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CNN Saturday Morning News

Deported Texan Teen Back to U.S.; Search for Georgian Woman Expands; Body Found on Royal Estate

Aired January 07, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Checking top stories.

A year-long saga for a Texas teen is over. 15-year-old Jakadrien Turner was reunited with her family in Dallas last night. She was a runaway who after a series of weird mishaps was deported to Colombia. Her family says it may sue the government for deporting her.

British police needs your help to identify the body of a young woman found on Queen Elizabeth's estate. A person out dog walking spotted the remains on the public portion of the 20,000-acre Sandringham grounds. Investigators are trying to compile a DNA profile. Results could be back by Monday.

And you are looking live at presidential candidate Ron Paul, meeting with voters at a restaurant in Concord, New Hampshire. That's Mitt Romney. I know that some people might think that Mitt Romney and Ron Paul look alike, but they don't. This is Mitt Romney meeting and greeting. This is his one stop in New Hampshire today. He, of course, is in front in polls.

The latest WMUR-University of New Hampshire poll shows him in second place, by 24 points. That's Ron Paul we're talking about, who we thought we're missing. Ron Paul is in second place, 24 points behind front-runner, Mitt Romney. So once again Mitt Romney is in front, Ron Paul second, Santorum third, and Gingrich in fourth.

In the polls right now, in the critical primary in the state of New Hampshire. Paul will face off against his Republican rivals in two debates in New Hampshire this weekend. CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser joins me now from Manchester, New Hampshire.

Paul, is this now a battle for second place? I mean we know that Mitt Romney is strong in the polls, he was governor the of Massachusetts. Is this second place? Is what we're looking for?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Gary, I think that's a very, very fair statement. You know, listen, everybody knows him here, you're absolutely right. Besides being the governor in neighboring Massachusetts, he owns a vacation home up here. And he's up here a lot helping out fellow Republicans in low down (INAUDIBLE). So yes, he's a known commodity here. As you said, the battle is for second place. Hopefully with the candidates battling for second, what they're hoping for is getting a little mojo out of New Hampshire to move on to South Carolina where it could be a little more wide open. You mentioned Romney was just a few minutes ago, he had that rally not too far from where I am in Manchester. He was down in Derry, New Hampshire, close by. He had Nikki Haley, the South Carolina governor, one of his big surrogates, plus Kelly Ayotte who is a popular Republican senator here. And you know what, during that rally, a couple of protests. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, the funny thing, even in Massachusetts we balanced the budgets every year. (INAUDIBLE) make themselves heard. Hi, guys. Hi there. How are you doing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Now, we've seen that a lot. The Occupy protesters here in New Hampshire. We've seen it in Iowa as well. Gary, I think we'll probably going to see it as the campaign continues. But again, for Romney, yes, he's feeling pretty good right here in New Hampshire, and the new polls in South Carolina, actually three out yesterday, including one from CNN-Time and ORC, indicate that he's on top there as well, Gary.

TUCHMAN: Let's talk about the candidate who's had the toughest the last few weeks, Newt Gingrich. He's been plummeting on the polls. He had a disappointed finish in Iowa, what's he doing right now to turn it around?

STEINHAUSER: He's trying to show that, "Hey, I am a conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I am the one who can actually beat President Obama." He had an event last night in Salem, New Hampshire. That's right on the border with Massachusetts. And he was trying to say once again that Mitt Romney is a Massachusetts moderate. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I would argue that a conservative is vastly better than a moderate. In campaigning in an environment like this. Because by definition, the gap between Barack Obama and a conservative is vastly wider, and that ultimately you get to October, if he's going to raise $1 billion, and he's going to have to run a scorched-earth campaign, because he won't be able to get himself re-elected. So he will have to try to destroy the Republican. And I would argue that if you have a big gap between the two of you, most of his attack will fall in the middle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Gary, we've got a doubleheader of debates, one tonight, one tomorrow. You know, Gingrich has done very well in those debates in the fall. He's hoping for a strong performance. The other thing to look for, Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania. He's now almost a front-runner. So expect more scrutiny for him. He won't be at the edge of the stage anymore, he'll be right in the middle with Romney. Gary. TUCHMAN: By the way, Salem, New Hampshire, with that Gingrich event, aren't your in-laws from there? You told me that before.

