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CNN Sunday Morning
Heavy Snow from Maryland to Massachusetts; Joblessness and Female Veterans; Royal Succession Rules Amended; 'The Black List' Portraits; Herman Cain Leading in Iowa
Aired October 30, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It's Sunday, October 30th. Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. T.J. Holmes is off.
Three people are dead, two million more without power after what some are calling snowtober (ph), a fall nor'easter. We'll tell you who got hit the hardest and what's next particularly for travelers.
Sharp words from the U.S. Ambassador in Afghanistan after U.S. troops died in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul. We'll tell you exactly what he said.
And when Kenya Smith left the Navy after 14 years, she thought that two Master's degrees and her military experience would help her get a job. Two years later, she's still looking.
And a very special welcome to the service men and women watching on the Armed Forces Network, thanks for joining us. We're glad you're with us.
And we begin with a major storm battering the northeast. Right now, around two million people are without power. Four states have declared emergencies - New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Want to take a live look right now at New York City, Columbus Circle - a very dark Columbus Circle. New York, by the way, did not get the worst of it. Here's what it looks like in Massachusetts. Officials predicted that downed trees were going to be a major problem. And take a look at that - they were right.
The storm is being blamed for three deaths so far, one of them in Massachusetts. A man in Pennsylvania was killed when a snow-covered tree fell into his house. And a third person died while driving in Connecticut.
People in Connecticut, by the way, who have lost power, are being told now that it may be a while before it comes back. The governor says they've been waiting for road conditions to improve before sending out repair crews. We've already seen heavy accumulation of snow all the way from Virginia and Maryland up through Connecticut and Massachusetts. Pennsylvania got socked, as well. Our Chad Myers is in York, Pennsylvania, right now with a look at that. Hey, Chad. Good morning. Just how bad is it where you are?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, what happened overnight, Alina, was that all of the stuff that was just slush yesterday has now frozen up. So, literally, what I was moving around yesterday night is a slush, is now one frozen solid ice chunk. As you try to get out today, you'll be moving around in this, in glare ice on every parking lot, on every sidewalk. It is going to be dangerous.
Something else that's going to be dangerous is the fact that two million people are without power, and they're going to try to do something to stay warm. They're going to turn on stoves and ovens and things, especially gas stoves. That's not recommended because there's carbon monoxide coming into your house. You know, run generators in your garage, don't do that. The carbon monoxide can get in your home.
You have to understand these gases that you can't see or smell can kill you. More people typically die after storm like this than during the storm. The problem is people who are here, at least, were dealing with it the best they could and they made the best of it last night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the weight from the snow on the trees and the ice is split Maples and Bradford pears and different trees around the house. So our whole development, about 170 homes in a subdivision, completely black right now. So we're out trying to get something warm and get something to eat and take something back to my wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is actually better than a month or two ago with the floods. I think that was actually worse than this. This is just unexpected for everybody. Yes, it's been since, what, since '72 since we had snow in this area. So it's unexpected but it's almost actually a little bit of treat, too. Hopefully this is it. We're done for the rest of the season.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lost power a couple hours ago. A lot of trees coming down. A lot of branches breaking. Power lines are disrupted for sure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MYERS: I'm pretty sure you're not out of the woods for the snow for the rest of the season, by the way.
This is what the ice looks like on the roadways. Pieces like this will be coming off cars in front of you. And then as the salt starts to take effect and it starts to make this all into a bunch of spray on your windshield, you're going to need that washer fluid in your car, underneath the hood. That blue or green washer fluid needs to be filled, because I already used about three-quarters of a quart today just trying to get the ice off my windshield. And then the spray in front of you will just make a mess as the wipers go by.
A lot of things to consider if you're going to travel. The best thing to do is just maybe stay home and watch some football - Alina.
CHO: Well, if you're a football fan or CNN.
Hey, Chad, you know, it looks pretty slushy behind you. Doesn't look as bad as I - as frankly I thought it was going to get there. Is it as bad as you thought it was going to get? And going forward, what's the biggest problem?
MYERS: This place had it the worst the soonest, which means it didn't get to cool down quite as much.
So the snow on the side, that's probably - let's go over here. It's probably - I don't know, it's probably eight inches of snow on the ground yesterday. But a lot of it melted because the ground was so warm.
To put my hand in it now, it's probably down to about three tops, but it's frozen now so it's going to be hard to move. If you're going to try to move it this morning, you're going to have to use an awful lot more effort to get it to move off of your sidewalk or your driveway. The shovel's not just going to go through it like butter like it would have yesterday.
Up north, a little farther to the north, up toward Redding and Easton, even into western sections of New Jersey and then into Danbury, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, they were dealing with a higher snow amount because the storm got going more by the time it was there. This was the first place that it really started to, I would say, break down weather travel yesterday. The travel was just - it was ugly by 5:00 or 6:00 at night. And this morning I don't see anything moving except us.
CHO: Oh, boy. All right. Chad Myers, we'll check with you a little bit later. Chad, thank you.
All right. We're going to get a big picture look at the storm and what's next for travelers. Meteorologist Alexandra Steele has our first look at the forecast.
So how bad did it get? I mean, who got - who got hit the hardest, Alexandra?
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, he - Chad made a really great point because Chad got hit the hardest early on. That was Central Massachusetts, remember? Those numbers in the end, 12, 13 inches. But who really won this end game were the Berkshires. So we'll talk about why and how dynamic the storm came.
So kind of some wind gusts also were a big factor with this. The sheer winner, Barnstable on the Cape, 76 mile-per-hour wind gusts; Tuckerton Shores in New Jersey, 54; Ocean City, 51 mile-per-hour gust. So it was a few things, of course, that heavy, wet snow coupled with these incredibly strong winds, especially right along the coast. Snowfall totals, there we are, of course, Windsor, Massachusetts. Again, that's the Berkshires, so Western Massachusetts right along that Western Corridor. Savoy, 24 inches, Peru. And then just north of New York City in what's called the Hudson Valley of New York, Duchess County, look at some of these big winners - Millbrook, a beautiful little horse town, almost 18 inches; Pine Plains, New York, 16 inches. So the numbers were exorbitant.
Here's the current scenario. Here's that area of low pressure that really developed off the Delmarva Coast yesterday afternoon. So after Chad got it, but before these big numbers, now it's going to move again north and east. Kind of we're going to see some colder air with this behind it.
The snow lingers in Boston, maybe a wet inch or two this morning, but that will be done. And then highs today there, staying in the 40s. So we're not going to see freezing. We will see some melting. So pretty much a fait accompli after today. But temperatures stay pretty chilly and the winds. So wind chills will feel much colder than this. Winds today 30, 40 miles per hour. So it's going to feel, Alina, like 20s and 30s, not 40s out there.
