or more. CNN's Nadia Romero is following the rapidly changing plans of school districts all across the country, but particularly here in the Atlanta area. Nadia, what are you learning?
NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And this is exactly what school districts, and students, and teachers, a lot of them were hoping would not happen. But when you see the spike in cases all across the country and here in Georgia, this is the reaction.
So we know that at least five Metro Atlanta school districts, including three Atlanta school districts are all going to be going back to remote learning when they go back to school this week, not back to the classroom, but back to their kitchen tables, and their bedrooms, and their basements to do remote learning again. Just like many schools had to do at the beginning of the school year because of the spike in cases that we saw during the month of August.
Now, for Atlanta teachers, this is interesting. Those teachers will have to go back to their school buildings. And they will be required to undergo COVID-19 testing. The school district says that they will use that testing for their data and for future planning.
And now, most of the school districts that say they're going back to remote learning starting in the beginning of the year are hoping by the week of January 10th that they can be in-person again. But of course, all of that really depends on what the numbers look like in the state, in the city, and in those school districts. But here, we are, again, Fred, it's deja vu, you think it's a new year, we're going to do something new, but we're back to the same old, same old.
WHITFIELD: Yes, we sure are. OK. Thank you so much, Nadia Romero. Keep us posted. So for the Biden Administration, the deepening COVID crisis may be the single most pressing and most formidable challenge. CNN's Kevin Liptak is in Wilmington, Delaware, where the president is spending this holiday weekend. So Kevin, what's being done both publicly and behind closed doors?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Fredricka, right now, the focus is really on getting resources to states where hospitals are feeling the strain, and also easing those shortfalls of testing that are causing these lines, and delays, and results around the country. You remember, it was 10 days ago that President Biden said that the federal government would purchase 500 million at-home rapid.
They would send them to any American that wants them. But there's still a lot of questions about that plan 10 days later, most namely when those tests will be available. Now, we do expect to get some more information in this upcoming week. Principally, the federal government is going to finalize the contracts with the companies that will actually produce those tests. And we expect to learn more about t that late this week.
And now, in the meantime, the White House and the federal government are trying to ramp up testing resources and other ways. There was a federal testing site that opened in New Jersey today. Federal testing sites in the District of Columbia and Philadelphia expected to open in the next coming days. The White House has also sent FEMA medical resources to states like Arizona and New York.
Some military medical personnel are also going to states around the country. Fredricka, President Biden really hope to enter 2022 in much more normal circumstances. And you heard him say that, repeat that over the past year, remember it was only in July that the president wanted independence from the virus. Then came the Delta surge. So right now, this is really a political problem, a public health problem for the president.
And you really starting to see that public messaging shifts somewhat with White House officials, with public health officials, really trying to focus more on the severity of cases through hospitalizations instead of overall case counts. And that's really trying to shift the country into this situation where we'll have to live with this virus for however long is to come.
Now, President Biden last night, he did post a little video. He shared it with one of the New Year's Eve broadcasts. He says, "The virus has been tough this year, but we've been tougher," Fredricka?
[03:05:08] WHITFIELD: Alright, Kevin Liptak, thank you so much. So at least four
times this week, the nation broke records for its seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases. It has soared to an average of 386,000 new infections each of those days. That's the highest of any time during the pandemic. And many experts warn, it will only get worse. The deepening crisis has forced the Biden Administration to abandon its hopeful, almost celebratory messaging from the summer.
[BEIN VIDEO CLIP]
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: So today, while the virus hasn't been vanquished, we know this, it no longer controls our lives, it no longer paralyzes our nation. And it's within our power to make sure it never does again. Look, there is no federal solution. This gets solved at a state level. And then ultimately gets down to where the rubber meets the road. And that's where the patient is in need of help or preventing the need for health.
[END VIDEO CLIP]
WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk about all of this. Doctor Abdul El- Sayed, he's a CNN contributor and epidemiologist and a former Detroit health commissioner. And Jessica Malaty Rivera, an infectious disease expert and senior advisor at the Pandemic Prevention Institute. Good to see both of you. Well, Doctor El-Sayed, I don't know. Is this COVID still controlling so much of us? I mean, the White House wants to be optimistic. But what do you believe the message needs to be from the White House right now about what we really are up against?