STEINHAUSER: They are. Yes, I've been bragging about that over the last couple days. (INAUDIBLE) are from Salem, New Hampshire.

TUCHMAN: The reason I'm asking is, is Kennedy Lake Amusement Park still there? I used to go there when I was in college. Is that still there?

STEINHAUSER: Academy Lake is still there, my friend. They do the fireworks all summer long.

TUCHMAN: All right. Good to know that something stays after all these years. Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much.

We're going to leave Paul and we're now going to go to another Paul, the guy with the last name of Paul, Ron Paul. Ron Paul does have an event going on. We wanted to give you a look of his event. He's about to take the stage. That's not Ron Paul on the big screens. Don't know who quite that is, maybe a supporter of Ron Paul talking about him. But they're waiting for Ron Paul to enter the room there. All the candidates campaigning today.

Ron Paul is in Concord, New Hampshire. That is the capital of the state, at a restaurant. And they will all be campaigning today. Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, everybody all on the campaign trail this morning for a big day. Here are some of the other live events we'll be watching throughout the day. Later this hour, Rick Santorum, the second place finisher in Iowa, losing by eight votes out of 120,000, will be in Manchester. He's taking part in an event called the electorate and the economy.

At 11:00 Eastern, less than two hours from now, Newt Gingrich will be holding a town hall meeting in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Around 11:30 Eastern, Jon Huntsman makes his third campaign stop of the day at the Holderness General Store in Holderness, New Hampshire. Be sure to stay with CNN throughout the day for the latest on the GOP candidates who want to be president of the United States.

It's a name now linked to two crimes. Joran Van Der Sloot was a suspect in Natalee Holloway's disappearance in Aruba six years ago, now he's on trial for the murder of a Peruvian woman. Van Der Sloot had a surprise at the first day of his trial. Here's Rafael Romo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN LATIN AMERICA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Joran Van Der Sloot appeared bored. He even yawned a couple of time. The judge had to ask him twice to act appropriately in court. When he was asked if he understood Spanish, he said he would ask for help if he needed.

Van der Sloot is accused in the robbery and beating death of 21-year- old Stephany Flores.

JOSE SANTIESTEBAN, PROSECUTOR (through translator): He beat her violently in the face. He beat her in the head. He took her pants off. He strangled her with his own hands and finally choked her to death with a piece of clothing of his, stained with his own blood.

ROMO: The killing happened on May 30th, 2010, exactly five years after Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway disappeared in the Caribbean Island of Aruba, after spending time with Van Der Sloot. Though arrested as a suspect in Holloway's death, Van Der Sloot, then 17, was never charged due to lack of evidence.

In Peru, Van Der Sloot initially confessed to killing Flores, but he later recanted. His attorneys say he was not given a translator during his interrogation. When asked for a plea by the presiding judge in the Peruvian court Friday, Van Der Sloot said in Spanish he wanted to give a sincere confession.

Going on to say he did not agree with all of the charges against him. When the judge asked for clarification, he said he needed more time to decide his plea. Van Der Sloot is being tried, along with three Peruvian nationals. All three are accused of helping him escape to Chile after the killing.

(on camera): Besides the Flores murder trial, Van Der Sloot also faces extradition to the United States. In June of 2010, a federal grand jury in Alabama indicted him on charges of wire fraud and extortion after allegations surfaced that he tried to extort $250,000 from Holloway's mother. He allegedly received $25,000. And authorities believe he used that money to travel to Peru to participate in a poker tournament where he met Flores.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: Police here in Georgia are expanding their search for a missing Atlanta area woman. Stacey Nicole English was last seen around Christmas. Her car was found abandoned and still running. Police named a man who was visiting English as a person of interest. Our Don Lemon will be speaking with Stacey's parents live here at CNN tonight at 6:00 Eastern time.

