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Will Recording Industry's Lawsuits Stop You From Downloading; Twenty Dollar Bill Gets Face-life; Cars Getting Satellite Television?
Aired September 14, 2003 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, welcome to NEXT@CNN for this Sunday, September 14. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Ahead this hour: the uproar over downloading. The recording industry has filed its first big batch of lawsuits. Will that stop you from sharing music online? We'll talk with a reformed swapper and one who says she'll swap till she drops.
Just as you're getting used to the new $20 bill, they're changing them again. We'll tell you why, how, and when the New bills will be hitting your wallet.
And we'll check out the latest gadget for your car: live satellite television. Find out how you can catch your favorite shows like NEXT@CNN on the move.
But first, now that the recording industry's legal onslaught has begun, are digital pirates quaking in their boots? CNN's Deanna Morawski has more on the recording industry's efforts to shop illegal sharing of music files online.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEANNA MORAWSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After years of trying to enforce copyrights on music, the recording industry decided to pump up the volume against voices like this...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why buy a CD when you can download it for free?
MORAWSKI: Tactics like lowering CD prices and getting pop stars to speak out against piracy just weren't doing the trick. So Monday, the industry filed lawsuits targeting 261 users deemed major offenders by the Recording Industry Association of America. Those users, it says, made an average of 1,000 copyrighted song files available on the Internet.
The president of the association says after watching CD sales drop 31 percent in three years, the industry had no choice. "Nobody likes playing the heavy and having to resort to litigation," he says, "but when your product is being regularly stolen there comes a time when you to take appropriate action."
While the lawsuits may seem harsh to those who think file sharing is harmless, the industry also announced Monday it's extending an olive branch in the form of a clean slate program. It offers amnesty for users who adhere to these conditions. If they voluntarily identify themselves, erase downloaded music files, and promise not to share music on the net anymore, the RIAA says they will avoid a potential lawsuit.
Meantime, the industry is pursuing subpoenas at universities across the country in an effort to I.D. more music file traders. They hope the news of lawsuits will strike a cord with users who think they won't get caught.
Deanna Morawski, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: The amnesty offer Deanna mentioned does not protect users from being sued by groups that are not RIAA members. So are amnesty and lawsuits enough to stop digital piracy? Some people believe the RIAA's approach will only alienate music fans rather than save the music industry from declining CD sales.
Well, joining us now, Tracey Cobb, a college student and a music fan from Atlanta, and Princeton student Rob Buerki in New York. Welcome to both of you.
TRACEY COBB, COLLEGE STUDENT: Thank you.
ROB BUERKI, COLLEGE STUDENT: Hi.
WHITFIELD: All right. Tracy, let me begin with you. You do this rather readily. You download music, whether it's from a piracy site or not, correct?
COBB: Correct.
WHITFIELD: But you know it's wrong, at least the message is being sent by the RIAA. There are lawsuits, 261 so far. Aren't you afraid that you might be sued?
COBB: I am. But I've just -- I don't care. I can't afford CDs right now. I'm a broke college student. I have to budget my money.
WHITFIELD: But can you afford to be sued? If you can't afford the CDs at $14, $15, $18, then why take the risk that you may potentially be sued for thousands?
COBB: I guess I'm addicted now. I don't know. It's just become a habit and I feel that suing people is just going to make the consumer more bitter towards the music industry. And I don't see why they don't embrace the consumer and drop CD prices rather than going after them. I don't see what it -- problems it can solve really.
WHITFIELD: OK. Rob, you're a reformed downloader. You used to; you don't do it anymore, or at least if you do now you actually pay for it. You go to various services such as Apple's service, et cetera. What was the incentive for you?
BUERKI: Well, actually these lawsuits hit pretty close to home when a fellow classmate of mine at Princeton got sued by the RIAA for millions of dollars. He had a service on the Princeton network that people could just swap music. And one day in April that quit and he had this big lawsuit. So I was definitely scared when that hit.
WHITFIELD: So there are some legal places in which you can get your music, such as iTunes, listen.com, Press Play. So, Rob, knowing that there is this deterrent perhaps dangling out there that you might get sued, just like your friend did, for thousands or millions of dollars, why do you suppose it is that there are so many like Tracey who say, I'm just not willing to pay $18 for a CD or 99 cents for any of those services?
BUERKI: Well, you know I'm a Mac user and I have an iPod, and the Apple program, when it came out earlier this year, was just so exciting because it was easy, it was clean, and you could just get the music instantaneously. And the same quality you'd get from the CD, but without that worry that you're breaking the law or that you could be sued at some point in the future.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well, Tracey, you know it's hard to defend this practice, right, when you admit that you know it is deemed wrong, right? It's like stealing information, stealing music. You're not paying anything for it, so you're getting it for free.
Then it's hard to understand why you're willing to take such a great risk, knowing that it's the wrong thing to do. What's the matter with 99 cents for paying for music, or if your friends have music or buy music, you go in on it together, you share that CD, you burn the CD? Wouldn't that be a less risky option?
COBB: It definitely would. And these Web site that ask you to pay 99 cents, I don't know about them really. I don't see ads for them. I never hear about them.
So maybe if the industry could promote these in a better way, I definitely would be willing to do that, because I don't want to steal and I know that this is wrong. So I'd be willing to pay 99 cents for a song instead of $20 for a CD.
WHITFIELD: So you're putting more onus on the recording industry to do a better job of letting fans know the various options, where you can listen to music and do it legally, even if you have to pay a little bit for it?
COBB: Yes. I just think that would be the wiser thing to do, I guess.
WHITFIELD: OK. So are you going to continue to download music from these pirated sites or pirated music from these sites as long as they're available?
COBB: As long as they're available I will. It's just so easy. I don't see why I shouldn't other than getting sued, I guess.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well, Rob, are you in agreement that it should be up to the recording industry to do a better job of letting the fans know out there the various options in which to get music legally?
BUERKI: Sure, I agree with Tracey. Hopefully, later this year, when Apple's iTunes becomes available to people with any sort of computer, then there will just be an explosion in that service which is cheap and easy. And that's really the only one that I've used. But I think the recording industry could do a lot more to not only show people that it's wrong, but also show them what's right.
WHITFIELD: So now, Rob, you use iTunes. What are some of the other ways in which you and some of your friends are able to economically get the music that you like?
BUERKI: Well, we can just share music from the network at school, you can burn CDs and give it to each other. Before all of this suing, lawsuits broke out, I would use the LimeWire program, which was a Nutella service, and this was also really simple, but illegal. iTunes, though, is the principal way. And just MP3 players, like the iPod.
WHITFIELD: All right. Rob Buerki and Tracey Cobb, thanks to both of you and good luck as you continue to try to enjoy your tunes, but hopefully legally so neither one of you will be strapped with any kind of major lawsuit.
COBB: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: We don't want to have you guys come back to explain that.
COBB: Definitely not.
WHITFIELD: All right. It's good to see you guys.
Well, lots more still to come. Straight ahead, we'll look at the color of money. For U.S. currency, it seems green just isn't cutting it anymore.
And later, if you can't keep them down on the farm, just create some robots to do the work for you. More on that as CNN continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, checking some other stories making news on our beat this week, a secret satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral Tuesday for the National Reconnaissance Office. The Air Force isn't talking about what the satellite will do, but the NRO is in charge of the nation's network of spy satellites. A type (ph) 4B rocket was used for the launch. That's the largest, most powerful vehicle in use in the United States.
A worker at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is seriously ill, and officials who manage U.S. operations in Antarctica are deciding whether to attempt a risky evacuation mission. The 58 staffers who are wintering in the cold and dark at the pole are essentially cut off from the world at this time of year. Authorities are telling us very little about the person who has fallen ill out of the respect for his privacy, but they are moving aircraft into position in Chile to be ready in the event a decision is made to evacuate the sick man.
A man charged with hacking into "The New York Times" computer system is out on bail this weekend, but the judge has told him to stay away from computers. Adrian Lammo (ph), 22 surrendered to authorities in California on Tuesday. He's accused of changing The Times databases and getting more than $300,000 worth of Lexus-Nexus searches on The Times' account.