CHO: So did you check on that travel?
STEELE: Yes, I did.
CHO: Because, you know, (INAUDIBLE) knowing about that.
STEELE: Yes, I know. Alina travels a lot to New York. No, no travel troubles. Just looked at the FAA website, we're all good to go. But it is early, so we haven't seen what will develop from yesterday where New York had six- to seven-hour delays and complete cancellations.
Right now, we're up to speed. But it is quite early. But I'll keep you posted.
CHO: I've never been so scared to go to the airport. All right, Alexandra, thank you very much.
Other news now and more details on a deadly suicide attack in Afghanistan. At least 17 people were killed in that attack in Central Kabul. "The New York Times" is reporting that 12 Americans were killed. Among them, four U.S. troops, the rest were contractors. One Canadian soldier also died and four Afghans, as well.
Ryan Procter, the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan issued a statement saying, quote, "It's a shock. It makes you mad. It makes me angry. We are not going to let these guys win." The Taliban has taken responsibility for the attack.
A warning now from embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who says the west should stay out of his country's business. He said any intervention could turn into, quote, "another Afghanistan or tens of Afghanistans." In the interview with a British newspaper, the Syrian president also admitted many mistakes during the several months of clashes between his security forces and anti-government protesters.
To politics now and a dead heat in the first presidential caucus state. A new poll from the Des Moines register shows that Iowa voters are leaning toward Herman Cain and Mitt Romney, almost a dead heat. Cain holds a slight one percent lead, but, of course, that's well within a margin of error. The Iowa caucuses are set for January 3rd.
Guess what, Ron Paul did OK in the registered poll and really excelled in a straw poll of likely Iowa voters. This is yesterday in Iowa. He got 82 percent of the National Federation of Republican Assembly's Presidential Straw Poll. Herman Cain was second at 15 percent. Paul and Rick Santorum, by the way, were the only candidates to show up at the event yesterday.
Rick Perry isn't going to be skipping any debates after all. The Texas governor says he's ready to take part in the next four debates in November. CNN is hosting two of those debates in Washington, D.C., and Arizona. Earlier, Perry had indicated he might skip some of the debates in order to spend more time with voters.
America's veterans are having a rough time finding work, and the problem is even more profound for female veterans. You're going to meet someone soon who knows firsthand what that's all about.
You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back.
Occupy protesters in Denver got more than they bargained for when they tried to take their demonstration inside the State Capitol. Take a look. Police used pepper spray and rubber bullets to subdue protesters. More than 20 demonstrators were arrested last night.
And that's a scene in Nashville, Tennessee. State troopers there broke out the zip ties again as Occupy protesters defied a midnight curfew for a third consecutive night. Police made several arrests at the State Capitol's Legislative Plaza. But the Occupy protesters seemingly have the support of a national magistrate. He's been dismissing the arrest warrants and releasing the protesters.
In Oakland, California, a much larger Occupy crowd turned out last night than in some of the previous demonstrations. That's a look at the scene there last night. Some are suggesting it's the support of Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen. Olsen, you'll recall, suffered a cracked skull earlier this week in a face-off against the city's riot police.
And in New York City where it all began as the Occupy Wall Street movement, demonstrators are battling more against the elements these days than they are against the police. At least for now. On Friday, citing safety concerns, the city's fire department confiscated numerous gas generators used for heating. Protesters, of course, are questioning the timing of all of that. One of CNN's iReporter took these pictures here as the nor'easter blew into town dropping thick, wet snow on the Occupy encampment in Zuccotti Park.
Well, it's unlikely that Scott Olsen is the only veteran of the Occupy movement. One of the biggest concerns among protesters is unemployment. The jobless rate among post-9/11 vets is higher than the national average. And for female vets, even higher.
CNN's Athena Jones introduces us to one such veteran who despite her experience and education is still looking for work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kenya Smith is a proud veteran. She spent 14 years in the Navy and worked as a logistics and supply officer in Iraq.
KENYA SMITH, UNEMPLOYED VETERAN: I loved the Navy. You split me open, I'm blue and gold.
JONES: Smith left the Military in 2009 and is still struggling to find work.
SMITH: I didn't really know how to do a resume. I never had to do one.
JONES: A divorced mother of two with two Master's degrees, Smith lost her home to foreclosure in September and now lives in transitional housing.
The unemployment rate for recent veterans is higher than the national average as many face unique challenges getting hired sometimes after multiple deployments.
PAUL RIECKHOFF, FOUNDER, IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS OF AMERICA: While civilians have been going to school or have been going for interviews, these folks have been getting shot at in Iraq and Afghanistan. So sometimes they're not trained in how to convert their resumes from Military lingo into the civilian space. And then they need to have training like interview training.
JONES: With a jobless rate of 14.7 percent in September, female veterans have fared worse than their male counterparts. Some face challenges from childcare to dealing with the V.A. system that is unaccustomed to female veterans.
RIECKHOFF: Well, a lot of people in the country don't understand or appreciate that women are in combat. And I think that some folks just don't understand that that's a part of our modern reality in the Military. And they, too, need the same sort of skills and training that their male counterparts do.
JONES: The Obama administration is trying to address the high jobless rate among vets. The president's jobs bill would give companies that higher veterans tax credits of up to $9,600.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Just think about how many veterans have led their comrades on life and death missions by the time they were 25. That's the kind of responsibility every business in America should want to take advantage of.
JONES: But the jobs bill and other legislation that would help vets have stalled in Congress. The administration has also launched a plan to allow former medics to get nursing school credit for their service. And last week, the president announced an effort to urge health centers to hire 8,000 veterans over the next three years and grants to help train vets to be physicians' assistance.
Smith believes that her experience will eventually pay off.
SMITH: I did HR. I ran a department. I ran programs. I ran projects.
JONES: But something has to work out very soon. She and her two children must move out of their transitional housing on November 11, Veterans Day.
Athena Jones, CNN, Gaithersburg, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Well, it's a big royal deal in the U.K., reversing 300 years of tradition. And it could begin with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the very popular William and Kate. We'll explain the new rule affecting their children. What could happen when they take the throne? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back.
It's a royal tradition dating back 300 years, but could soon be changed in Great Britain. If the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge William and Kate have a child, it wouldn't matter if it's a boy or girl anymore, both will have equal opportunity when it comes to taking the throne.
That is a major reversal, as we mentioned, three centuries in the making. So what's going on and why now?
Richard Fitzwilliams is a royal commentator and a royal watcher. He joins me now from London. Hey, Richard, good morning.
As a woman, of, this is something. This is heartening news to me. But tell us, we've still got one more hurdle, right? It's close, not quite official just yet, right? So give us a status report. Where are we and what's going to happen?