Check on this video from the U.S. Navy. Extraordinary story. It shows 13 Iranian fishermen being held hostage by suspected pirates. An American destroyer rescued the men in the North Arabian Sea. The Iranians have been held for more than 40 days. Fifteen suspected pirates are now being held by the U.S. Navy. The U.S. military rescued the Iranians. What irony there.

We're learning more about what happened in the moments before a hot air balloon crashed in a New Zealand field. All 11 people, including the pilot onboard, were killed. Police say the balloon plunged to the ground after apparently hitting a power line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOANNA HUNKIN, TVNZ CORRESPONDENT (ON THE PHONE): When it clipped the power lines, it then caught fire, and very quickly the entire basket was said to be engulfed in flames. One eyewitness told us she saw someone jump from the basket and another person fall before the balloon crashed down to the ground. And a giant black cloud ascended into the sky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: What a horrible story.

Well, it may be winter, but you wouldn't know it in some states. Meteorologist Alexandra Steele is monitoring everything from the weather center, and she'll have the forecast in about a minute.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: All right. Gary, 62 degrees in Washington, D.C. today. 20 degrees above average. So where's the cold air? Where's the snow, where's the ice? We're on the trail as cold temperatures and a detailed forecast for your weekend all coming up in just a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: It may be warmer than usual in Minnesota, but take a look at this. A truck driver lost control and ran off an interstate. According to affiliate KARE, the semi apparently skidded 200 yards across the frozen pond before the ice broke and the truck plunged into six feet of water. Luckily the driver crawled to safety and was not seriously hurt.

Eight hours later, you can see here, crews are finally able to free the target truck and haul it out.

Meteorologist Alexandra Steele is standing by at the weather center, despite that accident in Minnesota, isn't exactly having a typical winter. I think this is a good time before all the ice comes to everybody, to explain the difference between clear ice and white ice and what's dangerous about the ice.

STEELE: Right. Absolutely. Clear ice and white ice are different. Clear ice is a lot stronger. Doubly as strong as white ice. Clear ice is newer and it's fresher. You know, the troubles we're seeing with that, the problems because we're seeing such warm temperatures, the ice thickness, I checked in Minnesota, the ice thickness on some of the lakes, and it's very sporadic. You need five inches of probably clear ice for one of those little kind of motorcycle things that you do on the ice, ATVs, say, you need about eight to 10 inches in ice thickness for a small car. So the ice has to be certainly pretty thick. And that's a problem we're seeing, that kind of ice thickness around the country, especially in the northern tier are so sporadic and there are some issues there.

Snow cover, of course, no ice, no cold air, no snow. You can see where we've seen last year, at this time, 45 percent of the country had some snow cover. Today, 16 percent. So dramatically less than what we would normally see. Where's the winter, right? Least snowiest December on record in a few places, in Utah, Nevada and Michigan. 1,100 record highs, just alone in the last seven days. And speaking of what we've seen in Minnesota, first time ever in Minnesota, that the first week in January, we had high temperatures in the 60s. So you can only imagine why that ice depth and the thickness of it is so sporadic around and certainly not strong enough to hold an ATV, a small car or any type of vehicle. Record heat, look what we had yesterday, Fargo, 44 degrees. Where is that in comparison? Well, today it's going to be 34. The average is 18. And next Wednesday, it will be 18. So we're going to get back down there. But all of these, of course, record heats from Duluth to Des Moines to Lake Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe, paltry snow. Again, a lot of these resorts haven't even been able to open because of the lack of snow. 56 degrees. So hard to make snow with that. Highs today around the country, 62 in Washington, D.C., you should be at 42 this time of year, Gary. So temperatures across the board, 10 to 15, 25 degrees, especially above average on the Eastern seaboard today. The Fargos of the world are cooling down.

TUCHMAN: I like to ski, but I also like the warm weather.

STEELE: I think everybody feels that way.