And Apple is suing Apple. The record company best known for Beatles songs, Apple Corp., says it's suing Apple Computer for getting into the music business under the Apple name. The dispute revolves around Apple Computers online music store, iTunes, which we've just talked about. Well, the record company says the two signed an agreement back in 1991 that lets the computer company use the name but not for music.
The newly redesigned $20 bill rolls out October 9th, and it's got a brand new look. Advanced printing technology and enhanced security features may give counterfeiters a run for their money. Joining us from Washington with a preview of the colorful new currency is Dawn Haley of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
Good to see you, Dawn.
DAWN HALEY, BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING: Thank you for having me, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, the most striking thing about this new money is, of course, the pastel colors. Has this been in the works for a really long time?
HALEY: Well, actually, currency redesign -- the United States government has said every seven to 10 years we're going to redesign our currency, and that's to stay ahead of those would-be counterfeiters that are out there. This particular $20 note has been in the process for approximately four years.
WHITFIELD: OK. And you said it's to really try to avert any kind of new strategies from counterfeiters, et cetera. But there are other security measures that have been taken, too. Watermarks -- what are some of the other security marks on these notes?
HALEY: Right. The watermark -- when you hold the note up to a light you can see a faint image similar to the large portrait from both sides of the note. In addition, when you hold the light up to -- when you hold the note up to the light, there's a security thread in it and it glows green under ultraviolet light. We have also enhanced the color shifting ink. It goes from green to copper, back to green again when you tilt the note back and forth.
It's important to know that the background colors of peach, green and blue on the $20 will change for each denomination. We have also added symbols of freedom on the $20 note. There's a large blue eagle to the left of the portrait, and there's a smaller green metallic green eagle and shield to the right of the portrait. And, Fredricka, those symbols of freedom will also change with each denomination.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And Dawn, you mentioned how you try to evolve the dollar every so many years to try to stay ahead of these counterfeiters. So is there a way in which to kind of look back over time at all of the various paper notes that we've been used to handling and kind of talk through for us while we show some historical footage of some of the changes that have taken place?
HALEY: Absolutely. This is really the first time in modern American history that we've added color to currency. As you can see, some of the older notes also had color with them.
I think it's important to remember that the $50 note will come next and that will be in 2004. And the $100 will be after that in 2005. Decisions on the $5 and $10 are under way right now, but we will not be redesigning the $1 or the $2 note.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Now, a lot of other countries have very ornate colorful notes, something they've been doing for a long time. Are we sort of, you know, taking some ideas from some of those other countries?
HALEY: Well, I think any time we change United States currency, the key factor is it's for security reasons. We want to stay ahead of those would-be counterfeiters that are out there. In addition, because our currency circulates worldwide, we need to make sure that those users of our currency know that it is United States paper money.
WHITFIELD: All right. I guess everyone kind of figured greenbacks would always stay green. But now we have a little color scheme in which to work with.
All right. Dawn Haley, thanks very much for joining us. We appreciate it and look forward to seeing our new $20 bills in just a few days or weeks.
DALEY: Thank you very much, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot.
Well, coming up on NEXT@CNN, does learning to play a musical instrument help or harm a student's grade? A new study on that straight ahead.
And later, television to go. A new way to keep your kids quiet in the back seat.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, now that children are hitting the books again, doing home work, cramming for examines, there might be a new way to get a leg up on the competition and get better grades on tests. CNN's science correspondent, Ann Kellan, joins us with new research that could be music to your ears out there, parents.
Hi, Ann. ANN KELLAN, CNN SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. Do you play an instrument or did you learn to read music by any chance?
WHITFIELD: Yes, I play a little piano.
KELLAN: That's good, because those Do Re Mi's may have helped you better learn your ABCs in school. Researchers in China have found kids who learn music score higher in certain tests. And here at the CNN Center we met a group of students from the Bronx who bear this out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLAN (voice-over): Most of these kids did not play an instrument before attending KIPP Academy, a public school in the Bronx.
DAVID LEVIN, CO-FOUNDER, KIPP ACADEMY: We accept all of our kids by lottery, without regards to their prior academics. Everyone has to learn how to read music and play an instrument before they leave in eighth grade.
KELLAN (on camera): These are seventh and eighth graders?
LEVIN: Twelve, 13, and 14 year olds.
KELLAN (voice-over): David Levin agrees with results of a study from the Chinese University of Hong Kong that learning music increases a kid's vocabulary and memory skills. The proof, he says, is in KIPP Academy's test scores.
LEVIN: KIPP is the highest performing public middle school in the Bronx for the last six years.
KELLAN: Some say learning music exercises parts of the brain used to learn other subjects. Kids see other benefits.
(on camera): How many of you -- let me get a show of hands -- actually think you're smarter than other kids because you play music?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What makes us smart is that music helps us like focus more because we do it a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to practice really hard, and we learn how to work together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have discipline, and most kids do not have discipline, because you need discipline to play instruments like this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It helps us in learning because we're happy. Also because we play music, and it's kind of like a way to express ourselves.
KELLAN (voice-over): While scientists can't say for sure, the Chinese University study results were dramatic. Kids that learned music scored 20 percent higher on vocabulary tests and remembered those words longer than kids that didn't tap their feet to the beat or read a note.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KELLAN: And for the past six years, students at KIPP Academy have had the highest reading and math scores of any middle school in the Bronx, with 73 percent of its students reading at or above the national average.
Joining me now in our New York bureau is David Levin, who is co- founder and superintendent of KIPP Academy. Welcome, David.
LEVIN: Thanks, Ann. Good to see you again.
KELLAN: Well, you decided on KIPP's curriculum long before this study came out. Why did you decide to require the kids to take music? Why music?
LEVIN: Well, we were fortunate to find kind of the Michael Jordan of music teachers, a man by the name of Charlie Randall (ph), who had been teaching kids to learn -- how to play music and -- for about 30 years. And if fit perfectly with the type of excellence we were trying to establish in the Bronx in terms of reading scores and math scores.
There's just been kind of a long-standing knowledge that music was good for kids. And so we were fortunate to be able to build it into our program.
KELLAN: And what have you seen have been the benefits of music learning for the kids?
LEVIN: Well, I think -- it's funny. The kids kind of touched on it in the interview you just showed. I mean, in addition to the research that suggests it stimulates brain waves and things of that nature, I think it's the confidence, that if you can learn how to play a violin or trumpet or a keyboard, you certainly can learn how to read a poem or do algebra. And I think the confidence and discipline and the teamwork that they've been learning in music has really translated into an enthusiasm and energy in regards to other academics.
KELLAN: I thought it was interesting, now none of the students basically had an instrument or knew an instrument before they started in the fifth grade.
LEVIN: Right.
KELLAN: And you had told me that that sort of gave them an even playing field, right, to learn this music?
LEVIN: Yes. I mean, I think it's also a great equalizer. Kids come into our school on all different types of levels academically, behaviorally, and a lot of kids haven't liked school before.
And so they come to us and everyone's new at music. And so being on that equal footing has really given kids a chance to build their confidence and to shine in ways that they never thought possible before. And we're blessed to have great music teachers, with Charlie Randall (ph) and Jesus Concepcion (ph), and we've gone from there.
KELLAN: Very good. It's an impressive group of kids and they are doing a lot of work. Thanks so much for joining us. They put in a long day, too, and that's impressive as well.
LEVIN: Thank you.
KELLAN: Fredricka, it's another way to exercise. You know, get out and learn an instrument, exercise the brain.
WHITFIELD: I like it. And they sound so good. I remember that day they were here.
KELLAN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: They just lit up the entire atrium.
KELLAN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Ann.
Well, coming up in our next half hour, these robots are more than toys to their inventor, and they are the wave of the future. We'll have the story coming um next.
Also ahead, it's being called Portugal's worst forest fire season on record. The latest when NEXT@CNN returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: NEXT@CNN continues right after this look at the headlines.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is meeting with the military and civilian leaders in Iraq to discuss progress in the country's reconstruction efforts. Powell says he discussed efforts to secure a U.N. resolution to create a broad international coalition for the rebuilding efforts. He arrived in Baghdad after talks with United Nations leaders in Geneva yesterday.