RICHARD FITZWILLIAMS, ROYAL WATCHER AND ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Well, there's no doubt that over decades this has been discussed. It's ridiculous that in this century women should still be at a disadvantage. But this dates back to traditions over the centuries.
And with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge having said that they do intend to start a family, this made it urgent because previously the Prince of Wales, Prince William, Prince Harry, the line of succession was clear. But what we were faced with was that if there had been a royal baby girl and then a boy, the boy would have had precedence. The male having precedence over the female is ridiculous, I'm sure you'll agree, in an age of gender equality.
So what had to happen was that 15 other Commonwealth countries had to be consulted by the British government. And when these countries have ratified the new law of royal succession, then the male and female children will be equal. This puts Britain boldly into line with Sweden, with Norway, with the Netherlands and with Belgium and also with contemporary thought.
CHO: But let's be - let's be honest here, of course, you know, they had been talking about and have been talking about having a family. So, as you said, even though it's been talked about for decades, it suddenly became an urgent matter. But it's also become an urgent matter because the public adores William and Kate. I mean, let's be honest. Isn't that part of it, as well?
FITZWILLIAMS: Oh, yes. There's no question about that. And people I think would be very upset if there was, as I say, a girl and then subsequently a boy, and there's a clear matter that there would be discrimination.
As for example, there's also the intention to make sure that a member of the royal family -- this, too, has just been announced - would be able to marry a Catholic. This dates back for legislation centuries ago which was very anti-Catholic. And the situation is that an heir that the British throne could marry a Jew, a Sikh, a Hindu, but not a Catholic. So long as the monarch keeps a traditional link to the Supreme Government of the Church of England and remains a Protestant this, too, will be changed.
I've emphasized that both these changes will seem to listeners and viewers to be long overdue. That's absolutely right. But it's not the palace that's been dragging its feet. It's the politicians. This has been discussed for decades. It's simply a matter of putting it into effect.
CHO: Well, Richard Fitzwilliams, I thank you for breaking it down for us. And this is such welcome news and I love talking about it and I love talking with you. Thank you so much.
Well, tens of thousands -
FITZWILLIAMS: It's a pleasure.
CHO: -- in Perth, Australia, showed up to get a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth at the big Aussie Barbecue on Saturday. The event marked the end of a brief but busy visit Down Under with a number of people thinking this might be the queen's last visit there as head of state. Despite Occupy protests in Perth and Melbourne, crowds of young and old greeted her with plenty of enthusiasm.
Well, it's a blacklist that anyone would be honored to be on. Find out what it is when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Twenty-five minutes after the hour. Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Typically, no one wants to be blacklisted, but that definitely isn't the case with "The Black List." It's a new exhibit in Washington featuring portraits and interviews from 50 African- Americans who have left a lasting mark on the world. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS ROCK, ACTOR: I'm Chris Rock.
SUSAN RICE, AMERICAN DIPLOMAT: Susan Rice.
TYLER PERRY, ACTOR/DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's about achievement. It's about people who have done something extraordinary.
GOV. DEVAL PATRICK, MASSACHUSETTS: The governor of Massachusetts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Composer, rapper, actor.
COLIN POWELL, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: Unemployed.
TIMOTHY GREENFIELD-SANDERS, PHOTOGRAPHER/FILMMAKER: The Black List was a way to take my portraits and bring them to life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I tell my students I expect for them to go on and change the world.
GREENFIELD-SANDERS: To have them as - like talking portraits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not just be the best surgeon, but actually change the world.
GREENFIELD-SANDERS: That's what I wanted to do. It's not about what they're wearing. It's not about anything. It's about the face. It's about the person.
HILL HARPER, ACTOR: The word the Black List is something that was considered negative. And repurposing that word and shining a light on positive African-Americans, I couldn't be more proud to be a part this group.
FAYE WATTLETON, WOMEN'S RIGHT ACTIVIST: This list is not just about the people photographed but the symbolic meaning of their lives.
PATRICK ROBINSON, FASHION DESIGNER: Maybe with my background of what I've done in fashion and what I've done socially, I think that it was interesting to kind of throw me in the mix.
GREENFIELD-SANDERS: You need to have someone like Susan Lori Parks and you need someone like Majora Carter, who's an environmentalist and activist to give a range of accomplishment.
MAJORA CARTER, ENVIRONMENTALIST/ACTIVIST: I'm probably one of the least well-known people in this list. It does show that there are people that you may never hear of, but still play an incredible role and have such an impact on how our lives as Americans are lived.
GREENFIELD-SANDERS: There are 50 portraits here. Should there be a hundred, should there be 1,000. It should be 10,000, of course. And there - there are a million stories.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Including Whoopi Goldberg's. And you can see "The Black List" exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington through April 22nd. I'm going to go see it myself.
Coming up, an entire airline is grounded. The CEO ordering all planes parked. So why? And how is this affecting travelers? We'll tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. T.J. Holmes is off today. It's 30 minutes past the hour.
Checking our top stories, a sudden October snowstorm hammering the northeast. Four states have declared emergencies - New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Three storm-related deaths have been reported, including an 84-year-old man who died when a tree fell onto his home in Pennsylvania. Right now, around two million people are without power.
And the bad weather is making it pretty tough for protesters with the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. Take a look at these pictures from a CNN iReporter. That's Zuccotti Park in Manhattan, where the movement began. Thick, wet snow everywhere.
Friday, the city's fire department confiscated numerous propane tanks and generators, citing safety concerns, but protesters question the timing.
Want to talk now more about that rare October nor'easter, who got hit the hardest and what's next in terms of cleanup and travel. Meteorologist Alexandra Steele is here with more on that, and if you want to light a fire, stay inside, don't go anywhere, the Berkshires. That's the place to be, right?
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right, because you're not going to have any power, because the Berkshires were really the hardest hit.
So, good morning, everyone. Maybe you're waking up without power in the northeast and New England. Really unprecedented, incredible event on so many fronts, historic and record-breaking.
So let's take a look. Let's show you some of the snowfall totals. Now, Windsor, Massachusetts; Savoy, Massachusetts; of course Western Massachusetts, in the Berkshires, getting hit the hardest because that's when the low really, qoute-unquote, "meteorologically" bombed out. The pressure got so low, and then we talk about and had thundersnow.
What's thundersnow? I'll tell you in a sec.
All right, Peru, Massachusetts; Millbrook, New York; and Pine Plains, New York. That's in the Hudson Valley of New York, just north of New York City and Duchess County. So there's elevation there as well. Of course, that's where the Catskill Mountains, are, 17 inches, 18 inches.
