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In case You Missed It

Joy Surrounds A Happy Ending; Democrats and Republicans Compromise; Powerful Moments At Mandela Tribute; GM's Madame General

Aired December 10, 2013 - 23:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. I'm Brooke Baldwin, and welcome to the second week of our new program. It's called "ICYMI," and our mission here is to comb through every single story CNN has been covering all day, all over the world to bring you the very best moments of what we do. They're the reason we do what we do, and tonight they are coming in fast.

We begin with two breaking stories. Two stories delivering some good news for a change. First this, two frantic days of searching for this family lost in the freezing cold hills of Nevada, ending tonight with joy. They are alive and they're going to be all right. And the town of Lovelock, Nevada is taking a deep sigh of relief. We will share moments you might have missed as this family has been found.

Also this evening, in your nation's capital, you know, that awful, endless gridlock that has been paralyzing our country? Well, the unthinkable happened. For the first time in four years, the United States Congress has agreed on a budget. I'm talking Republicans and Democrats coming together just before the holidays.

So we will take you to Washington in just a minute. But these are the moments. The best of CNN today in case you missed it. Now let's get started.

Now to that first bit of great news out of Nevada, a couple and four young children are alive tonight after going missing for two days in sub-zero temperatures in this remote stretch of Nevada. James Glanton and Christina Macantee along with their two children and Macantee's niece and nephew have the happiest possible ending.

Here they are arriving at hospital, some on stretchers, all OK. Listen here for the impromptu applause. Their hometown of Lovelock is overjoyed. There was real panic simply because of the sheer cold. The temperature in this area had plummeted to a frigid 17 degrees below zero.

And we want to share this picture in case you missed it of the family's jeep. There it is. Upside down, this is how rescuers found it after it had slipped down a snowy embankment. Stephanie Elam has been traveling much of the day for us to get to Lovelock, Nevada. Stephanie you are there inside the hospital for us tonight. Let's just begin there. How is everyone doing tonight condition-wise?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, it is amazing to find out that this family is doing well. They're saying everybody is stable and that they're resting here at the hospital. And just to keep in mind, we're in a very remote part of Nevada. So this town is remote. But where they were was about 20 miles outside of here, a very wide expansion of area where they were found. The smart thing that they did, Brooke, they stayed with their car. That helped keep them alive and helped them be found.

BALDWIN: How did they stay warm? How did they survive these two days?

ELAM: What is really key here it sounds like the adults here didn't panic. What they did is they took rocks. They started a fire near the car. Then they took those heated up rocks and put them in the car to help keep them warm. Part of what they also did in staying there, the dad had a candy bar in his pocket apparently. They divided that up the last two days and they ate that as they were trying stayed warm and staying inside the car -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thank goodness for that candy bar, right? And the rescue they were spotted by binoculars, located by cell phone. Tell me more about that.

ELAM: Well right. What they did they were searching a very, very wide area for this jeep. What they ended up doing is getting in with some forensic cell phone technicians. They were able to listen to the pings of their cell phone, figure out exactly where they had last had any transmission. That changed their search area.

When they did that they were able to find them apparently by sky and also down on the ground they were seen by binoculars and found the family there all huddled up. They knew someone was searching for them because they heard the helicopters and whistles. They knew just to stay put and somebody would find them they said.

BALDWIN: Amazing, amazing, Stephanie Elam in Nevada. Stephanie, thank you.

And now we take you to our nation's capital with more good news. For the first time since 2009, America, we have a budget. For the last four years, our dysfunctional and divided elected officials have been unable to agree on exactly how to spend our money. But tonight, finally, finally they found a way to compromise and you thought it wasn't possible.

Our chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, is standing by in Washington. You have been working this for hours, Dana. Tell me how it happened.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It happened the old-fashioned way, Brooke. Imagine this. A Republican and a Democrat are in a room together with their staff and they decide what they can agree on and they just limit it to that and they work from there. Can you imagine?

BALDWIN: How about that.

BASH: Can you imagine? It's compromise and it really is the way things are supposed to work. Is it global? Is it going to reduce the debt and the deficit and attack those big problems like Medicare and Medicaid that really do factor into the debt and deficit? No. But as both the Republican House Budget Chair Paul Ryan and Democratic Senate Chair Patty Murray said today these are baby steps and they've agreed on what they could agree on and doing what they could do in this divided and divisive government.

BALDWIN: I hear you talking about both Republicans and Democrats agreeing on what. What about the White House? How do they feel about this tonight?