TUCHMAN: Thank you very much.

STEELE: Sure.

TUCHMAN: Well, it's time to check this out. A Chinese hotel chain is offering something new to guests, a night on a retired Soviet era aircraft carrier. These aren't exactly the type of accommodations the Soviet military endured. The hotel's owner spent $15 million to renovate the vessel called the Kiev, it's part of a military theme park. It's being marketed as a unique experience for high-end travelers and includes lavish presidential suites. Most of the ship's 148 hotel rooms are not ready but the restaurant is now open to the public. Wonder if they have Chicken Kiev on it.

Ever wonder how some people stay so fit, look so good all the time? We get the secret from a guy who says, you have to think gay. That's right. Think gay. We'll explain in just a minute.

But first, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta launched a new program called "The Next List." Each week it will profile innovators from all walks of life in all fields of endeavor. This week he talks to Christopher (INAUDIBLE), a former New York City cab driver turned award-winning perfumer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Being self-taught is actually, it's very much a blessing and a curse. The curse part means that I do not have, or did not have a lot of the technical experience that people who were classically trained in the very few perfume schools that exist do. They knew how to make certain cords, because they were taught how. They knew how to work with certain materials, because this was the knowledge passed down through these schools. I had to figure everything out myself. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: It's a neat show. Tune in Sundays to watch "The Next List" or set your DVR for 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: How are those New Year's resolutions coming along? Time to reassess. Take a good look at your clothes, your job, your diet. Because the next guest will have you rethinking all of it. I spoke with Simon Doonan, he's the creative director of Barney's New York, who has written a book called "Gay Men Don't Get Gat." Yes, that is the title. This isn't exactly your usual how-to diet and exercise book.

SIMON DOONAN, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, BARNEY'S NEW YORK: It's a humor book. So it's absolutely full of insane exaggerations, and all kinds of wild claims. But it's primarily a humor book. I mean, as you saw from the cover, Joan Rivers said she split her spanx when she was reading it.

TUCHMAN: Well, do gay men really do not get fat?

DOONAN: I think gay men in general tend to be very focused on looking trim and fit, and presenting themselves a certain way. But, you know, it's a rip on the book "French Women Don't Get Fat." So you know, my thesis is it's not French women who know all about style, and how to live, it's actually gay men. I'm taking all my nuances and nuggets of gay wisdom and hurling them at straight people like you.

TUCHMAN: Well, is it fair to presume that you're a gay man, I should ask you that?

DOONAN: How dare you.

TUCHMAN: OK.

DOONAN: No, I'm a proud gay man. 50 years old. And you know, trim.

TUCHMAN: Now, are we in danger of stereotyping here, with talking about gay men not getting fat, and gay men eating their own kind of food?

DOONAN: Well, as I say, my book is a humor book, so it's full of all kinds of generalizations and stereotyping. So I think it's more an entertainment read. Will you lose weight if you follow my tips? Maybe. And I encourage people to weigh themselves before they read the book, and then after. Because I have this theory that people burn calories when they laugh. But I don't have any research yet. So I'm hoping that people who buy the book will weigh themselves before and after. And send me some detailed research on that.

TUCHMAN: OK. We all hope to laugh a lot particularly during this interview. So let me ask you about some tips. What does a gay man eat compared to a heterosexual man that makes the gay man slimmer and somewhat the heterosexual man not slimmer? DOONAN: Well, you know the traditional idea that food is divided into four groups, right? Well, I divide it into two groups. There's gay food and straight food. For example, if you go into a restaurant you order a big (INAUDIBLE) Angus steak. That's obviously straight food, correct? And then you order with it as a side a huge bowl of mashed potatoes. Those are two very straight foods together. And that's probably too many calories. So what you need to do is order the steak, and then order like a fluffy gay salad to go with it. And then you balance your gay food and your straight food.

TUCHMAN: All right. Let me ask you this, my wife is always after me to eat healthier, so I do my best. And I travel a lot in this job. Covering stories. So I do my best to eat a lot of salads and not eat a lot of red meat or fried foods. So am I eating gay food? Because of tips from my wife?