So thundersnow is a storm - a thunderstorm, with thunder and lightning and snow, of course, is coming down. And here's the scenario - usually, when you look up and you see towering thunderstorm clouds, right? But when you look up and you see snow, they're pretty much flat clouds. But what can happen is a little bump can develop in those kind of flat clouds, about above 5,000 feet. It's called a turret or a bump.
Now, those bumps have vigorous upward motion, similar to a thunderstorm, creates that convection, and that's when we have that incredible amount of snow come down at one point. Some point we had three and four inches an hour last night in the northeast, especially in areas like Connecticut and Massachusetts. That's where this thing really bombed out.
All right, so right now and through the day, this area of low pressure, this nor'easter, pushes to the north and east. Boston maybe this morning seeing a few snow showers, but, for the most part, cooler air behind it and some very strong winds today. So although temperatures will be in the 40s, above freezing, so we will see melting, but, with those winds, it's going to feel a lot cooler than that. It will feel like 20s and 30s.
So very strong winds today, gusting in the 20s and 30s, and 40 mile-per-hour gusts, coupled with these 40-degree temperatures, it will feel a lot colder, but it will be a dry day, and we will have lots of sunshine.
We'll talk about what's ahead for the next few days and around the country today as well on this Sunday.
CHO: All right. Well, boy, what a difference a day makes. Thank you so much, Alexandra.
All planes in the Qantas Airline fleet are grounded today. It's the result of an ongoing dispute between management and workers over pay and possible plans to outsource some jobs. The Australian airline's chief executive decided to ground all the planes yesterday and will lock out all workers involved in the dispute beginning Monday. The drastic move has stranded tens of thousands of passengers. Now, anyone who has tickets on the Qantas plane are being told not to bother going to the airport until further notice. Qantas says they'll offer refunds or rebook flights when the planes get back in the air. Around 600 flights have been canceled so far.
What a mess.
Cracked windshield forced an AirTran plane to make an emergency landing in Billings, Montana. There's a look at it, and you see it highlighted.
The flight was headed from Milwaukee to Seattle. The airline sent another plane to pick up the 124 stranded passengers.
So scary moments there. No word yet on any injuries.
The Republican presidential candidates have an eye on Iowa. The first in the nation caucus state will be very busy this week, with campaigns rolling through. We'll check out the week ahead in politics next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Thirty-six minutes after the hour. To politics now, and a dead heat in the first presidential caucus state. A new poll from "The Des Moines Register" shows that Iowa voters are leaning toward Herman Cain and Mitt Romney.
Now, it looks like a dead heat there. Cain holds a slight one percent lead. That's well within the margin of error. The Iowa caucuses are set for January 3.
Ron Paul did OK in the register poll, but he really excelled in a straw poll of likely Iowa voters. That may be because he showed up yesterday. He got 82 percent in the National Federation of Republican Assembly's presidential straw poll. Herman Cain was second at 15 percent.
Paul and Rick Santorum were the only candidates to show up at the Iowa event on Saturday.
Rick Perry isn't going to be skipping any debates after all. The Texas governor says he's ready to take part in the next four debates in November. CNN is hosting two of those debates in Washington, D.C., and Arizona.
Earlier, Perry had indicated he might skip some of the debates in order to spend more time with voters.
Iowa is pretty much the center of the political universe this week. The first in the nation caucus state will play host to most of the candidates. CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser takes a look at the week ahead in politics.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, good morning, Alina.
You know, most of the Republican presidential candidates will spend much of this week in Iowa, the first state to vote in the primary caucus calendar. On tap, a forum moderated by Iowa's Republican governor on Tuesday, and a GOP party dinner on Friday night.
The next day, two of the candidates, former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, they face off in a debate in Texas organized by a Tea Party group - Alina.
CHO: Paul Steinhauser, thanks.
One man in India with 39 wives and close to 100 children. We've just described what some are calling the world's largest family, and you'll meet them after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: The growing world population is about to hit a major milestone tomorrow - seven billion people. And India is catching up to China as the most populous country. It's also home to the world's largest family.
CNN's Sumnima Udas has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An army of workers chopping, plucking, roasting, but this is not a military canteen. Everyone here is a wife, child or grandchild of one man, Ziona.
NUNPARLIANA, FIRST SON (through translator): "I am the eldest son," he says.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): "My mother is the 26th wife," she says.
UDAS: Ziona has 39 wives, 86 children and 35 grandchildren, making his family very likely the biggest in the world. All 160 family members live here. A four-story mansion with 22 bedrooms in a tiny village in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram.
The state itself has only one million residents. One of the lowest population counts in the country. But that may change if 69- year-old Ziona has his way.
ZIONA, FATHER OF 86 CHILDREN (through translator): "I believe God chose us to be like this. Those who are born into this family, they don't want to leave, and they follow this tradition. So we just keep growing and growing," he says.
UDAS (on camera): This is the nerve center of Ziona's household, the outdoor slaughtering and barbecue area. The family indulges in meat three times a week. And for every non-vegetarian meal, 30 chickens are plucked and one giant pig is roasted.
(voice-over): Add in some carbohydrates, 25 kilos of rice and 40 kilos of potatoes are required for every meal. Dinnertime is an efficient exercise. Without much fuss, some women of the house cook while others set the table. Still others clean.
And Ziona remains the all-powerful patriarch. He first got married when he was 17.
ZATHIANGI, FIRST WIFE (through translator): "I loved him so I married him," she says.
TWANGI, FIFTH WIFE (through translator): "He treats us all with so much love," she says.
UDAS: His oldest wife is 70, and the youngest is 31.
Ziona's father founded this Christian sect in Baktwang Village promoting polygamy as God's will.
ZIONA (through translator): "I never wanted to get married, but that's the path God has chosen for me," he says, "it's not my wish to keep marrying again and again."
UDAS: With a following of 400 families, Ziona is now the caretaker of the South Reliance Sect. They raise their own livestock and grow their own crops while children go to a nearby school. Everyone seems to get along.
(on camera): Do you fight amongst your siblings?
HUMINGTHAMZAUVA, SIXTH GRANDSON: Never.
UDAS: No fighting?
HUMINGTHAMZAUVA: No fighting.
UDAS (voice-over): India is set to overtake China as the world's most populist nation by 2030. But crowding and crumbling infrastructure in India's booming cities doesn't seem to phase Ziona and his family.
(on camera): Does it ever feel crowded?
HUMINGTHAMZAUVA (through translator): "Since we're used to living in a very big family, when we go outside, we feel very lonely," he says.
UDAS (voice-over): The family isn't listed in the "Guinness Book of World Records," because Ziona says he doesn't want the publicity. But as word gets out, Baktwang Village may not remain so isolated for that much longer.
Samnima Udas, CNN, Mizoram, India.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHO: That is an unbelievable story. Nadia Bilchik joins us now for our "Morning Passport."