Yetunde Price, the eldest sister and personal assistant of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, was shot to death early Sunday. She was 31 years old. The Los Angeles sheriff's department said the shooting took place just outside the suburb of Los Angeles in Compton, where the Williams sisters grew up. Officials say they have detained several people for questioning only so far.
Former President Bill Clinton took to the pulpit at morning services at the Los Angeles AME (ph) Church. He's in California to support Democratic Governor Gray Davis. In about three weeks from now, California voters will decide whether to recall Davis, now serving his second term as governor.
More news at the top of the hour. NEXT@CNN continues right now.
Wildfire season is winding down in the U.S., but the danger is far from over after the fires burn out. Mudslides and massive erosion can threaten lives, buildings and water supplies. But a new weapon to fight erosion is being tested at the site of one of this year's fires, the Insabado (ph) mountain area near Taos, New Mexico.
Here to tell us more is Paul Clayson of Sequoia Pacific Research Company. Good to see you.
PAUL CLAYSON, SEQUOIA PACIFIC RESEARCH COMPANY: Hi, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well, usually after a massive wildfire you may be laying down mulch or various more natural ways in which to help keep the ground from eroding. Why is it that some environmentalists decided it's time for something new?
CLAYSON: Well, I think it's been an ongoing effort to find new and using technological ways to develop products that can do a better job and be -- have a more positive effect on the environment. And certainly that's what was happening here at Taos, because there was such sacred ground and sacred water sources near the pueblo, that there was a high sensitivity to making sure that whatever was put down to rehabilitate fire burn area, was, in fact, a key to the area not detrimental to the environment.
WHITFIELD: So this new mixture is called Soil Set. How does it work?
CLAYSON: Well, Soil Set literally is a nanotechnology product. That's new science that is just currently being developed. And in this particular product, the beneficial effect of the product, the soil stabilization, occurs at a very minute level of 40 angstrom or four nanometer level. And at that level, when the substance is laid on to the ground, it literally draws the silicuts (ph) in the soil, the natural silicuts (ph) to the product and creates a nanosilicut (ph) crystal matrix that binds the soil tightly or the ash tightly so that when wind and water comes along the erosion effect is not detrimental to the earth.
WHITFIELD: So like a web, it binds these particles together.
CLAYSON: That's a very good way to put it. It is a Web, a matrix that replicates the natural plant residue if it were there.
WHITFIELD: Well, in addition to this, though, aren't you also laying down some seed in which to help things grow? Why do that as opposed to allowing just nature take its course?
CLAYSON: We do both, actually. This material is so unique that it creates a couple of things. One, it creates -- it literally sticks to the soil, it binds to the soil, so when water comes it doesn't wash off the mountainside. It binds to that mountainside.
Two, it creates a moisture barrier that allows both the natural plant growth, the natural vegetation to come up, and it holds the seeds solid while their roots go down through the ash layer and anchor in the soil. And then, finally, you can get a broad coverage with this material because of the nature of it. It literally aerosolizes when it's put down by the fixed wing or the helitankers (ph) from the aerial application, and it spreads over the entire mountain.
WHITFIELD: OK. And, in fact, these images and what you've said kind of precede my next question as to the application. You're always and only able to apply it airborne like this, right?
CLAYSON: No. Actually, we can apply it from ground applicators as well. But on a mountain like the Ensabado (ph) fire, there's no other way really to get in there. These are slopes that are 50, 60 70-degree slopes, and you can only apply this by an aerial application. So in this case we used both fixed wing and helicopter application.
WHITFIELD: Is there is any downside to it?
CLAYSON: No, not really. It's environmentally friendly. It binds the soil. It literally will stay there for months while the germination take place. It's not meant to be there forever.
WHITFIELD: And how do you make sure that the right kind of seeds are used for the right sort of area so that you're not going to be potentially suffocating any rare species of vegetation that would ordinarily find its way back to the surface?
CLAYSON: Sure. Actually, the biologists tell us what kind of seeds should be down there based on what is native to the area. And they supply the seed that is mixed with the material. And in this case, the plants actually come right up through that matrix.
They are not bound by the matrix at all. It is a combination of slurry, if you will, that is put together of our material with a small amount of mulch and the seed that allow this -- the seeds to germinate right up through the material.
WHITFIELD: Paul Clayson of the Sequoia Pacific Research, thanks very much for joining us.
CLAYSON: Thanks, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well, time now for a check of some Next News headlines.
Police have arrested a man in last month's arson and vandalism incident at a California car dealership. Twenty Hummers were destroyed and another set of SUVs and Hummers were damaged by fire and spray painting. The Earth Liberation Front, a loose collection of militant environmentalists, claimed responsibility. Joshua Connelly (ph) is now being held at the West Covina, California jail. He denies, however, any involvement.
Deadly forest fires in Portugal have killed at least 18 people in what is being called the country's worst wildfire season ever. The string of fires has been burning since July. Agricultural officials say 11 percent of Portugal's forests have gone up in smoke. Overall, it's estimated the blazes have caused more than $1 billion worth of damage. A boost for a controversial natural gas pipeline under construction in Peru. The InterAmerican Development Bank has approved $135 million in financing for the project, which is already 70 percent complete. The U.S. representative to the bank abstained from the vote because of environmental issues. Conservationists say construction of the pipeline and a gas processing plant may harm pristine rain forests at a marine reserve.
University of Tokyo researchers have developed the first humanoid robot that can jump up from lying down, just like that, into a crouched position. Well, the researchers say conventional robots get up slowly because every little movement is controlled. They say the movement of this robot is controlled only at certain points, that allows it to follow its own momentum to actually jump into that crouching position right there.
Well, meanwhile, in China, a farmer is also getting into robot building, turning junk into bots that can help him around the house and the farm. More from CNN's Kristie Lu Stout.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the outskirts of Beijing, a man shucks corn with his wife and a three foot tall farm hand. A tangle of gears guided by remote control. A robot that's the creation of Wu Yulu, a farmer who has never finished primary school.
WU YULU, FARMER ROBOT INVENTOR (through translator): Robots can replace humans in doing simple work. They can work in places where people can't because people may be afraid or it may be dangerous. For example, robots are not afraid of being infected by a virus, however serious it may be, and they are honest and trust worthy. They're not as lazy as humans.
LU STOUT: While companies like Sony and Honda spend hundreds of millions of dollars on robots R&D, Wu sources materials from junk bins and recycling stations. And what he can't find in the garbage he buys with his meager salary. Wu earns just over $120 a month and spends up to two-thirds of his income on parts.
In the village, Wu's robots are known as his sons. Each with a special skill. One son changes the light bulb, while another walks walls and ceilings.
Since 1995, Wu has created more than 20 machines and earned a reputation among locals as an inventive toy maker. But Wu has loftier goals for his mechanical helpers.
YULU (through translator): They will become more developed in the future. I will improve their capabilities so that they can work in industry, services and other areas. I will work on how to make them more intelligent.
LU STOUT: Wu's latest creation does the chores, from arranging the flowers to picking up stuff around the house, like a lighter for a cigarette break.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, coming up in our next half hour, we'll look at how hurricane forecasting is improving and an especially important topic with Hurricane Isabel bearing down on the United States.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, residents all along the East Coast of the U.S. are a bit jitterry, waiting to see just where Hurricane Isabel might be headed. Folks are stocking up on supplies from plywood to flashlights, water and batteries. The powerful storm could make landfall later this week.
Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras joins us now with the very latest on its possession -- Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Fredricka, it is looking more and more likely that Isabel will be making landfall somewhere along the East Coast by the middle of the week. It has been holding its own throughout the day today with maximum sustained winds at 155 miles per hour. That makes it a very powerful category four hurricane. It would have to only have winds of one mile an hour greater than that to be considered a category five.
We have an update on the current position now. About 320 miles to the north and east of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) islands, or about 900 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It's moving west, northwest, around 13 miles per hour, and should continue at about that speed and along that same track west, northwest, we think, for a good 24 hours plus.