ABDUL EL-SAYED, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, it is a really challenging circumstance to be in. But here's the reality of trying to message in this moment in the first place. You're trying to message to basically two different populations. You have the unbothered unvaccinated and then you have the vigilant vaccinated.
And the hard part is that when you talk about the severity of where we are right now, it increases the understandable anxiety among the vigilant vaccinate. But it doesn't really do anything for the unbothered unvaccinated who you really need to start paying attention and maybe go and get vaccinated. And so it's a really difficult situation to be in.
And that being said, in this situation, is also impossible to understand why it is that we don't have the necessary testing that we should have had in the first place. And that really is up the anxiety about the fact that we have Omicron cases skyrocketing. And the people find themselves without the things that they thought they did, it makes it feel like we're back in March of 2020.
And so this really is a challenging circumstance for the administration. And in part, because they believed their own press in the early parts of this summer, when they thought that the pandemic was really behind us, and it wasn't, and we really never should have stopped pushing the gas on, making sure what all of the things we needed to deal with this pandemic in case cases shot up again. And they have. WHITFIELD: So in other words, you're also saying they believe their
own optimism. So is there any way in which this administration can play catch up with getting more tests available to meet the growing need, Doctor?
EL-SAYED: The unfortunate situation here is that it's really difficult to play catch up because we're seeing cases surge well beyond what we've ever seen in the midst of this pandemic. And so once you're already behind, it is really, really difficult to catch up.
And the demand just far outstrips the capacity to bring supply online. And so we really never should have seen the kind of decreases in manufacturing of tests, manufacturing of N95 and masks. And unfortunately, it's left us in this situation where it's almost impossible to catch up.
WHITFIELD: So Jessica, there was great hope that a booster shot, you know, that third shot was going to help people prepare for what could have been an expected surge, especially because of that Omicron variant. But there are a tremendous number of breakthrough cases regardless of whether you have a booster or not. So what is the message to be sent to people to incentivize, especially the unvaccinated. I mean, how did you describe them, Doctor, the unbothered unvaccinated.
EL-SAYED: Unbothered unvaccinated.
WHITFIELD: I mean, that's great alliteration. But I mean, what can be the message to them when they're seeing there are breakthrough cases of people who have their booster shot. So why even bother?
JESSICA MALATY RIVERA, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGIST: Right. So given the high transmissibility of Omicron, breakthrough infections are inevitable. And the more vaccinated people we see, the more breakthrough infections we will get, not because they are vaccinated, but because of the sheer volume of virus that is circulating in our community.
What needs to be the focus though is the fact that vaccines from the beginning of vaccination, you know, research, their primary goal is to keep people out of hospitals and to keep people alive. It's not to prevent infection. That's one of the bonuses that can happen. But given Omicron, given how easy it is to contracts the disease, the vaccines are really intended to prevent you from getting severely sick.
And to be honest, Fredricka, the numbers have just not been great. As of yesterday, the last day of 2021, we were only 62% fully vaccinated in the country. And only 33% of the population has been boosted. That's not nearly enough to have that balance of low transmission and high vaccination so that we can stop seeing such very, very high trends in the data.
[03:10:21]
WHITFIELD: And fully vaccinate is still considered the two shots. RIVERA: As of right now, that definition has not changed. And so I
think one of the ways we can incentivize the booster (INAUDIBLE) is knowing that when you look at the data, data for those who've been boosted, it's pretty compelling when it shows they're less likely to be infected or severely sick with Omicron and other variants, because it does increase the person's protection against the virus.
WHITFIELD: And then doctor, I mean, you know, there are lots of images out there that we're all trying to understand, of course, and messages too. People were hoping that this holiday season meant that they could, you know, get together with their family members. And then we heard about the Omicron Varian. And then a lot of people backed off that.
But then you still have, and everybody, you know, America loves its football, but then, you still have these college bulls taking place. You've got, you know, crowded stands, et cetera. I mean, how do you handle, you know, conveying a message of need versus, you know, conveying a message that universally is being directed by desire?
EL-SAYED: Yeah, this has been the frustrating reality, frankly, from the jump when it comes to this pandemic, is that there has been some wishful thinking about where we are and where we wanted to be. And nobody wanted to be in a situation. Yet again on the holidays where you have yet another variant.
