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CNN Live Sunday

Florida Teen's Father Speaks Out; Expert Offers Tips on Staying Safe; Preview of Golden Globes

Aired January 15, 2006 - 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: Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after this check of the headlines.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remains in a coma and in critical but stable condition at a Jerusalem hospital after undergoing a tracheotomy a few hours ago. The procedure should help him breathe without a respirator. The 77-year old Israeli leader has been in intensive care since suffering a massive stroke on January 4th.

In Kuwait City, throngs accompanied the body of the country's emir to an unmarked grave. The 77-year-old leader died earlier today after years of health problems. The 75-year old crown prince, who is also ill, succeeds him on the throne. The Kuwaiti government will shut down for three days as the country begins 40 days of mourning for the man who ruled the oil-rich kingdom for nearly 30 years.

And in Morgantown, West Virginia, the sole survivor of the Sago Mine tragedy continues to improve. Randal McCloy's condition has been upgraded from critical to serious. Although still in a coma, doctors say he has been breathing on his own for two days. They also say his heart and liver functions have improved daily.

The Sago Mine tragedy tops the news this hour. In a time of profound grief over the deaths of 12 miners, their families, friends and acquaintances this afternoon turned to God and to each other to soothe their broken hearts. CNN's Christopher King is in the small mining community of Buckhannon, West Virginia, where the memorial service ended about an hour ago -- Christopher.

CHRISTOPHER KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, that's right. More than 1,800 people attended that service here at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon. It wrapped up not too long ago. They released balloons into the sky as mourners and well-wishers left the Wesley chapel. The church was filled to capacity for a service of honor, hope and healing. The families of the victims remembered the 12 men who died after being trapped inside the Sago Mine. They lit candles for the miners. They showed pictures of the miners and told a little bit about their lives. Author Homer Hickam, a West Virginia native, were called the men of honor, dignity and courage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOMER HICKAM, AUTHOR: What made these men so extraordinary? And how did they become the men they were? Men of honor, men you could trust, men who practiced a dangerous profession, men who dug coal from beneath a jealous mountain. Part of the answer is where they lived. Look around you. This is a place where many lessons are learned of true things that shape people as surely as rivers carve valleys or rain melts mountains or currents push apart the sea. Here miners still walk with a trudging grace to and from the vast deep mines and in the schools, the children still learn and the teachers teach and in snowy white churches on hillside cuts, the preachers still preach and God, who we have no doubt is a West Virginian still does his work, too. The people endure here as they always have, for they understand that God has determined that there is no joy greater than hard work and that there is no water holier than the sweat of a man's brow. In such a place as this, a dozen men may die, but death can never destroy how they lived their lives and why.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now, only one miner survived that disaster. Randal McCloy is in serious condition at a hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia. Doctors say his condition is improving slowly. Well-wishers said a prayer for McCloy and separate state and Federal investigations are going to be launched. And there is no word yet on what caused the explosion. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Christopher King, thank you so much.

Later tonight, family members share their memories of the miners on a special live Sunday edition of CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE." "Honor, Hope and Healing" begins at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

Well, just under an hour from now, a candlelight vigil is to begin in Longwood, Florida. The town just north of Orlando is mourning a high school student who was shot at school Friday by a SWAT team member and now is clinically brain-dead. Friends say Christopher Penley appeared to have a death wish. He took a pellet gun to school, terrorized students and according to the authorities, he pointed a dangerous looking pistol at police. As CNN's JJ Ramberg tells us, the boy's father believes the incident might have been handled differently.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK NATION, PENLEY FAMILY ATTORNEY: It's a pellet gun that's been painted black and he was on his way there to help talk his son out of the situation.

JJ RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The lawyer for Christopher Penley's family told reporters that Chris's father was devastated and extremely angry at police. The father also said he could have talked his son into surrendering.

NATION: When he got to the school, they would not let him in. And he was later told that Christopher had been shot.