We're not going to talk about the world's largest family. We are going to talk about - you know, with all this talk in Great Britain about them changing the lines - the rules with respect to succession and now it wouldn't matter if William or Kate has a boy or girl, each will have an equal opportunity when it comes to ascending the throne.
But in India, they have a tradition that's not so positive, not so great in terms of naming girls, right?
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: You said - the question you asked me earlier is why would certain people - and again, I do want to emphasize it's certain because Hindus in general actually revere their girls because the goddess Lakshmi -
CHO: Right.
BILCHIK: -- and many other goddesses are highly revered, and they are female goddesses. But there are many girls that are named unwanted which is Nakusha or Nakushi.
And last weekend, there was a ceremony where these girls with their name unwanted - literally called "unwanted" underwent a ceremony where they for the first time were given the name of their choice.
Can you imagine that? Being called unwanted because they were exactly that. You asked me, why were they unwanted?
CHO: Right.
BILCHIK: They were unwanted because the parents or the grandparents in most cases wanted to have boy grandchildren. So here you are seeing these women and the ceremony took place -
CHO: And some of them are adult.
BILCHIK: Exactly. But the ceremony that took place last weekend was mainly girls, between around 13 and 15 years old. And these girls for the first time, there you're seeing them, and there are their name certificates.
CHO: How awful that they have to live through their lives -
BILCHIK: They have to live with the name "unwanted," Nakusha or Nakushi.
One girl, a 15-year-old girl tells the story that her grandfather named her unwanted. And she is now calling herself Ashmita, which means strong one.
CHO: Oh, good for her.
BILCHIK: Now, many of the girls have chosen to be called Aishwarya after the beautiful Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai. So I wanted us to show pictures of the magnificent Aishwarya. Who wouldn't want to be called her?
CHO: Call me that.
BILCHIK: Exactly. And we'll get to what Alina means in a moment.
But the reality is the gender gap in India, particularly in this region, the Satara Region, has grown. So in India there are around 9,000 or so girls to every 1,000 boys.
CHO: Wow.
BILCHIK: In this particular region, there are around 8,000 girls - 800 girls to every 1,000 boys. So the gender gap in this particular region is even greater. Hence the importance of having this ceremony in the Satara Region.
But reality is when you think about your name and what it actually means for you, so I looked up the name Alina.
CHO: You know, I don't know what it means. I can't believe I don't.
BILCHIK: All the meanings for Alina in all the Aramaic, all these is noble, kind, and bearer of light.
CHO: Oh, wow. That's good. At least it's positive.
BILCHIK: Exactly. All are beautiful. All Alina beautiful. And my name, which is Nadia -
CHO: Correct.
BILCHIK: -- comes from the Russian Nadezhda -
CHO: Right.
BILCHIK: -- which means hope. But if you think about what -
CHO: Fantastic.
BILCHIK: -- a name actually gives you, so for the first time in India, these particular girls, these 285 girls, go from being unwanted to having a name. But I do, again, want to emphasize not all Hindus don't revere their girls.
CHO: Right. But the fact that it's happening at all - I hope they change that. I hope that it doesn't happen ever again. But, anyway -
BILCHIK: And hopefully -
CHO: -- thank you for bringing that - bring that to light.
BILCHIK: And the whole reality is hospitals in India no longer allow you to have a scan and then have a sex-selective abortion. You can't do that. So the idea is when you have the scan, doctors are not allowed to tell you whether you're having a girl or boy.
But the sonars are so sophisticated now that you can usually tell. So sex-selective abortions are still taking place. But certainly a step in the right direction. And let's hope that young Ashmita has a very wonderful life.
CHO: Yes, that's right.
BILCHIK: So noble one, thank you.
CHO: Thank you.
BILCHIK: Enjoy the rest of your day.
CHO: Woman of hope. Nadia, thank you very much.
Coming up, for a lot of folks, October is pumpkin season. And few people know how to carve one better than two guys in a basement in Brooklyn. We'll show you how they work their magic next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: OK, we all know how popular Halloween costumes are for the kids and the kids in all of us. But what about your four-legged best friend? Here's a look at this year's top five costumes for pets according to the National Retail Federation.
At number five, cat. Number four, bee. Number three, this one made my head scratch - scratch my head a little bit, hot dog. Number two, devil. And number one, pumpkin.
Speaking of pumpkins, Brooklyn's Mark and Chris are professional artists all year long. But when Halloween rolls around, their fingers work with renewed passion to turn pumpkins into works of art. Take a look and listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our final list is pretty diverse. We have done everything from the New York Yankees and the New York Jets to "Glamour" magazine, "Interview" magazine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the way down to weddings, birthday parties. We do promotions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to have a lot of concentration, a lot of focus, a lot of patience. While you're working, we're using very sharp tools. And one slip could be the end of the season for us.
MARK MANIAC, PUMPKIN ARTIST: I'm Mark Maniac, master pumpkin carver.
CHRIS MANIAC, PUMPKIN ARTIST: I'm Chris Maniac, pumpkin smith extraordinaire.
M. MANIAC: We're the maniac pumpkin carvers. C. MANIAC: Started carving pumpkins just - just for fun. We were working at bars and restaurants and carving for friends and pretty soon it got - it got pretty popular and we were carving full time for two months out of the year.
M. MANIAC: It's going to be a birdhouse carved into a pumpkin.
Last night we were carving until 7:00 A.M. which is kind of unusual for this time of year. The carving itself could take anywhere between one hour and six hours.
It depends on the complexity of the designs and how much caffeine we've had.
C. MANIAC: Sometimes we only do a couple of pumpkins in a night. Sometimes we do 20, 30, 40 pumpkins in a night.
M. MANIAC: Part of the fun for me is really seeing what can be done in pumpkin because it is this new medium. We're constantly finding new things and pushing the envelope.
C. MANIAC: Creating a work of art in a pumpkin, it's just a very rewarding experience. You're creating something that is ephemeral and temporary and is all about the now.
M. MANIAC: We like to think of it almost like ice sculpture. From the moment you start cutting into it, the clock is ticking on how - how long that pumpkin is going to last.
Looks good.
Our pumpkins start at $150 and it can go upwards of $350 if it's a portrait or a very intricate design, a larger pumpkin. It's a lot of time that goes into each one. And each pumpkin is a work of art that leaves the studio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: How cool.
You know, the President and the First Lady welcome children to the White House for Halloween. Take a look. Eager little trick-or- treaters ignored the cold weather and marched right in to pick up some candy. Yes, there were sweets, and they included signature boxes of White House M&Ms. How cool is that?