This one far more transmissible than anything that we've seen just yet, potentially precluding us from doing the things we love with our family, but also being able to celebrate the things that happened once a year, this Bull season, my Michigan Wolverines just got walloped yesterday.
But the fact is, is that maybe this is a moment where we can look at this and ask how much is enough. I mean, how many people are we willing to let get sick and possibly die of this preventable illness, and not do the things that we need to do to curtail it? But here we are, again, you know, for folks who've said, you know what, I'm done with COVID, even if COVID is not done for me, the existence --
WHITFIELD: Yes, it's not a state of mind.
EL-SAYED: Yes, exactly.
WHITFIELD: Yes. All right. Doctor Abdul El-Sayed, Jessica Malaty Rivera, thank you so much. You know, let's still pray for a hopeful New Year. There's got to be something good around the corner for all of us. Thank you so much. Good to see you. All right. Coming up next, never without a quick and witty comeback. Betty White says, she was born a cockeyed optimist. Look at her amazing career and ability to make us all laugh, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:15:00]
WHITFIELD: All right. Betty White, a beloved actress and comedian passed away Friday, just 10 days, just -- I'm sorry, just days rather before her 100th birthday. With a Hollywood career that spanned over eight decades, she became one of the most endearing and iconic faces of television. CNN Stephanie Elan looks back at the incredible and extraordinary career of America's sweetheart.
[BEGIN VIDOETAPE]
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The 1949, Betty White played a sidekick on a live afternoon show in Los Angeles. It ran about five hours a day, at least five days a week.
BETTY WHITE, ACTRESS AND COMEDIAN: At that point, television was just starting and nobody had any idea it was going to change the world.
ELAM: She went on to appearance sitcoms and game shows, winning hearts with her sweet smile and sharp wit. She was also one of the earliest female producers in Hollywood. Her breakout roles included, Man Hungry, Sue Ann on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and seven seasons as the lovable but naive Rose on The Golden Girls.
WHITE: And they attacked chickens.
RUE MCCLANAHAN, ACTRESS AND COMEDIAN: I don't care about chickens, Rose. She didn't call me chicken, she called peacock.
WHITE: You look more like a chicken when you're angry. Your neck sticks out.
ELAM: The actress and comedian, a master collection of Emmy's, SAG awards, and even a Grammy. In 2010, she was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award by the SCREEN ACTORS GUILD.
WHITE: When they called me, I fell off the couch. I couldn't believe it.
ELAM: A devoted pet lover, White was a long-time advocate for animal rights.
WHITE: Television is my hobby, animals are my work.
ELAM: Though she never really dropped from the scene, White's career got a second wind in 2010 after she started in a Snickers, Super Bowl commercial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're playing like Betty White out there.
WHITE: That's not what your girlfriend said.
ELAM: The popularity of the spot sparked a campaign on Facebook advocating for White to host Saturday Night Live. She brought the show its highest ratings in nearly two years.
WHITE: You know what's an accomplishment? Staying awake on the toilet.
ELAM: After that success, White seemed to be everywhere, in movies and TV shows, including a starring role in the sitcom, "Hot in Cleveland." She published books and even a calendar. White was voted America's favorite and most trusted celebrity in a 2011 Reuters Poll. She had a sense of humor about her new found ubiquity.
WHITE: Well, if you thought you couldn't get rid of me before, no, you're really stuck with me.
ELAM: White was a comic pioneer who celebrity transcended generations.
[END VIDEOTAPE]
WHITFIELD: Indeed. What a remarkable legacy. With me now is Stan Zimmerman. He is a writer and producer who wrote for the first season of The Golden Girls. Stan, thanks so much for being with us. And I mean, our condolences to you. You were a great friend of Betty White's. And I know this loss is tremendous. So tell me --
STAN ZIMMERMAN, WRITER AND PRODUCER: We all were.
WHITFIELD: What's that?
ZIMMERMAN: I think we all were. We all felt a part of family, and that she was a part of our family.
WHITFIELD: So I wonder, you know, tell me, I mean, you wrote for, you know, a lot of iconic shows, Roseanne, the Gilmore Girls. I mean, but tell me, what would be your approach when writing, knowing that it was going to be Betty White to deliver the lines? What did you have in mind as you would come up with content?