RAMBERG: Friday, police say 15-year old Christopher Penley was in a classroom in his central Florida middle school and pulled out what looked like a nine millimeter pistol. MAURICE COTEY, STUDENT: We were in the classroom and we were about to do a test and then one of my classmates said this kid has a gun.

RAMBERG: Thirteen-year old Maurice Cotey and his mother recount his frightening encounter on Friday.

COTEY: Everyone ran out of the classroom except for me and this one girl. We were walking and he said, you stay. So the girl, she ran out of the classroom, and he told me to get up against the blackboard. And I did. And he put the gun to my back, and then I told him, please don't shoot me. Please don't shoot me. So I was walking, then he got me towards the closet door. He turned me around and he said -- and he started to point the gun at me. So I started to grab for it. I pointed it near his legs, and he kicked me into the closet and I still had the gun twisted, and then he ran into the closet and that got me up and then I pushed him and I ran out of the classroom.

RAMBERG: The sheriff says officers ordered the eighth grader to drop the gun. Instead, they say, he took aim at police and a member of the SWAT team shot Penley. The gun turned out to be a pellet gun, painted police say, to look just like a real firearm.

This is the actual firearm that was held by the subject inside of the -- the one that I'm holding -- during the incident, and as you can see, it looks almost identical to the one that (INAUDIBLE) is holding, which is the actual real nine millimeter hand gun.

Ralph Penley's lawyer said that they're not making any accusations and they're not pointing any fingers, but they felt the information they discussed should be out in the public. We called the police, who said that at this point they're not making any comment. There is an ongoing investigation into this incident. JJ Ramberg, CNN, Altamont Springs, Florida

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The folks at NASA have reason to celebrate this morning when a space probe returned from halfway to Jupiter with the first load of comet dust ever collected and brought back to earth. The space capsule landed in the Utah desert with about enough space dust to fill up a thimble. Some of the tiny bits of matter may be older than the sun and may hold clues about the birth of the solar system. The cosmic payload hasn't been extracted, but NASA declared victory anyway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY DANTZLER, DIRECTOR, SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION: I'm very proud, very happy to say that after seven years and almost 2.9 billion miles in the harsh environment of space, the Stardust capsule is back on earth. It's back home and it's in our hands.

DON BROWNLEE, STARDUST PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: We traveled almost 3 billion miles in space. We visited a comet, grabbed a piece of it and it landed here this morning. It's an incredible thrill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: They are certainly happy and that thimble full of space dust didn't come cheap. The cost of the mission, more than $210 million.

While one group of NASA scientists celebrates the return of Stardust, another get ready for a nine-year mission to explore Pluto. The largest rocket in the U.S. fleet lifts off Tuesday afternoon, sending a probe about the size of a grand piano to the edge of the solar system.

Fighting back, when is the right time to make a move? Ahead, we'll tell you the best way to protect yourself in a threatening situation.

In Liberia, high hopes and tight security for Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf's inauguration. She's the first female president in Africa. Her story up next.

And they say love is blind. Ahead this hour, the story of a hippo and a tortoise, how this very odd couple got together.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Ten years ago, a nine-year-old Texas girl was kidnapped and killed. Since then her name has come to represent efforts to rescue children at risk. Now the Amber alert is getting new recognition. CNN's Tara Mergener looks at a little girl's legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TARA MERGENER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been 10 years since nine-year-old Amber Hagerman (ph) was snatched from her bicycle and brutally murdered.

DONNA NORRIS, AMBER'S MOTHER: Knowing my daughter, she was a fighter. I know she fought for her life.

MERGENER: But her death led the Dallas-area media to coordinate a broadcast alert system that's since been credited for saving from abduction 241 children around the country. Now used in all 50 states, Amber alerts are broadcast over the air, flashed on highway signs and can now be sent to wireless devices when a child has been abducted. Law enforcement officials say the success of the Amber alert program depends on the public.

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: For the sake of Amber Hagerman and every other child who we've lost in this manner, we must continue to rededicate ourselves to the safety and support of the most vulnerable in our society.