Then we are expecting it to take somewhat of a turn on up to the north. And how quickly that happens will have a great impact on where this thing is going to be making landfall, whether or not it's going to be farther on down to the south or up farther north, along the shoreline. But really anywhere from South Carolina on up to New Jersey, you need to heed warning and pay attention over the next couple of days -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Jacqui, Isabel seems to be fluctuating between category four and five rather readily over the past couple days. Is it because of the warm waters in the Atlantic? What's the explanation for that?
JERAS: Well, that's actually very common to have fluctuations within a hurricane. What happens is that the eye wall itself can regenerate and then it will collapse a little more and weaken. And so that's why we see some of these fluctuations in the strength. But, like I said, 155 and 156...
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Not a huge difference there. All right. We'll all be watching. Thanks a lot, Jacqui.
Well, forecasters are able to give residents a little bit more time to prepare for the onslaught of a hurricane these days, unlike other types of severe weather. The science isn't perfect, but it is getting better all the time. Our own veteran hurricane watcher, Miami bureau chief, John Zarrella, joins us now from the National Hurricane Center with the more accurate systems they're now working with -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Fredricka. And you can bet that all eyes here at the National Hurricane Center are focused very keenly right now on Hurricane Isabel. And there's two critical questions that everybody wants to know: how strong will the storm be and where will it make landfall?
Well, forecasters have gotten a little bit better at forecasting how strong a storm might be, but not real good yet. Intensity is tough. But they're getting better every year at figuring out where hurricanes are going to go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Max Mayfield is more than a little bit pleased.
MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: I mean, it was forecast to move right over Bermuda, even two days beforehand.
ZARRELLA: So far this season, National Hurricane Center forecasters say they've done an excellent job pinpointing where a storm will be up to five days before it gets there. They are doing better this year than anytime in the past because the science and technology keeps improving.
MAYFIELD: The satellite observation is better than ever. The aircraft observations are better than ever. We have a new jet that flies the barometer around the hurricane, so the data that goes into the models are vastly improved.
ZARRELLA: In July, the hurricane center forecast Claudette would cross the Yucatan Peninsula and take a hard left turn toward the Texas coast. It did. The forecast for powerful hurricane Fabian was even better. The storm came within a few miles of the forecast track as it passed over Bermuda. Now the experts face their toughest challenge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still a lot of different possibilities, but keep our fingers crossed.
ZARRELLA: Isabel, potentially a very dangerous hurricane, is closing in on the U.S. East Coast. The accuracy of the center's five- day forecast will be critical. It will determine who needs to start paying close attention.
MAYFIELD: If you're within that cone of uncertainty in five days, we don't want anybody to panic. We just want them to calmly think about what they might do if the hurricane stays in that forecast track.
ZARRELLA: Mayfield cautions, while their skills are getting better, there hasn't been a sudden forecasting epiphany.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Now the question is tonight: Where is the hurricane going to go? And joining us, Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center.
And, Max, I've known you for a lot of years and I don't think I have ever seen you quite this concerned about a hurricane.
MAYFIELD: Well, Isabel is a very big and powerful hurricane, John. And I hope people will listen to us very carefully. What I'm about to say is very important. If Isabel stays close to our forecast track and if it does make landfall as a major hurricane, it has the potential for a large loss of life if we don't take it seriously and prepare.
ZARRELLA: Where and when does the track look like right now?
MAYFIELD: Right now, it's about 900 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It's headed in the general direction of North Carolina, and then will continue northward from there.
The tropical storm force winds extend well out about 200 miles away from the center of this hurricane. So the tropical storm force winds could reach the coast of North Carolina as early as Wednesday afternoon. Now, it depends exactly where the track goes from there. Right now, we have it clipping the eastern port of North Carolina and moving on up and affecting the Delmarva and even New Jersey, because the large circulation.
ZARRELLA: And the people up north of North Carolina have really never experienced -- and it may not be a category four when it gets there, but should it get there, there's never been one that intense that far north.
MAYFIELD: They've had several hurricanes that have paralleled the coast line up there, Gloria, Donna in 1944, Carol, Edna, but they really have had not had a direct hit, certainly from a major hurricane on the Delmarva or the New Jersey coast. And people need to at least be preparing, thinking about what they're going to do if it stays on that forecast track.
ZARRELLA: Max Mayfield, thank you very much again for joining us. I know it's going to be a very long week here at the National Hurricane Center for all the forecasters. And certainly, as Max said very clearly, folks along the coast line, the eastern seaboard of the United States, need to start paying very close attention -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Very good advice. Thanks very much, John. Appreciate it.
Well, don't go away. Still to come on NEXT@CNN, television to go. Live television in your car. We'll tell you how it just might be done.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The average U.S. household has 2.4 television sets. But if you just can't get enough television at home, how about satellite TV for your car, with over 300 channels? Oh, great. One more thing to distract drivers.
Here's Dan Sieberg.
DAN SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems that more and more SUVs and minivans are coming with screens on the back seat so you can watch your favorite recorded program or DVD. But some new technology is allowing people to watch live satellite TV. This is going to be for anybody that doesn't want to miss their favorite program or just to help keep the kids quiet in the back seat.
And joining us now to talk about this technology is James Labelle (ph). He is from KVH Industries, the company behind TracVision. Now James, there's a large satellite on top here that allows people to get this signal, but how does it work exactly?
JAMES LABELLE, KVH INDUSTRIES: Well, basically it's bringing the broadcast of a satellite antenna feed through different networks and getting things like CNN and the Cartoon Network inside the vehicle. And you're tracking the satellite as you drove down the road.
SIEBERG: All right. Now we want to mention we don't, of course, endorse any product here at CNN, but this peaked our interest. This the first time people can get this live satellite TV while they're driving?
LABELLE: Yes, it is. It's really exciting, actually. It's the first time you can get live satellite TV. As you go down the road, a child could be watching Cartoon Network, an adult could be watching CNN, whatever they choose, or satellite radio.
SIEBERG: OK. Now, we should mention we're in a building here and it's -- there's a lot of cement around so we can't get the signal. But if you're out anywhere in the country, can you get it wherever you're driving around?
LABELLE: Yes, anywhere in the United States. And the only time that you would run into trouble would be in a tunnel, because, again, you'd have to be able to see the satellite.
SIEBERG: Right. Now, what if you had say a few kids in the back seat and they all have a different taste maybe in what they want to watch. What can you to solve that problem?
LABELLE: Well, we've got a great idea. It's basically the solution of having wireless head phones so that you can watch satellite TV and listen, and then the driver doesn't have to hear whatever the audio is. But on every screen that you have you could actually have your own specified programming, your personal entertainment. SIEBERG: OK. Now the cost, though, let's talk about that. First of all, people are familiar with satellite TV in their home. Is this going to be an additional price for them while they're on the road?
LABELLE: Well, basically they're going to add it to their home account and get one bill in the mail. And there is an additional fee to it.
SIEBERG: OK. And this technology is available now, we should tell people. And the price about $3,500?
LABELLE: That's correct. The hardware is around $3,500, and it's very easy to install, it attaches to any roof rack on an SUV or conversion van.
SIEBERG: And is this the type of technology you think the people are going to want to have in their SUV or their minivan? Did you find that people really wanted to have this technology beyond just a DVD or a movie?
LABELLE: Yes. Actually, what we realized was there's over a million back seat videos already installed on vehicles today in the United States. So they already wanted the DVD pre-programmed content. The live feature is just bring it to the next level.
SIEBERG: To the next level. All right. Well, James Labelle (ph), sales manager at KVH Industries, the company behind TracVision, thanks so much for joining us.
So if you just can't live without your favorite program, there's an option for you now. And of course we're talking about the passengers here, not the drivers.
Daniel Sieberg, CNN, Atlanta.
WHITFIELD: Well, that's all we have time for now. But before we go, here's a peek at what's coming up next weekend.
We'll say farewell to a spectacular space mission. Hard at work since 1989, the Galileo space craft will plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere a week from today. We'll look back on its revelations across the solar system.