ZIMMERMAN: Fear. (INAUDIBLE). We were baby writers at the time and we had so much to live up to. And Susan Harris had created such beautiful characters, all four of them. And I had grown up watching Bea Arthur, Rue Mcclanahan, (INAUDIBLE).
And I had just seen Estelle Getty on Broadway and Torch Song Trilogy. And of course, I love Sue Ann Nivens and Betty White. And here I was, somehow landed on that in the first season, and they were all saying my lines. But if you wanted anybody to read your lines, you would want those four. They were the best of the best.
WHITFIELD: Wow. I mean, it really seems like -- I mean, how fortunate for you to be able to be in the room, you know, and be able to collaborate, to write, to be creative with them in mind. So as it pertains to Betty White, I mean, you know, you mentioned you'd be terrified, it was nerve wracking, you know, writing it. But then when she would read it or deliver it, what would that make you feel like?
ZIMMERMAN: My heart would pound. I couldn't believe that she was reading them. And she just knocked every joke out of the ballpark as all four of them did. And that's what made the show so special. They each came at it from different perspectives, and different backgrounds, and different training, but they were all so brilliant and so perfectly cast in those roles. And it was great to see Betty play something different than Sue Ann Niven, the innocent Rose. And she was so wonderful at it, which is why she won one of her -- Emmy Awards for it. [03:20:26]
WHITFIELD: I love the way she even described, you know, her character. I mean, she would say, you know, she wasn't unsmart, you know? She was actually very smart. It's just she was very compassionate and, had, you know, really a rosy view of everybody else. And also, it seems like she very much paralleled her character, did she?
ZIMMERMAN: She did. And then we get to use bits from her real life. My writing partner, Jim Berg and I had read an article that she had been interviewed for the New York Times. And she had talked about Allen Ludden, her husband who had passed and how she had said that not a day goes by that she doesn't think of him.
And we actually put that in a scene in our first script Blanche and the Younger Man. And I wish I got to tell her that we had done that. But every time I see that scene, I kind of get goosebumps knowing that those were her actual words. And she actually said them about the character of Charlie on Golden Girls.
WHITFIELD: Oh gosh. And then, I mean, what longevity? I mean, in the industry and just period as a human being, I mean, here, she dies just, what, 17, 18 days before her 100th birthday and --
ZIMMERMAN: But on New Year's Eve, which I think it's (INAUDIBLE) that she would choose that day, knowing that we would all be talking about her and toasting her. And I know I toasted her last night. I mean, not as much as Andy Cohen did, but I did a little bit.
WHITFIELD: Oh, so how do you want people to remember her? I mean, those of us who didn't get to know her personally, but got to know her because of her characters and watching her on TV for these many decades, we have our own ideas about how to remember her, but how do you want people to remember your dear friend, Betty White?
ZIMMERMAN: I think that would be a good time to go back and look at all those shows. Mary Tyler Moore, obviously Golden Girls I want you to watch, or just, you know, talk to your pet the way Betty White loved her pets and spend time with them. And those that we love, you know, like the family of the Golden Girls created for themselves.
WHITFIELD: Stan Zimmerman, what a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much. Thanks for sharing your memories and a great encounters with the late, now great Betty White.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:25:00]
WHITFIELD: Twenty-two years after she was murdered. The family of them, 13-year-old, Minerliz Soriano, finally received some good news with the use of new DNA technology and decades-old case notes, the NYPD, was able to find the young girl's killer. CNN's Brynn Gingras has an exclusive look at the incredible investigation. And I should warn you that some elements in this story may be disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MALCOLM REIMAN, HOMICIDE DETECTIVE, NYPD: I joined the police department because I think that there was some adventure and some excitement, but also, to do something that really matters. I want to catch bad guys, people that are preying upon people. You're from Bronx homicide? I got a (INAUDIBLE) for an old case from 1999. God forbid, you're on your deathbed tomorrow and you're looking back in your life. And if he did something that mattered, I think that's the most important thing.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In February, 2018, CNN gained rare access into the NYPD's Bronx homicide unit to follow detectives as they work a decades-old cold case.
REIMAN: Minerliz Soriano was 13 years old. She was still several years away from her prom. She never got to go.