MERGENER: To that end, a postage stamp was unveiled Friday to raise awareness of the importance of Amber alerts. ERNIE ALLEN, NATL CTR FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN: Average people doing average things who are busy, who are preoccupied, need to listen, need to look.

MERGENER: A decade after Amber's death, her mother is glad Amber's legacy is making a difference.

NORRIS: My daughter is not dying in vain and yet her memories stay in our lives.

MERGENER: She hopes other parents never know her pain. In Washington, I'm Tara Mergener, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we look at fighting back in our best of CNN today. A woman working alone in a Utah check cashing business, when a man jumps the counter. When the phone rings, she knocks the receiver off the hook. On the other end, her husband who hears the fight and calls police. This week on "ANDERSON COOPER 360," family safety expert Bob Stuber offered more ideas on self protection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB STUBER, SAFETY EXPERT: ... in a parking lot is a more common situation. Shauna here is going to kind of be my victim because we want to show you just a few techniques. For instance, if somebody was trying to grab you and put you in the car, you don't want to get in their car. If you get in their car, you're probably never coming home. Anything can help you do that. Now, in this case, here's a garbage can. Shauna, grab that can right there. If you just held on to something like a garbage can, right there you can look, I could get her in the car or the can, but I'm not going to get her and the can, even though it's just simply lightweight piece of plastic. That could actually save her life.

Also in this same type of situation, you have to look around and use whatever you have in your environment, called situational awareness. For instance, in a parking lot, if you're around cars, you could probably use an antenna off of a car, something like this. They pop off real easy. You can break them off, but with that in your hand, it's a very formidable weapon. There's always something in your environment that can make the difference.

And I want to show you one more really quick. Shauna, let me get you to jump up here. If she was unloading packages in the car. Now, this is a common scenario, standing back here, unloading the packages, anybody could get to her, but if she was in the front door -- open that door, Shauna and she was standing there. She opens the door all the way and then you open this door at the same time. Now she's created a cocoon where nobody can get to her. I couldn't get to her from here. I couldn't get to her from the front. She's relatively safe in that situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Good advice, I like that. Bob Stuber joins us live now from Sacramento. Bob, good to see you.

STUBER: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, we've always been getting a lot of conflicting messages over the years, because we know that kids get a set of instructions of run, call for help. A lot of adults get instructions that they should never go into a confined space if someone who is threatening them is asking them to do so. So is your bottom line message these days is you got to come up with ways to protect yourself, a plan. You got to put a plan in place, because you really do need to fight back. You don't need to be passive in order to think that is going to be what saves you.

STUBER: No, absolutely, you hit the nail on the head. You've got to have the resolve within yourself that you're going to resist until it doesn't make sense to resist any longer. To simply give in and say to yourself, I'm going to do what he says and I'm going to be nice and maybe he won't hurt me, that's foolishness. You're probably going to get hurt. You put yourself at that person's mercy and you' now are out of the equation. You're going to get hurt. But you need to learn, everybody needs to learn how to resist with a situational environment type of a plan. In other words, be able to look around you, whether you're at a restaurant, a convenience store, jogging in the park, wherever, at work, there's always things around that you can use, situations, places you can go, your purse -- I could take a woman, sit down with her for five minutes and show her at least a dozen things she carries in her purse, including her purse, how she could save her life.

WHITFIELD: A pen being one of those things, right?

STUBER: Pardon?

WHITFIELD: A pen.

STUBER: Oh, absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Your keys.

STUBER: Your keys.

WHITFIELD: The way you hold them.

STUBER: A pen, the purse itself, the perfume that you have in there, depending on what is it, sometimes the makeup.

WHITFIELD: Interesting.