That story and much more coming up next week. Hope you'll be joining us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Downloading; Twenty Dollar Bill Gets Face-life; Cars Getting Satellite Television?>
Aired September 14, 2003 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, welcome to NEXT@CNN for this Sunday, September 14. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Ahead this hour: the uproar over downloading. The recording industry has filed its first big batch of lawsuits. Will that stop you from sharing music online? We'll talk with a reformed swapper and one who says she'll swap till she drops.
Just as you're getting used to the new $20 bill, they're changing them again. We'll tell you why, how, and when the New bills will be hitting your wallet.
And we'll check out the latest gadget for your car: live satellite television. Find out how you can catch your favorite shows like NEXT@CNN on the move.
But first, now that the recording industry's legal onslaught has begun, are digital pirates quaking in their boots? CNN's Deanna Morawski has more on the recording industry's efforts to shop illegal sharing of music files online.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEANNA MORAWSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After years of trying to enforce copyrights on music, the recording industry decided to pump up the volume against voices like this...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why buy a CD when you can download it for free?
MORAWSKI: Tactics like lowering CD prices and getting pop stars to speak out against piracy just weren't doing the trick. So Monday, the industry filed lawsuits targeting 261 users deemed major offenders by the Recording Industry Association of America. Those users, it says, made an average of 1,000 copyrighted song files available on the Internet.
The president of the association says after watching CD sales drop 31 percent in three years, the industry had no choice. "Nobody likes playing the heavy and having to resort to litigation," he says, "but when your product is being regularly stolen there comes a time when you to take appropriate action."
While the lawsuits may seem harsh to those who think file sharing is harmless, the industry also announced Monday it's extending an olive branch in the form of a clean slate program. It offers amnesty for users who adhere to these conditions. If they voluntarily identify themselves, erase downloaded music files, and promise not to share music on the net anymore, the RIAA says they will avoid a potential lawsuit.
Meantime, the industry is pursuing subpoenas at universities across the country in an effort to I.D. more music file traders. They hope the news of lawsuits will strike a cord with users who think they won't get caught.
Deanna Morawski, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: The amnesty offer Deanna mentioned does not protect users from being sued by groups that are not RIAA members. So are amnesty and lawsuits enough to stop digital piracy? Some people believe the RIAA's approach will only alienate music fans rather than save the music industry from declining CD sales.
Well, joining us now, Tracey Cobb, a college student and a music fan from Atlanta, and Princeton student Rob Buerki in New York. Welcome to both of you.
TRACEY COBB, COLLEGE STUDENT: Thank you.
ROB BUERKI, COLLEGE STUDENT: Hi.
WHITFIELD: All right. Tracy, let me begin with you. You do this rather readily. You download music, whether it's from a piracy site or not, correct?
COBB: Correct.
WHITFIELD: But you know it's wrong, at least the message is being sent by the RIAA. There are lawsuits, 261 so far. Aren't you afraid that you might be sued?
COBB: I am. But I've just -- I don't care. I can't afford CDs right now. I'm a broke college student. I have to budget my money.
WHITFIELD: But can you afford to be sued? If you can't afford the CDs at $14, $15, $18, then why take the risk that you may potentially be sued for thousands?
COBB: I guess I'm addicted now. I don't know. It's just become a habit and I feel that suing people is just going to make the consumer more bitter towards the music industry. And I don't see why they don't embrace the consumer and drop CD prices rather than going after them. I don't see what it -- problems it can solve really.
WHITFIELD: OK. Rob, you're a reformed downloader. You used to; you don't do it anymore, or at least if you do now you actually pay for it. You go to various services such as Apple's service, et cetera. What was the incentive for you?
BUERKI: Well, actually these lawsuits hit pretty close to home when a fellow classmate of mine at Princeton got sued by the RIAA for millions of dollars. He had a service on the Princeton network that people could just swap music. And one day in April that quit and he had this big lawsuit. So I was definitely scared when that hit.
WHITFIELD: So there are some legal places in which you can get your music, such as iTunes, listen.com, Press Play. So, Rob, knowing that there is this deterrent perhaps dangling out there that you might get sued, just like your friend did, for thousands or millions of dollars, why do you suppose it is that there are so many like Tracey who say, I'm just not willing to pay $18 for a CD or 99 cents for any of those services?
BUERKI: Well, you know I'm a Mac user and I have an iPod, and the Apple program, when it came out earlier this year, was just so exciting because it was easy, it was clean, and you could just get the music instantaneously. And the same quality you'd get from the CD, but without that worry that you're breaking the law or that you could be sued at some point in the future.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well, Tracey, you know it's hard to defend this practice, right, when you admit that you know it is deemed wrong, right? It's like stealing information, stealing music. You're not paying anything for it, so you're getting it for free.
Then it's hard to understand why you're willing to take such a great risk, knowing that it's the wrong thing to do. What's the matter with 99 cents for paying for music, or if your friends have music or buy music, you go in on it together, you share that CD, you burn the CD? Wouldn't that be a less risky option?
COBB: It definitely would. And these Web site that ask you to pay 99 cents, I don't know about them really. I don't see ads for them. I never hear about them.
So maybe if the industry could promote these in a better way, I definitely would be willing to do that, because I don't want to steal and I know that this is wrong. So I'd be willing to pay 99 cents for a song instead of $20 for a CD.
WHITFIELD: So you're putting more onus on the recording industry to do a better job of letting fans know the various options, where you can listen to music and do it legally, even if you have to pay a little bit for it?
COBB: Yes. I just think that would be the wiser thing to do, I guess.
WHITFIELD: OK. So are you going to continue to download music from these pirated sites or pirated music from these sites as long as they're available?
COBB: As long as they're available I will. It's just so easy. I don't see why I shouldn't other than getting sued, I guess.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well, Rob, are you in agreement that it should be up to the recording industry to do a better job of letting the fans know out there the various options in which to get music legally?
BUERKI: Sure, I agree with Tracey. Hopefully, later this year, when Apple's iTunes becomes available to people with any sort of computer, then there will just be an explosion in that service which is cheap and easy. And that's really the only one that I've used. But I think the recording industry could do a lot more to not only show people that it's wrong, but also show them what's right.
WHITFIELD: So now, Rob, you use iTunes. What are some of the other ways in which you and some of your friends are able to economically get the music that you like?
BUERKI: Well, we can just share music from the network at school, you can burn CDs and give it to each other. Before all of this suing, lawsuits broke out, I would use the LimeWire program, which was a Nutella service, and this was also really simple, but illegal. iTunes, though, is the principal way. And just MP3 players, like the iPod.
WHITFIELD: All right. Rob Buerki and Tracey Cobb, thanks to both of you and good luck as you continue to try to enjoy your tunes, but hopefully legally so neither one of you will be strapped with any kind of major lawsuit.
COBB: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: We don't want to have you guys come back to explain that.
COBB: Definitely not.
WHITFIELD: All right. It's good to see you guys.
Well, lots more still to come. Straight ahead, we'll look at the color of money. For U.S. currency, it seems green just isn't cutting it anymore.
And later, if you can't keep them down on the farm, just create some robots to do the work for you. More on that as CNN continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, checking some other stories making news on our beat this week, a secret satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral Tuesday for the National Reconnaissance Office. The Air Force isn't talking about what the satellite will do, but the NRO is in charge of the nation's network of spy satellites. A type (ph) 4B rocket was used for the launch. That's the largest, most powerful vehicle in use in the United States.
A worker at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is seriously ill, and officials who manage U.S. operations in Antarctica are deciding whether to attempt a risky evacuation mission. The 58 staffers who are wintering in the cold and dark at the pole are essentially cut off from the world at this time of year. Authorities are telling us very little about the person who has fallen ill out of the respect for his privacy, but they are moving aircraft into position in Chile to be ready in the event a decision is made to evacuate the sick man.
A man charged with hacking into "The New York Times" computer system is out on bail this weekend, but the judge has told him to stay away from computers. Adrian Lammo (ph), 22 surrendered to authorities in California on Tuesday. He's accused of changing The Times databases and getting more than $300,000 worth of Lexus-Nexus searches on The Times' account.