GINGRAS: Minerliz Soriano, seventh grader from the Bronx was brutally killed, February 24th, 1999.
KIMBERLY ORTIZ, CHILDHOOD FRIEND OF MINERLIZ: My name is Kimberly Ortiz. And went to Middle School 135 with me. She was just so bubbly, so kind. She always had this book with her where she always wrote about poetry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you remember about February 24th, 1999.
ORTIZ: Gosh, that date. I remember that date like yesterday. I was the last person who probably saw her alive, other than her killer.
GINGRAS: Minerliz left school and vanished. And after girling city- wide search, her body was found four days later in a dumpster, two miles from her home. She'd been strangled.
ORTIZ: It was like, you know, Minerliz us dead and they don't know who it was. This killer is still out there. And this person's probably preying on kids our age. Yes, we were all on edge.
BARBARA SAMPSON, CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, NEW YORK CITY: The hardest cases that we deal with as medical examiners are those involving children. What was done with her has something that has been haunting me for the nearly 20 years since that date. There was no really good leads as to who did it.
GINGRAS: When we met up with Malcolm Reiman, he was rounding the corner on 31 years of service.
REIMAN: I could have retired 11 and a half years ago when I was eligible to retire. And I stayed. I feel this is important work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dave, are you (INAUDIBLE)?
GINGRAS: During his career, Reiman created a niche for himself, solving some of the hardest cases in the NYPD's history, serial killers, rapists, and even homicides where bodies were never found. The department hoped fresh eyes would help find Minerliz's killer. It seemed all leads have been exhausted and the case continued to loom over the Bronx community.
ORTIZ: We can't bring her back. We all want to know what happened to her.
REIMAN: It's important. Well, we want to look at her, humanized her, remember who we're working for. It's better to have a mountain of material than to start with nothing.
[15:30:00]
It was daunting as it is, it's also pure gold in here.
It actually displays just how difficult this case is going to be to solve.
This is interesting. This is some of the stuff that went to the FBI lab. Some of her poetry that he wrote.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Minerliz's diaries were filled with a mix of schoolwork, love notes, even a list of astronomy Web sites she likes to visit.
MICHEL LAGIOVANE, FORMER DETECTIVE, NYPD: It stays with you, and this was one of them.
GINGRAS: Over the years, dozens of detectives worked this case and Reiman reached out to many of them and retraced the steps they took 20 years before.
REIMAN: Hey, Barney, it's Malcolm, from Bronx Homicide.
DET. BARNEY RYAN, NYPD (voice-over): It was a Sunday morning. I was at church. I got a beep. We still had beepers then.
They found a dead body in a dumpster over in Co-op City. There was a guy who was kind of a scrounger. He found a heavy bag. He ripped it open and he saw her face and her head and stuff.
So we have her leaving school, getting on the bus, getting off the bus, looking like she was entering her building. Next thing we know, she's found in this dumpster.
LAGIOVANE: I've seen rape homicides before. They're usually messy. But this was all wrapped up in a bundle like somebody cared that she was dead.
REIMAN: We're going to go to the location where her body was recovered. And we're going to take a look at these areas. And we're just going to get a feel for the area, see what's around, get a feel for what it looks like.
This would have been all that dark lot. If it's really late at night, there's not a whole lot going on back then here.
DET. MATT CROSSMAN, NYPD: None of those lights would have been there. It's daytime when she's found. Assuming maybe that the crime occurs at
her residence, the way the highways are set up, this is a really no- brainer in terms of finding a remote location where you could come.
GRINGAS: When the detectives found Minerliz's body, she was fully clothed. A crucial clue, though, was discovered on her sweatshirt, traces of semen.
REIMAN: Apparently, the victim used to go around to do door to door candy sales. Perhaps somebody took an interest in her, an unhealthy interest.
GINGRAS: Reiman learned that after reviewing hundreds of hold detective notes.
The paperwork showed that investigators chased hundreds of leads, spoke to numerous witnesses, even took DNA samples from more than a dozen potential suspects. Nothing pointed to who did it.
Their work led them to re-examine an original theory, that Minerliz may not have been a stranger to her killer.
REIMAN: It seems as if she would have had an unusually high exposure to other residents in that building.
GINGRAS: So detectives revisited Minerliz's apartment building.
REIMAN: We knock on every door of the building.