STUBER: Lots of different things. This is all around us all the time. So it's not about, good going through life being afraid. It's simply knowing what you have, what you can use, but the biggest question of all is finally once and for all resolving within yourself, I'm going to resist. I'm not just going to be let away. Then if you get to that point, to where it doesn't make sense to resist anymore, well then it's a different story. But typically if you resist in the beginning and you know how to do it, you will save your life. WHITFIELD: And that is the key of knowing how to do it, because we look at this videotape, whether it be the woman who's fighting back here in Utah or she's resisting. She really isn't putting up a fight like in the previous tape where you see the guys with the baseball bat. So few of us are encouraged to use a weapon like a baseball bat because if you don't use it right, if you try to use a weapon against your attacker, then it could ultimately be used against you. So really, how do you be a quick thinker?

STUBER: Well, you're right. You're absolutely right. Going to the baseball bat is one extreme and that's not what we're talking about. And that guy has probably dreamed of that situation.

WHITFIELD: He was waiting for them to come back.

STUBER: Exactly. We don't live like that. Like the lady in the first tape, she resisted with what she had, knocking the phone out of his hands was a weapon. What you do is, it's not so much a matter of thinking of everything as a weapon. It's a matter of thinking like this. I'm going to resist for the purpose of getting out of here safely, get back to my family safely. That means whatever it takes so that you can get to freedom. As soon as you can, you want to run away. You want to get out of that situation. So you do what it takes to get to that point, but don't necessarily think, well, let's see, if I have the umbrella, I can go at him in a vicious way. It's not about being vicious and it's not about hurting the other person. Yeah, it's about protection.

WHITFIELD: Great, Bob Stuber, family safety expert, thank you so much. Great food for thought and great advice on keeping ourselves and our families safe.

STUBER: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: More than four months after the storm, the scene in Waveland, Mississippi hasn't changed that much since Hurricane Katrina roared through. We'll take you there straight ahead.

Plus, it's now the longest-running show in Broadway history. That's right, the "Phantom of the Opera" has been wowing audiences for 18 years now. Coming up, we go behind the curtain of this incredibly popular production.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: As we follow the hurricane recovery efforts along the Gulf coast, we turn to a small Mississippi town we first visited just days after Katrina crashed ashore. Waveland, Mississippi is dry now, but not much else has changed. Here's a story you first saw on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This is what Waveland, Mississippi looked like after Katrina struck. This is what Waveland looks like today. More than four months have passed, but not much has changed. So CNN went back to keep them honest. We were there just days after the storm. The focus at that point the focus was grim -- search and rescue and in many cases, recovery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The chance of anybody being alive is pretty slim.

COOPER: After a few days, people began returning home. Most found rubble instead.

GERMAINE KEARNEY, FORMER WAVELAND RESIDENT: Oh my God, look at Reggie's house.

COOPER: Germaine and Charles Kearney's house was destroyed. We met them as they worked to salvage any mementos Katrina left behind.

KEARNEY: These are my babies.

COOPER: It must be overwhelming to see all this.

KEARNEY: It is, it is. You know, it's just blowing me away. It really is. You know, but I mean, this appears to other people and they come back from it, so we're going to come back from it, too.

COOPER: Today the Kearney's say they have come back from the storm, but Waveland has not.

CHARLES KEARNEY, FORMER WAVELAND RESIDENT: Overall, I would say my family is doing very well considering everything we've been through. The town of Waveland is not doing as well as us. It's totally devastated with most of the structures completely gone.

COOPER: The Kearney's and their two children now live about an half hour outside of Waveland. They would like to return, but there's really nothing there. Nearly 8,000 people used to call Waveland home. Now fewer than 1,500 live there.

CHARLES KEARNEY: Waveland absolutely is a ghost town in the sense that the families and the people are no longer there.

COOPER: Instead, there are miles and miles of debris.

MAYOR TOMMY LONGO, WAVELAND, MISSISSIPPI: I wish it was all cleaned up, too because everything hinges on debris removal.

COOPER: The mayor, Tommy Longo says Federal officials only gave him a commitment for debris removal this week, in advance of the president's visit.

LONGO: The big gear-up is supposedly coming in the next week or two. But my only question is, why didn't it happen five months ago? It should have happened instantly.