BASH: Well, they're applauding it because anything that gets the country and Washington out of this careening from crisis to crisis mode as Paul Ryan talked about, as the president has talked about they're happy with. Having said that, Brooke, it certainly is not a done deal. It has to pass the House and Senate. You have conservative and liberal critics of this for various reasons, people think cuts spending too much or not enough. But again that's what you get when you compromise.

BALDWIN: We like it. We'll take it. Dana Bash in Washington for us. Dana, thank you.

Now to South Africa, in case you missed it where tens of thousands of people, the rich, the poor, the powerful, the powerless, all braved this driving rain to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela, cheering, dancing from their seats. CNN had correspondents in every corner of Johannesburg's stadium for one of the largest gatherings of global leaders in history just hanging on every historic moment. Like the explosion of joy that greeted President Barack Obama as he took to the stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Do you hear that? He is particularly revered there in South Africa and told the crowd that without Nelson Mandela, there would never have been a President Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Over 30 years ago, while still a student, I learned of Nelson Mandela and the struggles taking place in this beautiful land and it stirred something in me. It woke me up to my responsibilities to others and to myself, and it set me on an improbable journey to finds me here today. And while I going to always fall short of Madiba's example, he makes me want to be a better man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: As his speech ended, CNN's Chris Cuomo, Robyn Curnow and Christiane Amanpour shared strong insights about that moment. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY": If there is one word that may have summed up the comments from the president, ubuntu. He used a South African word that basically means interconnectedness.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am me because of you. It's a sense of collectiveness essentially that we're all in it together.

CUOMO: It really tapped in. The president was very careful. He showed the people here that he knows the story of Nelson Mandela.

CHRISTIAN AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He made some very important points about the massively indispensable contribution of Nelson Mandela. He said like Lincoln, Mandela kept his country together in the end rather than it disintegrating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Perhaps the most talked-about moment of that memorial service, President Obama shaking hands with Cuba's Raul Castro on his way up to the podium. It was brief. It was an impromptu exchange, but many were surprised to see the two of them shaking hands at all. The White House issuing a statement saying the encounter was not planned and that the president's only focus is honoring the late Mandela.

Let's note, as you see here, President Obama shaking hands with every leader he passed and there were many. In life Nelson Mandela had a gift for uniting people from all walks of life and the diverse guest list at his service was testament to that. Of course there were four American presidents, you see this picture, Mr. Obama, of course but also George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter.

But also leaders from every corner of the globe, among them past and present presidents of France, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, and celebrities ranging from South African-born actress, Charlize Theron and U2's Bono, even President Obama sneaking in a selfie with the prime ministers of Britain and Denmark.

And people from all over South Africa traveled there to Johannesburg to say goodbye, to celebrate this man who changed all of their lives and our own Arwa Damon followed a group of South Africans making the pilgrimage all the way to Johannesburg.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These people have been waiting for three hours just to get on this bus. So cramped in here that a short while ago some of these gentlemen almost fell outside the door. But everyone incredibly excited to finally be on their way.

(voice-over): The mood is utterly infectious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm feeling good.

DAMON (on camera): Yes, why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I'm going to celebrate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Look at the children there as well. Today's memorial is the first major event honoring Mandela since his death, but it won't be the last. A state funeral will be held Sunday in Mandela's ancestral hometown.

We have to take a quick break, but when we return CNN on the front lines. Our reporter risks her life to get the story. You won't want to miss this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. Let's go now to the front lines, our reporting on the slaughter going on in the Central African Republic. At the U.N., this situation has been called a Rwanda in the making. You remember that terrible genocide back in 1994 when up to 1 million people were murdered in sectarian violence.

So all these years later, the pictures remain disturbing. Now similar killing in the C.A.R., but so far on a smaller scale but like Rwanda it is a war between these two sects. In this case you have Christian versus Muslim. Since the coup earlier this year, the C.A.R. has disintegrated into anarchy with Muslim and Christian militias killing each other's people at will.

Our correspondent there on the ground, Nima Elbagir, has been in the middle of some terrifying situations. I want you to watch this extraordinary report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even as the U.N. Security Council was voting to give fund the mandate it needed to engage there in the Central African Republic, Christian and Muslim militias were taking aim at each other's communities. For the last 20, 30 minutes we've been hearing sustained gun fire and heavy weaponry. It's coming from a lot of different directions.

I'm here. I'm here. Where are you? They told us to go. They told us to go.

The African forces have come to get us. They're giving cover so that the U.N. vehicles can get out. We've now been brought to the base. The fighting is still quite close even here. Some of the displaced people when they heard the gun shots ran and are taking shelter here with the African forces.

We have finally had some respite after two days of violent clashes. The African regional peacekeeping force was able to negotiate a brief ceasefire to allow aid agencies to get out there and assess the needs. They're running low on food, running low on water. They desperately need some sort of proper shelter. They desperately need medicine and they can't leave this camp.