We also have a good idea of who was in the building back then, what men were able to be in a sexually active mode in 1999 that were of age to have sex, who could be a possible suspect, and getting an idea of who they are, where they are.
GINGRAS: Reiman made a list of former tenants who he didn't get to speak to that day.
And then his investigation shifted to a newly available DNA technology. Reiman and his lieutenant, who also worked on the case in 1999, wanted to request familial DNA testing.
LT. SEAN O'TOOLE, COMMANDING OFFICER, NYPD BROX HOMICIDE SQUAD: This was a case we did a lot of work. We heard about the familial DNA at one of the training sessions.
GINGRAS: New York approved the use of familial DNA testing in 2017. It allows police to identify suspects in a case by their connection with male relatives who were convicted of a crime and in the state's DNA database.
To date, the state has only OKed its use for 35 cases. It would take time, possibly years, and a lot of work for the state to even consider using it in Minerliz's case.
For Reiman, time was the issue. After 31 years, the decorated detective was ready to retire. REIMAN: I'm going to have to let it go and pass it on and pass the
torch. Tough to do. Tough to do.
GINGRAS: In November 2021, three years after Reiman handed in his badge, nearly 23 years since Minerliz's killing, the city announced it made an arrest.
DARCEL D. CLARK, BRONX DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Minerliz was not just a grim statistic or a case number. She was a vibrant child who should be with us today enjoying life.
GINGRAS: A grand jury indicted 49-year-old Joseph Martinez on two counts of second-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty. He has not prior criminal history.
[15:35:03]
Through his attorney, Martinez says he's innocent.
Martinez was identified with the help of this team in the NYPD's Forensic Unit.
After the Homicide Bureau requested familial DNA in 2018, Chief Emmanuel Katranakis on the laborious duty of ensuring that the case met the strict criteria that the state requires for an application.
It took two years for New York state's crime lab to come back with a familial DNA hit.
EMANUEL KATRANAKIS, DEPUTY CHIEF, FORENSICS DIVISION, NYPD: That was the moment that made the difference. The case is going to be solved.
GINGRAS: The familial DNA "hit" gave detectives the name of a convicted offender found in the state's DNA database.
This means the forensics team would be looking for someone related to that person as possibly being Minerliz's killer.
To help narrow down the possibilities, detectives formed a family tree and identified five male relatives of that offender.
KATRANAKIS: We look at their ages, we look at the locations, where they're residing. We look at the criminal history of the individuals.
GINGRAS: That helped eliminate two of the men who were too young at the time of the crime.
Investigators were then left with three who they determined to be sons of the convicted offender.
Taking a closer look at the evidence, detectives realized one of them, Martinez, lived in Minerliz's building when the murder happened.
They collected a discarded DNA sample from him and police say results came back with a direct match.
KATRANAKIS: There's only one individual that the positive, his DNA, on her front shirt. That is unequivocal.
GINGRAS: The city says this is the first cold case solved by using familial DNA.
REIMAN: What happens with this new type of technology is, you go from a list of 43 people to one.
JOESPH MARTINEZ, INDICTED FOR MURDER OF MINERLIZ SORIANO: That big crater, that you saw in the middle of the moon, that's crater right there.
GINGRAS: Martinez, who was 27-years-old at the time of the murder, also goes by Jupiter Joe.
He gave sidewalk astronomy classes. Videos of him encouraging kids and adults to see the stars through his telescope are online.
O'TOOLE: Astronomy, the stars and everything she was interested in is something that our suspect is interested in. He's going around, talking about it. So there's a connection there.
GINGRAS: And detectives discovered another connection. Old case notes from 1999 showed Martinez told police he had seen Minerliz around their apartment complex getting mail and selling candy.
When Martinez was questioned in late November and denied any physical contact with Minerliz, detectives say, that's when they knew he was lying, ultimately, sealing the case against him.
REIMAN: He's actually fifth on the list of individuals that I wanted to look at and talk to.
GINGRAS (on camera): What does that say to you?
REIMAN: It says we were heading in the right direction. These cases are so difficult to do. And there are so many setbacks and dead ends.
To see that this guy is going to stand in a courtroom and face justice, it's an incredible gratification.