COOPER: Charles Kearney watched the president's motorcade pass by. He says he would have liked to talk to Mr. Bush.

CHARLES KEARNEY: I would tell him to please, please, cut out the bureaucracy, cut out the red tape, let the people who need the help get the help.

COOPER: The anger may have subsided, but with every day that Waveland waits, the frustration only gets worse.

CHARLES KEARNEY: I'm frustrated, angry not so much anymore. I want to move on past that and I want to get our lives back and enjoy the place we know as home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That report first aired on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360." You can watch Anderson every week night at 10:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

And Monica McNeal is in the weather center. Monica, how is it looking out there? Yesterday, we talked about a lot of strange weather all over the map. Is it normalizing?

MONICA MCNEAL, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's getting better, still some places that are having some problems. We're going to talk about that in just a moment. But first let's talk about the red-flag warning that is still across parts of Texas and Oklahoma. The Texas and Oklahoma panhandle temperatures are running about 15 to 25 degrees above average for this time of year Fredricka, and that makes it really problematic in terms of the fire danger. We've got a trough that moved through and winds will be about 20 to 30 miles per hour sustained and gusting up to about 50 miles an hour, so big problems.

Speaking of winds, let's take a look across the northeast. It feels like 0 in Boston. It feels like 14 below in Albany and feels like 11 below in Montreal. That's just how strong the winds are and for tonight, Boston, your forecast is not going to get a whole lot better. You'll be dealing with clear skies. The winds will calm down, but that's going to create radiational cooling. So your overnight low will drop down to about 12. You're looking at 30 for a high temperature on Monday.

Across the southeast, it looks like it's going to be a very stormy day and a lot of Dr. Martin Luther King parades may be rained out. You'll certainly need those umbrellas. There's a very small chance we could see some rainfall moving across the panhandle of Texas and Oklahoma, but it's very small. The heavier rainfall will be across east Texas, where they really don't need it. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Monica.

Well, television, film, the Internet, none have diminished the appeal of live theater, especially on the great white way. Kelly Wallace explores why one Broadway musical in particular keeps the theater packed night after night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The phantom's become a phenom. After 18 years, it's now the longest-running show in Broadway history. Cast member George Lee Andrews has been with the show since opening night in 1988, 18 years ago, 1988. Ronald Reagan's in the White House, "Rainman" is in the theaters. I mean --

GEORGE LEE ANDREWS, MONSIEUR ANDRE: My kids are six and 10, which is crazy because they're now 24 and 28. These are all our kids and animals.

WALLACE: You could consider Andrews the unofficial mayor of phantom. It was his idea after all to start collecting photographs of everyone who's been in the cast.

ANDREWS: Eighteen years later, there are about 250 or something.

WALLACE: I think you're running out of wall space.

ANDREW: I am running out, very definitely running out of wall space.

WALLACE: But not running out of fans. Eleven million people have flocked to the Majestic to see the story of the deformed figure who lurks beneath the Paris opera house and falls madly in love with the beautiful soprano Christine. Many more than once, members of this Long Island family were just about to see the show for the fourth time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's the music, charismatic, the only music you remember.

WALLACE: But what is it about "Phantom" that has also led it to break Broadway and worldwide box office records. The man who produced "Phantom" and "Cats," now the number two record holder, says it's simple. It has to do with love.

CAMERON MACKINTOSH, PRODUCER: We've all in our life wanted someone and it hasn't worked out so I think this is a sort of wonderful wish fulfillment in the darker recesses of our mind and touches a chord with everyone.

WALLACE: Eight shows a week for 18 years. If you tally the time on stage, Andrews has spent the equivalent of two solid years of his life performing "Phantom." How do you keep from getting bored, from doing the same role for so long?

ANDREWS: You know, it has to do with the fact of trying to improve every night.

WALLACE: So 18 more years for him?

ANDREWS: Oh, no, I don't think so. Let's not get silly. I think "Phantom" will be around another 18 years.

WALLACE: OK, you do?

ANDREWS: Yeah, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't. It's timeless.