They are effectively under siege by the militias. The only line of defense between them and the Seleka now are the African forces guiding them.

ROBERT MCCARTHY, UNICEF EMERGENCY CHIEF, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: The rights of children and women need to be respected and they're not being respected. And we can't do our work. And there's frankly little prospect for moving out of this situation unless people especially leaders, people who are armed, people who are responsible for armed men, recognize that and begin to take those responsibilities seriously.

ELBAGIR: They're shooting again. The shooting started again so everybody having to run for shelter inside. Shall we take the other one? The children are all squashed here so there's no room for us. You can see how terrified people are, even here inside these walls surrounded by soldiers. They are still not safe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: You can see the fear in their eyes. Nima Elbagir for first hand look at the violence erupting in the C.A.R. and according to the U.N., some 400,000 people there have been displaced so far.

We are taking a quick break here on "IN CASE YOU MISSED IT," but when we return our very best video out of hundreds of videos that feed into CNN from all over the world every day. We dig deep to find some incredibly strong ones for you. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back to ICYMI. I'm Brooke Baldwin in case you missed this story, today may end up being one of the most important days for the modern women's movement. General Motors has a new general, and her name is Mary Barra. She is not only the first female head of GM, but the first female chief of any car company ever.

Beating out three other big-time car guys for the job in an industry, which has until now been unabashedly male. Barra is a GM lifer. She started at the company back in 1980 would you believe as an intern, a time when GM was trying to sell machismo along with its cars. This commercial made just about the time Barra was beginning her career.

Wow. How things have changed since the 80s. Now one of the things Mary Barra wants to change about GM. She famously told her staff and I'm quoting her, "no more crappy cars." She previously worked as the head of global product development and was known to be deeply involved in the shop developing new cars. Cars are in Mary Barra's DNA.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY BARRA, NEW CEO OF GENERAL MOTORS: Automotive is -- it's kind of in my blood. I grew up in South Eastern Michigan. My dad was a dye maker at General Motors for about 39 years. So from the days where you stood outside the dealerships looking to see the new vehicles, that was kind of how I was raised. So it seemed very natural to go into the auto industry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Barra grew up watching her dad in a GM factory and has now made her way to the top of the board room. You note line, what they used to say in GM's glory days, as General Motors goes so goes the nation. So who knows? Which woman leader could we see next?

And now to the video wall with the best videos that have come into CNN in the last 24 hours, in case you've missed it. Let's begin tonight in Wilmington, Delaware. This is police dashcam video as police have just stopped this car chase. You see the man in the driver's seat, tosses his hands up in the air. But then this happens. Watch closely. No handcuffs.

Instead the officer drops a police dog into the lap of the suspect who later needs stitches from a bite. There were questions over use of excessive force here. Now a grand jury says there's no crime.

Next the weather, watch this closely. This is a traffic camera here caught this. You see car after car after car crashing into one another on a slick, snowy highway. This is just northwest of Milwaukee from Sunday. We're just seeing the video for the first time today. More than 50 cars and trucks were involved. And Wisconsin police say about a dozen people were injured.

And to my favorite, scientists have discovered, they say, what is the coldest place on earth? Think about it. Can you guess where that might be? Antarctica of course in this remote valley of the continent where temperatures reach as low as 135.8 degrees below zero, and no one knows more about this stuff than Chad Myers. Earlier today on my show, I asked him why does it get so cold there and here's what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's cold air drainage into a valley, into a funnel. Think about opening your freezer, Brooke. You open up your freezer if you have a top-loading freezer. What happens to all that steam and smoke? It all kind of fog rolls down to the bottom. This is what's happened into a valley in Antarctica. No one's been there to measure. This is measured by satellite. So it's not an official breaking any kind of record. But it's a really, really cool kind of record, 135.8 degrees negative Fahrenheit. The old record 128. This is 7 degrees colder and that little spot right there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Chad, thank you. By the way, can you guess what band can now say they have played a gig on all seven continents in a single year? Most recently being Antarctica? Answer? Metallica, Metallica.

Coming up next we'll look at the beautiful side of this wintery weather. We will be right back with IN CASE YOU MISSED IT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: I'll leave you with this tonight, snow and ice storms may have wreaked havoc all over the country the past couple of days, disrupting your travel plans, causing headaches for thousands, but it also produced just beautiful site like this video shot by CNN's senior producer, Paul Corson. This is Annapolis, Maryland and if you listen carefully -- you can hear the snow falling.

That does it for me tonight. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for watching. Join us again tomorrow night on IN CASE YOU MISS IT.