KIMBERLY ORTIZ, CHILDHOOD FRIEND OF MINERLIZ SORIANO: Just to see the person brought in prison is good enough for me.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Minerliz Soriano, a bubbly girl from the Bronx, she daydreamed about love, rainbows and the stars.
There's no way she could have known traces of her life would one day be in boxes on a detective's desk.
Her smiling school picture, a reminder of who they were working for.
REIMAN: I hope that she sees all the people that cared, all the people that put in so much effort over so many years, eating meals off the dashboard of a car. And that she -- that she knows she wasn't forgotten.
GINGRAS: She was just 13, deserving of the life she imagined.
REIMAN: I hope she's smiling at us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: That was Brynn Gingras reporting.
[15:39:16]
Desmond Tutu was an antiapartheid hero, Nobel Prize winner and archbishop. Next, the touching tribute his daughter delivered today at his funeral.
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WHITFIELD: South Africa's president hailed Desmond Tutu as the country's national conscious as he was laid to rest today in Cape Town.
The Nobel Peace Prize-winner is best remembered as an activist helping to end apartheid.
David McKenzie reports on the ceremony.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, Cape Town was home to Desmond Tutu but he was an icon to millions across the world. And they will mourn his passing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SINGING)
MCKENZIE (voice-over): In a simple pine casket of his choosing, a final good-bye to a man who helped define this country, its miracle of democracy. A man who cherished this cathedral and songs of praise.
(SINGING)
NAOMI TUTU, DESMOND TUTU'S DAUGHTER: Many of the messages we received have said thank you for sharing him with the world.
Well, it actually is a two-way street. Because we shared him with the world, you shared part of the love you held for him with us.
And so we are thankful for the many ways you showed us love, for the many times you challenged us, for the many times you comforted us.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
MCKENZIE: His parents christened him with a name that means "life."
And he had so much life and love to give.
Desmond Tutu, a man of faith, who took on apartheid's racism with the bravery of a lion. He was never afraid to speak out, speak up against the injustices of the world. A global celebrity with a common touch.
(on camera): Many people I've spoken to, and even myself included, had a personal moment with the arch.
What was it about him that allowed him to reach out and touch people like that?
NICLAS KJELLSTROM-MATSEKE, CHAIR, TUTU LEGACY FOUNDATION: Well, you see, Desmond Tutu could contact with anyone, with anyone.
And it could be a king or president or with children. Someone on the street that just bumps into him. And that happens again and again and again. He got energy from it and he gave energy.
[15:45:00]
The ability to connect with other human beings was probably one of the most profound, great things with him. And because of that, I think the entire world feels that it's my archbishop, it's my Desmond Tutu.
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: He embraced all who had ever felt the cold wind of exclusion and they also embraced him.
If archbishop Desmond Tutu were here, he would have said, hey, hey, why are you looking so glum, so unhappy? He would have wanted to elicit a smile, laugher from amongst all of us.
(SINGING)
MCKENZIE (voice-over): His hearty laugher is silent, but Tutu would have prayed that his lessons of forgiveness and hope will grow louder still.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE: I spoke to several of his closest confidants and I asked, who will carry on the legacy of Desmond Tutu? They said it's up to the next generation to speak truth like he did -- Frederica?
WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, David McKenzie.
All right. Severe weather putting a damper on holiday travel. And it could get worse before the weekend's over. We'll have an update next. Stay with us.
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WHITFIELD: All right. We're kicking off the new year with some very active weather across much of the country.
And 40 million people are under winter weather alerts and another 30 million could see severe weather.
[15:50:01]
Joining us now, Meteorologist Gene Norman,
Boy, you are busy this weekend. There's a lot going on out there.
GENE NORMAN, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, Fred. In fact, you can see behind me, it's showing in Chicago. Windy city living up to its name, 21 mile an hour winds with the flakes falling. And it's going to get worse as we head into the evening.
As you said, all of those folks under those winter weather alerts, anywhere from New Mexico to Maine. Again, along this line, you can see anywhere from six to eight inches of snow to ring in the new year.
You see it on the radar very clearly, Chicago, back through sections of Iowa and into sections of Nebraska and Kansas.
But on the southern part of this storm system, that's where record high temperatures are tapping into a cold front and producing the potential for tornados.
Portions of nine states under tornado watches right now. And these watches will likely be expanded as the line of storms continues to march to the east.