And Apple is suing Apple. The record company best known for Beatles songs, Apple Corp., says it's suing Apple Computer for getting into the music business under the Apple name. The dispute revolves around Apple Computers online music store, iTunes, which we've just talked about. Well, the record company says the two signed an agreement back in 1991 that lets the computer company use the name but not for music.
The newly redesigned $20 bill rolls out October 9th, and it's got a brand new look. Advanced printing technology and enhanced security features may give counterfeiters a run for their money. Joining us from Washington with a preview of the colorful new currency is Dawn Haley of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
Good to see you, Dawn.
DAWN HALEY, BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING: Thank you for having me, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, the most striking thing about this new money is, of course, the pastel colors. Has this been in the works for a really long time?
HALEY: Well, actually, currency redesign -- the United States government has said every seven to 10 years we're going to redesign our currency, and that's to stay ahead of those would-be counterfeiters that are out there. This particular $20 note has been in the process for approximately four years.
WHITFIELD: OK. And you said it's to really try to avert any kind of new strategies from counterfeiters, et cetera. But there are other security measures that have been taken, too. Watermarks -- what are some of the other security marks on these notes?
HALEY: Right. The watermark -- when you hold the note up to a light you can see a faint image similar to the large portrait from both sides of the note. In addition, when you hold the light up to -- when you hold the note up to the light, there's a security thread in it and it glows green under ultraviolet light. We have also enhanced the color shifting ink. It goes from green to copper, back to green again when you tilt the note back and forth.
It's important to know that the background colors of peach, green and blue on the $20 will change for each denomination. We have also added symbols of freedom on the $20 note. There's a large blue eagle to the left of the portrait, and there's a smaller green metallic green eagle and shield to the right of the portrait. And, Fredricka, those symbols of freedom will also change with each denomination.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And Dawn, you mentioned how you try to evolve the dollar every so many years to try to stay ahead of these counterfeiters. So is there a way in which to kind of look back over time at all of the various paper notes that we've been used to handling and kind of talk through for us while we show some historical footage of some of the changes that have taken place?
HALEY: Absolutely. This is really the first time in modern American history that we've added color to currency. As you can see, some of the older notes also had color with them.
I think it's important to remember that the $50 note will come next and that will be in 2004. And the $100 will be after that in 2005. Decisions on the $5 and $10 are under way right now, but we will not be redesigning the $1 or the $2 note.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Now, a lot of other countries have very ornate colorful notes, something they've been doing for a long time. Are we sort of, you know, taking some ideas from some of those other countries?
HALEY: Well, I think any time we change United States currency, the key factor is it's for security reasons. We want to stay ahead of those would-be counterfeiters that are out there. In addition, because our currency circulates worldwide, we need to make sure that those users of our currency know that it is United States paper money.
WHITFIELD: All right. I guess everyone kind of figured greenbacks would always stay green. But now we have a little color scheme in which to work with.
All right. Dawn Haley, thanks very much for joining us. We appreciate it and look forward to seeing our new $20 bills in just a few days or weeks.
DALEY: Thank you very much, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot.
Well, coming up on NEXT@CNN, does learning to play a musical instrument help or harm a student's grade? A new study on that straight ahead.
And later, television to go. A new way to keep your kids quiet in the back seat.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, now that children are hitting the books again, doing home work, cramming for examines, there might be a new way to get a leg up on the competition and get better grades on tests. CNN's science correspondent, Ann Kellan, joins us with new research that could be music to your ears out there, parents.
Hi, Ann. ANN KELLAN, CNN SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. Do you play an instrument or did you learn to read music by any chance?
WHITFIELD: Yes, I play a little piano.
KELLAN: That's good, because those Do Re Mi's may have helped you better learn your ABCs in school. Researchers in China have found kids who learn music score higher in certain tests. And here at the CNN Center we met a group of students from the Bronx who bear this out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLAN (voice-over): Most of these kids did not play an instrument before attending KIPP Academy, a public school in the Bronx.
DAVID LEVIN, CO-FOUNDER, KIPP ACADEMY: We accept all of our kids by lottery, without regards to their prior academics. Everyone has to learn how to read music and play an instrument before they leave in eighth grade.
KELLAN (on camera): These are seventh and eighth graders?
LEVIN: Twelve, 13, and 14 year olds.
KELLAN (voice-over): David Levin agrees with results of a study from the Chinese University of Hong Kong that learning music increases a kid's vocabulary and memory skills. The proof, he says, is in KIPP Academy's test scores.
LEVIN: KIPP is the highest performing public middle school in the Bronx for the last six years.
KELLAN: Some say learning music exercises parts of the brain used to learn other subjects. Kids see other benefits.
(on camera): How many of you -- let me get a show of hands -- actually think you're smarter than other kids because you play music?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What makes us smart is that music helps us like focus more because we do it a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to practice really hard, and we learn how to work together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have discipline, and most kids do not have discipline, because you need discipline to play instruments like this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It helps us in learning because we're happy. Also because we play music, and it's kind of like a way to express ourselves.
KELLAN (voice-over): While scientists can't say for sure, the Chinese University study results were dramatic. Kids that learned music scored 20 percent higher on vocabulary tests and remembered those words longer than kids that didn't tap their feet to the beat or read a note.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KELLAN: And for the past six years, students at KIPP Academy have had the highest reading and math scores of any middle school in the Bronx, with 73 percent of its students reading at or above the national average.
Joining me now in our New York bureau is David Levin, who is co- founder and superintendent of KIPP Academy. Welcome, David.
LEVIN: Thanks, Ann. Good to see you again.
KELLAN: Well, you decided on KIPP's curriculum long before this study came out. Why did you decide to require the kids to take music? Why music?
LEVIN: Well, we were fortunate to find kind of the Michael Jordan of music teachers, a man by the name of Charlie Randall (ph), who had been teaching kids to learn -- how to play music and -- for about 30 years. And if fit perfectly with the type of excellence we were trying to establish in the Bronx in terms of reading scores and math scores.
There's just been kind of a long-standing knowledge that music was good for kids. And so we were fortunate to be able to build it into our program.
KELLAN: And what have you seen have been the benefits of music learning for the kids?
LEVIN: Well, I think -- it's funny. The kids kind of touched on it in the interview you just showed. I mean, in addition to the research that suggests it stimulates brain waves and things of that nature, I think it's the confidence, that if you can learn how to play a violin or trumpet or a keyboard, you certainly can learn how to read a poem or do algebra. And I think the confidence and discipline and the teamwork that they've been learning in music has really translated into an enthusiasm and energy in regards to other academics.
KELLAN: I thought it was interesting, now none of the students basically had an instrument or knew an instrument before they started in the fifth grade.
LEVIN: Right.
KELLAN: And you had told me that that sort of gave them an even playing field, right, to learn this music?
LEVIN: Yes. I mean, I think it's also a great equalizer. Kids come into our school on all different types of levels academically, behaviorally, and a lot of kids haven't liked school before.
And so they come to us and everyone's new at music. And so being on that equal footing has really given kids a chance to build their confidence and to shine in ways that they never thought possible before. And we're blessed to have great music teachers, with Charlie Randall (ph) and Jesus Concepcion (ph), and we've gone from there.
KELLAN: Very good. It's an impressive group of kids and they are doing a lot of work. Thanks so much for joining us. They put in a long day, too, and that's impressive as well.
LEVIN: Thank you.
KELLAN: Fredricka, it's another way to exercise. You know, get out and learn an instrument, exercise the brain.
WHITFIELD: I like it. And they sound so good. I remember that day they were here.
KELLAN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: They just lit up the entire atrium.
KELLAN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Ann.
Well, coming up in our next half hour, these robots are more than toys to their inventor, and they are the wave of the future. We'll have the story coming um next.
Also ahead, it's being called Portugal's worst forest fire season on record. The latest when NEXT@CNN returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: NEXT@CNN continues right after this look at the headlines.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is meeting with the military and civilian leaders in Iraq to discuss progress in the country's reconstruction efforts. Powell says he discussed efforts to secure a U.N. resolution to create a broad international coalition for the rebuilding efforts. He arrived in Baghdad after talks with United Nations leaders in Geneva yesterday.