And they were there. Remember the First Lady is pushing that healthy eating campaign. Let's move. The president had joked with Jay Leno that in order to avoid any Halloween mischief she may want to hand out more than just raisins. Boy, does it look cool in there.
But we understand the President and First Lady a bit better based on what's inside those White House trick-or-treat bags. Well, according to Gawker.com, you can. The candy you give says something about the kind of person you are. So if you give out sweet tarts or anything that isn't chocolate, you're said to be into Halloween and you want folks to think you're a little bit whacky or crazy.
How about candy corn? Way too into Halloween. Not very smart, that's according to Gawker.com. Why? Because it gets all sticky and clumps at the bottom of the trick-or-treat bag.
Tootsie Rolls, simple, classic, probably very cool and stylish.
And if you give out full-sized candy bars, not just those mini ones, apparently you're an annoying showoff who needs everyone's approval.
How about planning the ultimate Halloween experience for your kids from the palm of your hand, from picking out costumes, choosing candy, even keeping tabs on where your kids go trick-or-treating. We've got you covered. Here's CNN's Karin Caifa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARIN CAIFA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trick or tweet. Your Halloween planning gets a high-tech twist with your smartphone.
Let little ones participate in the pumpkin carving process minus the mess and the danger. The carve-it app for iPhone and iPad lets kids of all ages put a happy, scary or sneaky smirk on a pumpkin and even light it up. The pumpkin 3d light app for iPhone and iPad takes it a few steps further, letting creative fans add different faces, hats, and Halloween garb, even ghosts and music for a spookier mood.
Planning a big bash? The Halloween Planner App for Android has your checklist covered with reminders about everything from shopping for trick-or-treaters to your cobweb and spider decorations.
If you're undecided on what you and the kids should wear, the Halloween costume's fashion fun app lets you scroll through hundreds of suggestions and order them directly from your mobile device.
CHILDREN: Trick-or-treat!
CAIFA: And when the kids are dressed up and ready to head out, keep tabs on them using the trick or tracker app for Android. The GPS function also alerts parents if kids go beyond designated boundaries in the neighborhood as long as kids have their smartphones on them.
Karin Caifa, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: We'll be back in a moment. Your top stories after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: From CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It's Sunday, October 30th, Halloween Eve. Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. T.J. Holmes is off. Three people are dead and two million without power after what some are calling snow-tober (ph). That fall nor'easter. We'll tell you who got hit the hardest and what's next.
The cold weather is impacting those taking part in the Occupy Wall Street protests. We'll hear what they're saying as they face the storm.
In just a couple of minutes I'm going to be speaking to Tati Grossman, this year's winner of what's known as the Nobel Prize for Children. She's going to tell us how she got involved in philanthropy at the age of 13.
Battering the northeast right now, around two million people are without power. Four states have declared emergencies - New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Here's what it looks like in Massachusetts right now. Officials predicted that downed trees are going to be a major problem. And guess what? They were right. Storm is being blamed for three deaths so far, one in Massachusetts. A man in Pennsylvania was killed when a snow-covered tree fell into his house. The third person died while driving in Connecticut.
People in Connecticut who have lost power are being told it may be a while before it comes back. The governor says they've been waiting for road conditions to improve before sending out prepare crews. We've seen heavy accumulation of snow all the way from Virginia and Maryland, up through Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Pennsylvania got socked, as well.
Our Chad Myers is back in York, Pennsylvania, this morning.
Hey, Chad. Good morning.
So, it looks a little bit better than it was an hour ago, is it?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's still cold and things certainly aren't melting. And now I know how they do the moonwalk on those TV shows, "Dancing with the Stars," because if you ice it down, you can't move it all. It's really hard to break this ice on the ground.
That's exactly what you're going to see if you want to look at that car back there, that's been encased -- hard to walk here -- encased in ice all night. So, if you're going to have -- try to get out, it may take you a good half-hour just to clear your car off. That's how rough it's been all night.
Now, we still have a bunch of people here without power. And a lot of people were spending the night at our hotel because they didn't want their kids to be sleeping in a cold house. And that's probably the biggest rub -- not so much that it's dark, that it's cold.
The furnaces won't run because the power is not there to use the blower, even if the gas is running, the blower won't push the heat back into your house.
So, not only 2 million people without power, 2 million households without heat. They are either going to families, going to neighbors, or like in the case we had here, all going to the hotels. They were filling up last night with a line to get in the hotel at 11:00 at night -- when we were checking in at 11:00 in the morning, we were about the only people in the whole place. So, kind of a change in strategy here, some people trying to stay warm.
The deal is today, maybe wait for the sun to come out. It will warm up. We will probably get to 40 degrees today.
Trying to get out right now, you're going to be into this black ice. It's everywhere. You may not see it. You drive through it. Put your brakes on. There's no chance for you to stop. Wait a couple hours, the black ice melts, and you'll be a lot safer -- Alina.
CHO: So I see that there are a few cars out there this morning. Obviously, a function of it being just a little bit later in the morning than an hour ago, Chad. So how are people handling the weather? Have you talked to some of the people out there?
MYERS: I -- you know, this is costing money. And there are a couple families, they were in our hotel. I looked at them yesterday and said, what is this costing you? He said, dude, I paid $149 for the hotel and now, I'm paying 3 bucks for a bottle of water. I don't have that extra cash but I can't leave my three kids in a cold house that's going to get to 40 degrees tonight. I have to spend this money. This is money that I wanted to be saving for Christmas and here I am spending it on a hotel that I really didn't need.
And the issue is, last night, when we were going to bed, when we were calling and getting on the scanners about when these power lines are going to come up, the power crews were saying, we don't even have an ETA. Don't tell people anything. We have no idea.
There are so many lines down. We're not talking about hundreds. We're talking about thousands of power lines down. Incidents that every line would have to go back up on the pole to get power back to one or two customers.
If you're the one or two without power, you are not a priority. They are going to put the power up to lines and get those lines up that might get 100 people back to power. Not the one or two. If you're one or two, you're way down the priority system at this point.
CHIO: Well, and, Chad -- let's --
MYERS: See this car -- crunching, yes.
CHO: Let's remind our viewers -- I mean --
MYERS: Go ahead.
CHO: -- because this snowstorm happened in October, so early on, leaves were on the trees. And that's part of why so many are without power now, right?
MYERS: That's exactly right. This is very heavy snow. I can go down and pick up a piece of what's -- break this off.
This is what it looked like even before it froze up yesterday. It's heavy. When it hits the ground, it doesn't really want to break. It's still a big chunk.
So, this has a lot of water content in it. Water's heavy. This water was topping right on top of al the leaves on all the branches of the trees. Even pine trees were coming down, as well. Not just the maples and the oaks, and especially the Bradford pears. I'm not sure there's going to be a Bradford pear in this town after this because they split down the middle and all broke.