Let's show you the timing for that. Storms now, then by 8:00 or 9:00, they could be popping in sections of Mississippi and sections of Louisiana with hail along with that.
Then -- there's never a good time to have severe weather, but after midnight is probably the worst. People not paying attention, not aware.
But that's when these storms will fire up in sections of Alabama and Georgia and continue on moving to the east.
Look at the backside of this. There could even be some snow when you wake up in sections of extreme northeast Texas.
In addition to the severe weather threat with tornados and hail, there's a big flood threat. Look at all these areas under green, under flash flood watches.
Fredricka, we could see anywhere from four to six 6 inches of rain. That could cause flooding.
So if you're heading out tonight to celebrate, please be careful. Make sure you have your weather radios charged up, your phone apps, and those batteries for cell phones.
WHITFIELD: Man. It's like all four seasons all compacted into one giant geographic area.
NORMAN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And in one day. That, too.
All right, Gene Norman, thank you so much. It's bad news. All right. The NHL is putting on its winter classic tonight and it's
certainly going to be very wintry out there.
They're expecting sub-zero temperatures in Minneapolis for the annual outdoor hockey game. And it could get under 20 degrees below zero with windchill. That is brutal.
So cold the stadium actually has to heat the ice to even play the game. So the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues might want to layer up on the pads tonight.
All right. The new year often brings with it resolutions to lose weight, to eat better, and to get a handle on your money.
With big changes coming in the pandemic economy this year, CNN chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, is here with her financial checklist for 2022.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Your house, your job, your retirement. Time to tick through your personal finance checklist for the new year.
First, your home. Likely, your biggest investment. The Fed has signaled interest rates could rise in the coming year, likely three- quarter point rate hikes.
The Fed moving from stimulating the economy to fighting inflation. That means your borrowing costs could rise. The window is closing to refinance your mortgage at super-low mortgage rates.
If you're in the market to buy a home, it will likely cost more in 2022 than in 2021. Home prices on fire. It has been a seller's market in real estate.
Higher interest rates would make it more expensive to finance a home but could help cool down red hot prices.
It promises to be an exciting year for workers, who have the upper hand in the labor market. Wage growth is higher than it has been in years.
Employers offering perks and bonuses and flexible work schedules to keep their workers happy and attract new talent.
Workers, you have leverage.
And for investors, time to check in on your risk tolerance and asset allocations.
It's been a banner two years. The S&P 500, the Standard & Poor's 500 index, rose more than 20 percent in 2021.
Stock markets recording record highs dozens of times, leading to record high retirement account balances, creating so-called 401(K) millionaires.
If the strategists at JPMorgan are right, the economy and stock market have favorable prospects in the new year.
Quote, "Our view is that 2022 will be the year of a full global recovery and end of the global pandemic and a return to normal conditions we had prior to the COVID-19 outbreak."
Critics see more stock market gains as a benchmark for the S&P 500.
And for those receiving Social Security, expect 5.9 percent more in your checks, thanks to the government's annual cost of living adjustment.
Inflation, of course, the wild card in the new year. Higher prices eat into wage gains and strain household budgets, especially for low- income earnings.
[15:55:04]
In New York, I'm Christine Romans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. That's a pretty rosy outlook.
All right. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Up next, join CNN's Tom Foreman for a CNN special, "ALL THE BEST, ALL THE WORST, 2021," after a short break.
But first, Carole King and James Taylor and an unforgettable concert film. "JUST CALL OUT MY NAME," tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. here on CNN.
Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Friends, collaborators and legends. Their music shaped a generation. They came together for the tour of a lifetime.
(SINGING)
ANNOUNCER: James Taylor.
(SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His songs were amazing and his voice is amazing and his demeanor.
JAMES TAYLOR, SINGER/SONGWRITER: Heehaw.
ANNOUNCER: And Carole King.
(SINGING) TAYLOR: Carole King, one of the greatest songwriters of all time, asked her to be a part of my band.
(SINGING)
TAYLOR: Forty years have passed since the first time we played.
CAROLE KING, SINGER/SONGWRITER: I've loved every experience we've had together.
(SINGING)
ANNOUNCER: "JUST CALL OUT MY NAME," tomorrow at 9:00 on CNN.
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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