Yetunde Price, the eldest sister and personal assistant of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, was shot to death early Sunday. She was 31 years old. The Los Angeles sheriff's department said the shooting took place just outside the suburb of Los Angeles in Compton, where the Williams sisters grew up. Officials say they have detained several people for questioning only so far.
Former President Bill Clinton took to the pulpit at morning services at the Los Angeles AME (ph) Church. He's in California to support Democratic Governor Gray Davis. In about three weeks from now, California voters will decide whether to recall Davis, now serving his second term as governor.
More news at the top of the hour. NEXT@CNN continues right now.
Wildfire season is winding down in the U.S., but the danger is far from over after the fires burn out. Mudslides and massive erosion can threaten lives, buildings and water supplies. But a new weapon to fight erosion is being tested at the site of one of this year's fires, the Insabado (ph) mountain area near Taos, New Mexico.
Here to tell us more is Paul Clayson of Sequoia Pacific Research Company. Good to see you.
PAUL CLAYSON, SEQUOIA PACIFIC RESEARCH COMPANY: Hi, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well, usually after a massive wildfire you may be laying down mulch or various more natural ways in which to help keep the ground from eroding. Why is it that some environmentalists decided it's time for something new?
CLAYSON: Well, I think it's been an ongoing effort to find new and using technological ways to develop products that can do a better job and be -- have a more positive effect on the environment. And certainly that's what was happening here at Taos, because there was such sacred ground and sacred water sources near the pueblo, that there was a high sensitivity to making sure that whatever was put down to rehabilitate fire burn area, was, in fact, a key to the area not detrimental to the environment.
WHITFIELD: So this new mixture is called Soil Set. How does it work?
CLAYSON: Well, Soil Set literally is a nanotechnology product. That's new science that is just currently being developed. And in this particular product, the beneficial effect of the product, the soil stabilization, occurs at a very minute level of 40 angstrom or four nanometer level. And at that level, when the substance is laid on to the ground, it literally draws the silicuts (ph) in the soil, the natural silicuts (ph) to the product and creates a nanosilicut (ph) crystal matrix that binds the soil tightly or the ash tightly so that when wind and water comes along the erosion effect is not detrimental to the earth.
WHITFIELD: So like a web, it binds these particles together.
CLAYSON: That's a very good way to put it. It is a Web, a matrix that replicates the natural plant residue if it were there.
WHITFIELD: Well, in addition to this, though, aren't you also laying down some seed in which to help things grow? Why do that as opposed to allowing just nature take its course?
CLAYSON: We do both, actually. This material is so unique that it creates a couple of things. One, it creates -- it literally sticks to the soil, it binds to the soil, so when water comes it doesn't wash off the mountainside. It binds to that mountainside.
Two, it creates a moisture barrier that allows both the natural plant growth, the natural vegetation to come up, and it holds the seeds solid while their roots go down through the ash layer and anchor in the soil. And then, finally, you can get a broad coverage with this material because of the nature of it. It literally aerosolizes when it's put down by the fixed wing or the helitankers (ph) from the aerial application, and it spreads over the entire mountain.
WHITFIELD: OK. And, in fact, these images and what you've said kind of precede my next question as to the application. You're always and only able to apply it airborne like this, right?
CLAYSON: No. Actually, we can apply it from ground applicators as well. But on a mountain like the Ensabado (ph) fire, there's no other way really to get in there. These are slopes that are 50, 60 70-degree slopes, and you can only apply this by an aerial application. So in this case we used both fixed wing and helicopter application.
WHITFIELD: Is there is any downside to it?
CLAYSON: No, not really. It's environmentally friendly. It binds the soil. It literally will stay there for months while the germination take place. It's not meant to be there forever.
WHITFIELD: And how do you make sure that the right kind of seeds are used for the right sort of area so that you're not going to be potentially suffocating any rare species of vegetation that would ordinarily find its way back to the surface?
CLAYSON: Sure. Actually, the biologists tell us what kind of seeds should be down there based on what is native to the area. And they supply the seed that is mixed with the material. And in this case, the plants actually come right up through that matrix.
They are not bound by the matrix at all. It is a combination of slurry, if you will, that is put together of our material with a small amount of mulch and the seed that allow this -- the seeds to germinate right up through the material.
WHITFIELD: Paul Clayson of the Sequoia Pacific Research, thanks very much for joining us.
CLAYSON: Thanks, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well, time now for a check of some Next News headlines.
Police have arrested a man in last month's arson and vandalism incident at a California car dealership. Twenty Hummers were destroyed and another set of SUVs and Hummers were damaged by fire and spray painting. The Earth Liberation Front, a loose collection of militant environmentalists, claimed responsibility. Joshua Connelly (ph) is now being held at the West Covina, California jail. He denies, however, any involvement.
Deadly forest fires in Portugal have killed at least 18 people in what is being called the country's worst wildfire season ever. The string of fires has been burning since July. Agricultural officials say 11 percent of Portugal's forests have gone up in smoke. Overall, it's estimated the blazes have caused more than $1 billion worth of damage. A boost for a controversial natural gas pipeline under construction in Peru. The InterAmerican Development Bank has approved $135 million in financing for the project, which is already 70 percent complete. The U.S. representative to the bank abstained from the vote because of environmental issues. Conservationists say construction of the pipeline and a gas processing plant may harm pristine rain forests at a marine reserve.
University of Tokyo researchers have developed the first humanoid robot that can jump up from lying down, just like that, into a crouched position. Well, the researchers say conventional robots get up slowly because every little movement is controlled. They say the movement of this robot is controlled only at certain points, that allows it to follow its own momentum to actually jump into that crouching position right there.
Well, meanwhile, in China, a farmer is also getting into robot building, turning junk into bots that can help him around the house and the farm. More from CNN's Kristie Lu Stout.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the outskirts of Beijing, a man shucks corn with his wife and a three foot tall farm hand. A tangle of gears guided by remote control. A robot that's the creation of Wu Yulu, a farmer who has never finished primary school.
WU YULU, FARMER ROBOT INVENTOR (through translator): Robots can replace humans in doing simple work. They can work in places where people can't because people may be afraid or it may be dangerous. For example, robots are not afraid of being infected by a virus, however serious it may be, and they are honest and trust worthy. They're not as lazy as humans.
LU STOUT: While companies like Sony and Honda spend hundreds of millions of dollars on robots R&D, Wu sources materials from junk bins and recycling stations. And what he can't find in the garbage he buys with his meager salary. Wu earns just over $120 a month and spends up to two-thirds of his income on parts.
In the village, Wu's robots are known as his sons. Each with a special skill. One son changes the light bulb, while another walks walls and ceilings.
Since 1995, Wu has created more than 20 machines and earned a reputation among locals as an inventive toy maker. But Wu has loftier goals for his mechanical helpers.
YULU (through translator): They will become more developed in the future. I will improve their capabilities so that they can work in industry, services and other areas. I will work on how to make them more intelligent.
LU STOUT: Wu's latest creation does the chores, from arranging the flowers to picking up stuff around the house, like a lighter for a cigarette break.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, coming up in our next half hour, we'll look at how hurricane forecasting is improving and an especially important topic with Hurricane Isabel bearing down on the United States.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, residents all along the East Coast of the U.S. are a bit jitterry, waiting to see just where Hurricane Isabel might be headed. Folks are stocking up on supplies from plywood to flashlights, water and batteries. The powerful storm could make landfall later this week.
Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras joins us now with the very latest on its possession -- Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Fredricka, it is looking more and more likely that Isabel will be making landfall somewhere along the East Coast by the middle of the week. It has been holding its own throughout the day today with maximum sustained winds at 155 miles per hour. That makes it a very powerful category four hurricane. It would have to only have winds of one mile an hour greater than that to be considered a category five.
We have an update on the current position now. About 320 miles to the north and east of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) islands, or about 900 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It's moving west, northwest, around 13 miles per hour, and should continue at about that speed and along that same track west, northwest, we think, for a good 24 hours plus.