DOONAN: Well, I would advise you, because you travel around a lot, you know, if ever you get kidnapped, then like tell your kidnappers, no guacamole, because you're stuck in a confined space. If you ate guacamole all the time you would become rather chubby. Maybe you could apply it topically, because it's very good for your skin.

TUCHMAN: Well, that's right. It's good for your skin. I thought guacamole was a good fat. It's not a good fat?

DOONAN: Guacamole is a good fat, but not when you have it with like tons of deep-fried chips.

TUCHMAN: Simon Doonan, you're very talented and funny writer. I wish you a lot of luck with this book. And thank you so much for joining us.

DOONAN: Thank you very much.

TUCHMAN: Can you guys pass the guacamole? Oh, we're back on. Sorry about that. Despite this humorous tone, this does bring attention to a serious problem, according to the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, and for most ethnicities. Let's go to this, based on the latest CDC numbers, one in every four people will die from heart disease.

Using slavery to teach a lesson about math. Ahead, you'll hear from some parents who are outraged about their children's homework assignment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: It's time to check top stories.

The year-long saga for a Texas teenager is over. Fifteen-year-old Jakadrien Turner was reunited with her family in Dallas, Texas, last night. She ran away from home and after a series of mishaps ended up being deported to the nation of Colombia. Her family says they may sue the government for deporting her.

Police in the state of Georgia are expanding their search for a missing Atlanta area woman. Stacey Nicole English was last seen around Christmas. Her car was found abandoned and still running, and it was found just a couple of days ago. Police have named a man who is visiting English as a person of interest.

British investigators are questioning a royal estate staff about a woman found dead on land belonging to Queen Elizabeth. The Queen learned about the discovery this week. Investigators are treating the case as a murder investigation.

Some parents here in Georgia are outraged about their children's homework assignment. They say an elementary school used examples of slavery and beatings to teach about math. Carrie Cavanaugh with CNN affiliate, WSB, has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRANCE BARNETT, PARENT: I had to explain to him why daddy was upset, because of the words that were used in that problem.

CARRIE CAVANAUGH, REPORTER WSB: The problem appeared on a third grader's math assignment. Terrence Barnett was outraged when he read his son's homework. One problem said, "Each tree had 56 oranges, if eight slaves picked them equally then how much would each slave pick?" Then there was another, "If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in one week?"

BARNETT: I'm having to explain to my eight-year-old why slavery, or slaves, or beatings is in a math problem. That hurts.

CAVANAUGH: Dad Christopher Braxton had the same reaction.

CHRISTOPHER BRAXTON, FATHER: It kind of blew me away. Frederick, if anyone got any beatings, you don't put that into the homework of any source.

CAVANAUGH: Both fathers contacted the principal at Beaver Ridge Elementary School in Norcroft, then they called us. They wanted to know how these questions ended up on a child's homework. I brought that question to the Gwinnett School District officials.

SLOAN ROACH, SCHOOL DISTRICT SPOKESWOMAN: The teachers were trying to do a cross-curricular activity.

CAVANAUGH: Spokesperson Sloan Roach said the third grade teachers were attempting to cross curriculums, adding some social study questions into math problems. But the problems with these questions, there's no historical context.

ROACH: We understand that there are concerns about these questions, and we agree that these questions were not appropriate.

BRAXTON: Whoever put together this paperwork and everything else, the schools and everything, shouldn't teach it this way.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TUCHMAN: The school acknowledged its mistake and shredded the assignment. But we wanted to know if they did enough. One viewer tweeted to me, "As an educator, the teacher's actions were inappropriate. Cross-curricular can't hide the obvious. Wrong answer teachers." This next viewer tweeted "In this age and time, what's the point in using slavery material to teach, it will only incite one race against the other." Passive tweeted I think if we have to ask that, the answer is a resounding no.

Keep those comments coming. I'll read more later on.

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