It's the weight of the snow and water in the snow bringing down the branches because the leaves were there. Now that the leaves are gone in many spots, you know, November to December, they're always gone, this is not a problem. The water and the snow just kind of falls off.
Yesterday, the snow didn't fall off. It got heavier and heavier. Branches came down and so did the power lines.
CHO: All right, Chad Myers. I know you're working with my good friend, Adam Reese, your producer out there, my good friend. Tell him hello and stay warm, you, too, be will you? And your photographer, too. Thanks so much.
MYERS: You should send me some designer --
CHO: What's that? What did you say?
MYERS: He said you should send me some French designer to make me nice and warm clothes. You know all the French designers --
CHO: I know why he's saying that. He was my producer in Paris, for my fashion special. I don't appreciate that.
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: That's right.
CHO: All right. Chad Myers, thanks. Adam Reese, thank you.
So, we want to talk now about that nor'easter. You know, who got hit the hardest, what's next in terms of cleanup and travel.
Our Alexandra Steele is here with more on that.
And, Alexandra, we talked about the Berkshires just getting socked. You know, this power outage situation is a real, real problem. Two million people without power. And as you heard Chad say there, no telling when they're going to get their power back on there.
STEELE: Right. And it is incredibly widespread. The calling card of this storm definitely.
And we talked about this yesterday before these power outages occurred, one -- the incredible storm totals, isolated some, 26 inches. But also, of course, the widespread power outages. That may rival any in the history we've ever seen, 2 million without power.
And, of course, because the full foliage, the weight of this heavy, wet snow -- a meteorologist friend of mine out in the field said it was like waffles falling down. That's kind of how big and fat and heavy the snow was. So snowfall totals, certainly the calling card. Record-breaking on so many fronts, the greatest snowfall totals for a day, for a month. So, we'll talk about that.
Twenty-six inches -- this is Windsor, Massachusetts, western Massachusetts in the Berkshires. Of course, the elevation from the mountains, as well. Peru, Massachusetts, Millbrook, New York, and also Pine Plains and Duchess County, New York. That's just north of New York City in the beautiful Hudson Valley. Some elevation there, as well, that's Duchess County,17.9, 16 inches, remarkable on so many fronts.
The big cities, I want to show you this -- Hartford, if you saw pictures from Hartford, the images of these fat flakes. It looked as though someone was dumping snow on the anchors and meteorologists out there. And we had a lot of thunder snow. We'll talk about why we saw that.
Newark, New Jersey, 5.2, shattering old records. Central Park from the 1800s has kept records. They have never, ever, ever had one inch of snow in October, let alone 2.9. And Philadelphia, three- tenths of an inch.
So, thunder snow. That's why we've seen such incredible totals. What is it? It's a snowstorm with thunder and lightning coupled with it. You can hear it.
And what happens is usually when you look up and when the snow's coming down, the clouds are kind of flat, unlike those tall thunderstorm clouds in the summer that you see. So these flat snows develop little -- flat clouds develop little bumps or what we call turrets. The bumps rise above that snow cloud by about 5,000 feet or so. They have vigorous upward motion, create a ton of convection, and then just dump the snow down.
So, prolific snowfall numbers you usually see. So, we'll talk more about that -- and is it over? For the most part it is, we'll timeline it for you and talk about the country coming up.
Back to you.
CHO: All right, Alexandra. Thank you very much.
Well, the snow and rain dampened the "Occupy Wall Street" encampment in Lower Manhattan, but not the protesters' spirit. I want to take a live look at Zuccotti Park in New York City if we can. I guess we lost that shot -- oh, there it is. You're looking live at New York City, lower Manhattan and Zuccotti Park. And as you can see, it's pretty quiet there. People in their tents.
But it appears it did not, as I said, dampen their spirit.
Here's Susan Candiotti.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PROTESTER: No rain, no snow, ain't no way we're going to go.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Despite the conditions, the chant is, "In the snow, in the street, occupy Wall Street." They're still marching in this sleet. It's rough out here.
You've spent the night here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I've been here 20 days.
CANDIOTTI: What was it like all night?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was freezing cold all night. Terrible.
CANDIOTTI: How did you manage to stay warm?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just kind of huddled together and just try to keep our body heat together and stay warm that way.
CANDIOTTI: The obvious question is, how can you bear this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. It's just for the cause, I suppose.
CANDIOTTI: How long do you think you can stand these conditions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until something gets resolved in Washington.
CANDIOTTI: But who knows when that's going to be?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's true.
CANDIOTTI: It could be a long know hard winter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It could be a long, hard winter. That's correct.
CANDIOTTI: Walking through the park here, it is filled with tents. Over here, you've got the place that's always had everyone serving food. They've got -- some fresh fruit coming in here. You've got a shipment of bananas that just came in, to hand out to people.
Is this your tent?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CANDIOTTI: Can you show us?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything is folded up. You're more than welcome to come in.
You're prepared to stick this out through the winter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CANDIOTTI: Why?
UNIDENNTIFIED FEMALE: It's worth it. I'm so passionate. It's worth it. It's worth. I'm ready to see change.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Well, occupy protesters in Denver got much more than they bargained for had they tried to take their demonstration inside the state capitol. Take a look.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
CHO: Police used pepper spray and rubber bullets to subdue the protesters. More than 20 demonstrators were arrested last night.
In Oakland, California, much larger occupy crowd turned out last night than some of the previous demonstrations. Some are suggesting it's in support of Iraq war veteran school Olsen. You'll recall that Olsen suffered a cracked skull earlier this week in a faceoff against city police.
To politics now and a dead heat in the first presidential caucus state. A new poll from "The Des Moines Register" shows that Iowa voters are leaning toward Herman Cain and Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination. Basically a dead heat. Cain does hold a slight 1 percent lead. But that's well within the margin of error. The Iowa caucuses are set for January 3rd.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
CHO: Ron Paul did OK in "The Register" poll but he really excelled in a straw poll of likely Iowa voters. And that's likely because he actually showed up to this event. He got 82 percent in the National Federation of Republican Assembly's presidential straw poll. Herman Cain was second at 15 percent. Paul and Rick Santorum, by the way, were the only candidates to show up in Des Moines on Saturday.
Well, it started with a book drive in her front yard. Now, a California teen is getting a big award for making sure thousands of kids in Africa have books to read. She's the winner of what's known as the Nobel Prize for Children. And I'll talk with this extraordinary 16-year-old when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. Her compassion for others has put a California teenager in the spotlight. Her name is Tatiana Grossman and she's won the 2011 World of Children Award. It's the so-called Nobel Prize for children for her work in bringing thousands of books to children in Africa.