Then we are expecting it to take somewhat of a turn on up to the north. And how quickly that happens will have a great impact on where this thing is going to be making landfall, whether or not it's going to be farther on down to the south or up farther north, along the shoreline. But really anywhere from South Carolina on up to New Jersey, you need to heed warning and pay attention over the next couple of days -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Jacqui, Isabel seems to be fluctuating between category four and five rather readily over the past couple days. Is it because of the warm waters in the Atlantic? What's the explanation for that?
JERAS: Well, that's actually very common to have fluctuations within a hurricane. What happens is that the eye wall itself can regenerate and then it will collapse a little more and weaken. And so that's why we see some of these fluctuations in the strength. But, like I said, 155 and 156...
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Not a huge difference there. All right. We'll all be watching. Thanks a lot, Jacqui.
Well, forecasters are able to give residents a little bit more time to prepare for the onslaught of a hurricane these days, unlike other types of severe weather. The science isn't perfect, but it is getting better all the time. Our own veteran hurricane watcher, Miami bureau chief, John Zarrella, joins us now from the National Hurricane Center with the more accurate systems they're now working with -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Fredricka. And you can bet that all eyes here at the National Hurricane Center are focused very keenly right now on Hurricane Isabel. And there's two critical questions that everybody wants to know: how strong will the storm be and where will it make landfall?
Well, forecasters have gotten a little bit better at forecasting how strong a storm might be, but not real good yet. Intensity is tough. But they're getting better every year at figuring out where hurricanes are going to go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Max Mayfield is more than a little bit pleased.
MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: I mean, it was forecast to move right over Bermuda, even two days beforehand.
ZARRELLA: So far this season, National Hurricane Center forecasters say they've done an excellent job pinpointing where a storm will be up to five days before it gets there. They are doing better this year than anytime in the past because the science and technology keeps improving.
MAYFIELD: The satellite observation is better than ever. The aircraft observations are better than ever. We have a new jet that flies the barometer around the hurricane, so the data that goes into the models are vastly improved.
ZARRELLA: In July, the hurricane center forecast Claudette would cross the Yucatan Peninsula and take a hard left turn toward the Texas coast. It did. The forecast for powerful hurricane Fabian was even better. The storm came within a few miles of the forecast track as it passed over Bermuda. Now the experts face their toughest challenge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still a lot of different possibilities, but keep our fingers crossed.
ZARRELLA: Isabel, potentially a very dangerous hurricane, is closing in on the U.S. East Coast. The accuracy of the center's five- day forecast will be critical. It will determine who needs to start paying close attention.
MAYFIELD: If you're within that cone of uncertainty in five days, we don't want anybody to panic. We just want them to calmly think about what they might do if the hurricane stays in that forecast track.
ZARRELLA: Mayfield cautions, while their skills are getting better, there hasn't been a sudden forecasting epiphany.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Now the question is tonight: Where is the hurricane going to go? And joining us, Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center.
And, Max, I've known you for a lot of years and I don't think I have ever seen you quite this concerned about a hurricane.
MAYFIELD: Well, Isabel is a very big and powerful hurricane, John. And I hope people will listen to us very carefully. What I'm about to say is very important. If Isabel stays close to our forecast track and if it does make landfall as a major hurricane, it has the potential for a large loss of life if we don't take it seriously and prepare.
ZARRELLA: Where and when does the track look like right now?
MAYFIELD: Right now, it's about 900 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It's headed in the general direction of North Carolina, and then will continue northward from there.
The tropical storm force winds extend well out about 200 miles away from the center of this hurricane. So the tropical storm force winds could reach the coast of North Carolina as early as Wednesday afternoon. Now, it depends exactly where the track goes from there. Right now, we have it clipping the eastern port of North Carolina and moving on up and affecting the Delmarva and even New Jersey, because the large circulation.
ZARRELLA: And the people up north of North Carolina have really never experienced -- and it may not be a category four when it gets there, but should it get there, there's never been one that intense that far north.
MAYFIELD: They've had several hurricanes that have paralleled the coast line up there, Gloria, Donna in 1944, Carol, Edna, but they really have had not had a direct hit, certainly from a major hurricane on the Delmarva or the New Jersey coast. And people need to at least be preparing, thinking about what they're going to do if it stays on that forecast track.
ZARRELLA: Max Mayfield, thank you very much again for joining us. I know it's going to be a very long week here at the National Hurricane Center for all the forecasters. And certainly, as Max said very clearly, folks along the coast line, the eastern seaboard of the United States, need to start paying very close attention -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Very good advice. Thanks very much, John. Appreciate it.
Well, don't go away. Still to come on NEXT@CNN, television to go. Live television in your car. We'll tell you how it just might be done.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The average U.S. household has 2.4 television sets. But if you just can't get enough television at home, how about satellite TV for your car, with over 300 channels? Oh, great. One more thing to distract drivers.
Here's Dan Sieberg.
DAN SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems that more and more SUVs and minivans are coming with screens on the back seat so you can watch your favorite recorded program or DVD. But some new technology is allowing people to watch live satellite TV. This is going to be for anybody that doesn't want to miss their favorite program or just to help keep the kids quiet in the back seat.
And joining us now to talk about this technology is James Labelle (ph). He is from KVH Industries, the company behind TracVision. Now James, there's a large satellite on top here that allows people to get this signal, but how does it work exactly?
JAMES LABELLE, KVH INDUSTRIES: Well, basically it's bringing the broadcast of a satellite antenna feed through different networks and getting things like CNN and the Cartoon Network inside the vehicle. And you're tracking the satellite as you drove down the road.
SIEBERG: All right. Now we want to mention we don't, of course, endorse any product here at CNN, but this peaked our interest. This the first time people can get this live satellite TV while they're driving?
LABELLE: Yes, it is. It's really exciting, actually. It's the first time you can get live satellite TV. As you go down the road, a child could be watching Cartoon Network, an adult could be watching CNN, whatever they choose, or satellite radio.
SIEBERG: OK. Now, we should mention we're in a building here and it's -- there's a lot of cement around so we can't get the signal. But if you're out anywhere in the country, can you get it wherever you're driving around?
LABELLE: Yes, anywhere in the United States. And the only time that you would run into trouble would be in a tunnel, because, again, you'd have to be able to see the satellite.
SIEBERG: Right. Now, what if you had say a few kids in the back seat and they all have a different taste maybe in what they want to watch. What can you to solve that problem?
LABELLE: Well, we've got a great idea. It's basically the solution of having wireless head phones so that you can watch satellite TV and listen, and then the driver doesn't have to hear whatever the audio is. But on every screen that you have you could actually have your own specified programming, your personal entertainment. SIEBERG: OK. Now the cost, though, let's talk about that. First of all, people are familiar with satellite TV in their home. Is this going to be an additional price for them while they're on the road?
LABELLE: Well, basically they're going to add it to their home account and get one bill in the mail. And there is an additional fee to it.
SIEBERG: OK. And this technology is available now, we should tell people. And the price about $3,500?
LABELLE: That's correct. The hardware is around $3,500, and it's very easy to install, it attaches to any roof rack on an SUV or conversion van.
SIEBERG: And is this the type of technology you think the people are going to want to have in their SUV or their minivan? Did you find that people really wanted to have this technology beyond just a DVD or a movie?
LABELLE: Yes. Actually, what we realized was there's over a million back seat videos already installed on vehicles today in the United States. So they already wanted the DVD pre-programmed content. The live feature is just bring it to the next level.
SIEBERG: To the next level. All right. Well, James Labelle (ph), sales manager at KVH Industries, the company behind TracVision, thanks so much for joining us.
So if you just can't live without your favorite program, there's an option for you now. And of course we're talking about the passengers here, not the drivers.
Daniel Sieberg, CNN, Atlanta.
WHITFIELD: Well, that's all we have time for now. But before we go, here's a peek at what's coming up next weekend.
We'll say farewell to a spectacular space mission. Hard at work since 1989, the Galileo space craft will plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere a week from today. We'll look back on its revelations across the solar system.
That story and much more coming up next week. Hope you'll be joining us.
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