She joins me now from New York, Tatiana or Tati as she's known.
Tati, it's great to see you. You know, I can't wait to meet you Wednesday at the gala. Full disclosure here, I've been the emcee for four years now. So, I'm completely biased.
But what I know is that World of Children really does honor the best of the best of people who help children around the world. So, tell me about your program and what do you do?
TATIANA GROSSMAN, WINNER, 2011 WORLD OF CHILDREN AWARD: Well, I started an organization called Spread the Words that works to increase early literacy in Africa by -- through book drives and starting library in Africa. And more recently, actually, I have started a digital projector initiative that loads pages of material on to a projector to send to classrooms all over Africa.
CHO: Wow, that's amazing. You know, I think what people will find so remarkable, among many other things, is the fact that you're just 16 years old. But, really, this all started when you were about to turn 13. You were at the dinner table with your family. And you thought to yourself, hey, at age 13, maybe I'll start to think about how I'm going to help others, right?
So, what came next?
GROSSMAN: Well, yes. I started off as a young girl who just loved to read. I loved to read more than anything else. And I still do.
And it just led to another -- my parent and I decided that it was time for me to help the world. And I knew exactly what I was going do. I -- when I learned that kids in Africa didn't have books to read and that as a result they were illiterate, I was stunned. And I knew I could help.
So, when I was 12, I set up a book drive in front of the children's library in my town. And I just set it up for 10 days, and by the end of that time period, I got 3,500 books.
CHO: Wow.
GROSSMAN: Enough to start three libraries in Africa.
CHO: That's amazing.
GROSSMAN: It's amazing.
CHO: Let me ask, you were just 12, 13 years old. I mean, what was it inside of you that gave you the courage to do this? I mean, this was something -- you could have been doing anything. You didn't have to do this.
GROSSMAN: Well, I -- I just was so inspired by the people in my community, and I was just -- it just broke my heart to see that these kids who I knew could just have an equal chance as I did, they didn't have the materials to do it with. And I could send -- I had so many books around me. I knew I could send them this. And it -- I was shy, but yes--
CHO: Tell me about the reaction because we're looking at video. And we've seen the photos of you actually there in Africa. How many times have you been?
GROSSMAN: I've only been one. But when I went, they were so overjoyed. And they were so happy that I sent the books. And they were just telling me what they read and their favorite stories. And now, what they wanted to be when they grew up, because they were inspired by the books that I sent.
And I saw the books and the only books that they had were the books I had sent. They had no books other than that. And it -- it was awe-striking.
CHO: Well, you know what? I have to say, I spoke to the people at World of Children last night. I know you think you're getting a $25,000 reward. But guess what? Due to the generosity of donors and the board, I'm here to tell you you're going to get $30,000. So how do you feel about that and what are you going to do with the money?
GROSSMAN: Oh, my -- well -- well, I know --
CHO: Isn't that great?
GROSSMAN: Yes. I was intentionally -- I was intending to spend it on my digital projector initiative which I -- as I said before, was -- I'm going to load material on to it and send it to classrooms all over Africa. Now, I can afford many more. Right now, I just have money for one. And with this money, I can use around 50 actually. It's wonderful.
CHO: Wow. Well, Tati Grossman, it has been my honor to speak to you. I can't wait to see you on Wednesday. And, of course, hello to my friends Harry and Kaye Leibowitz, who were the founders of World of Children. I'll see you then, too.
Tati, thank you.
GROSSMAN: Thank you.
CHO: See you soon.
Coming up: a football player overcomes the odds by staying on the sidelines. We'll tell you about Eric LeGrand's emotional return to the Rutgers football team.
You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Twenty-three minutes after the hour. We want to talk about that rare October nor'easter.
Just where is the storm right now? Meteorologist Alexandra Steele has more on the CNN severe weather center.
So, is this a distant memory, Alexandra?
STEELE: It's a distant memory for the most part, right? Persona non grata. But it is still bringing some snow flurries this morning to Bangor, Maine, Lewiston, Maine, Portland. But it will all zip out pretty rapidly.
But the remnant effect today will be some gusty winds. Temperatures, too, about 40 degrees. So, some melting will occur when the sun comes out. But it's going to -- the wind chill will feel cooler than that. So, you can see by tonight it's well off the coast.
Highs today, 43 in Albany, 42 in Boston. So, for the most part, above freezing for sure. But, again, with those strong cold northwesterly winds, it will feel a lot colder than that.
A big picture -- hey, we turn our attention elsewhere, that is good news. That means the storm is winding down. The Southeast high pressure in control, ample sunshine. But windy and cool there, as well, about 10 degrees cooler than last week. Some rain showers coming to the Pacific Northwest. Sunny and warm right there in the Southwest.
But, again, here's where the snow will hold on just for a little bit longer. And then we're going to see it wind down within the next couple of hours -- Alina.
CHO: All right. Alexandra, thank you so much.
STEELE: Sure.
CHO: Checking stories across the country -- from south Florida, here's something you don't see every day. A state trooper in a high- speed pursuit of a police officer. This happened three weeks ago on the Florida turnpike after a 12-mile chase. State trooper D.J. Watts arrested M police officer Fausto Lopez at gunpoint.
What happened? Well, the Miami cop was allegedly driving up to 120 miles per hour so he could get to his off-duty job. He's charged with second-degree reckless driving.
The daredevil motorcyclist Robbie Knievel, mission accomplished after making a near 200-foot jump of 10 cars last night in Coachella, California. Knievel is the 49-year-old son of jumping legend Evel Knievel. He said afterwards he was a bit surprise by his landing, but otherwise doing just OK.
And high emotion in Piscataway, New Jersey, yesterday. The Rutgers University football team welcomed back Eric LeGrand. LeGrand was paralyzed from the neck down last October after making a tackle. Yesterday was his first time back with the team, leading them on the field against West Virginia. The Scarlet Knights, however, lost to the visiting Mountaineers, 41-31, in the final.
An early snowstorm has knocked out power for parts of the Northeast. Two million people in all.
We'll have that, plus a look at the top stories right after this short break.
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CHO: Top stories now. A rare October nor'easter for much of the northeastern U.S. Three people have died in the storm. As many as 2 million are without power. Utility crews say it could be a while before it comes back.
Across the country, police are continuing to clash with protests of the occupy movement. The latest flashpoint was outside of the Colorado state capitol in Denver. Riot police used pepper spray on protester, 20 were arrested.
In about 90 minutes ago, a Russian supply spaceship blasted off from Kazakhstan, headed to the International Space Station. It's the first Soyuz to launch since a similar launch failed back in August.
I'm Alina Cho. Thanks so much for joining us on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Much more at the top of the hour.
But, first, Sanjay Gupta M.D. begins right now.