WALLACE: Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Timeless and it doesn't disappoint.

Well, history is being made in Africa. Tomorrow first lady Laura Bush and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be there for the inauguration of the continent's first female president. The new leader's story straight ahead.

Plus more fallout from the CIA air strikes in Pakistan. Who really was the target? CNN LIVE SUNDAY will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look now at our top stories. Families and friends remember the victims of the Sago Mine disaster. The West Virginia mining community came together for a memorial this afternoon in the chapel of West Virginia's Wesleyan College. A dozen miners died after an underground explosion 13 days ago. The sole survivor remains in a coma.

Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott says he'll announce on Tuesday whether he'll run to keep his Senate seat later this year. The three term Republican says his top priority is to aide the recovery from Hurricane Katrina in his home state of Mississippi.

And a NASA space probe returned to earth today from halfway to Jupiter with the world's first delivery of comet dust. Some of the tiny bits of matter may be older than it sun itself and may hold clues about the birth of the solar system.

An angry reaction to Friday's U.S. air strikes in Pakistan. Thousands of protesters turned out today in several major cities. The bombing kid 18 people, including five children. U.S. sources tell CNN that the attack targeted the number two figure in al Qaeda, Ayman al Zawahri. He was believed to be in the village along the border with Afghanistan. Pakistani officials say al Zawahri is not among the dead and it's not clear if he was even in the area. Ayman al Zawahri is a top adviser to Osama bin Laden. He is also considered a key architect of the 9/11 attacks. The U.S. State Department has offered a $25 million reward for his capture.

First Lady Laura Bush has arrived in West Africa. Ghana is the first stop on her four day swing through the region. She plans to highlight U.S. support for AIDS and education programs and she is also scheduled to attend tomorrow's inauguration of Liberia's new president. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is the first democratically elected female president in Africa's history.

Liberia's inauguration of a new president offers a chance of a fresh start after years of violence and chaos. CNN's Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange has more on Liberia's noble beginnings and the challenges that lie ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Liberia, like the name implies, was created as a colony for freed or newly liberated American slaves in 1822. The country's coat of arms said it all, "The love of liberty brought us here," the founding fathers insisted. And it was exactly that for the first century and a half into its creation, until one April morning in 1980 when it all fell apart.

This is the Liberia the world has grown accustomed to seeing -- a nation torn apart by a decade and a half of civil war, anarchy and lawlessness that left close to 200,000 people dead. A nation overrun by armies whose superstitions led them to dress in ways that looked more fitting for a circus than a war zone.

A nation where children seem more comfortable carrying weapons of war than books and pens.

But early one August morning in 2003 there would be an about- face, something happened that set off a chain reaction. The country's then president, a former warlord and alleged mastermind of countless atrocities against his own people, fled the country after agreeing to go into exile, but not without a veiled threat.

CHARLES TAYLOR, FORMER LIBERIAN PRESIDENT: I leave you with these parting words -- God willing, I will be back.

KOINANGE: But that was not to be. And almost immediately the warring factions seized. What was once one of Africa's most violent nations had taken a step back from the brink.

Thanks to a United Nations contingent of some 16,000 mostly African peacekeepers, the next two years passed without a major incident. And then this past October, another milestone. Democratic elections were held pitting no less than 22 presidential candidates, among them a former soccer superstar as well as a former World Bank executive.

Neither one gained enough votes for an outright victory and the poll went to a runoff. In the end, it was experience that won over a political novice and Harvard-educated Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf went on to make a little history of her own, by becoming Liberia and Africa's first-ever female elected president.

ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF, LIBERIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT: I think I've been after this maybe for the last 20 years, I feel great, I'm excited, I'm also humbled, you know, by this great opportunity that the Liberian people have given me and the awesome challenges and responsibility that this implies not only for Liberia, but for all women in Africa.

KOINANGE: Whether Johnson-Sirleaf can pull off the miracle that her predecessors failed to do in the last quarter century is anyone's guess, but one thing is certain. She insists she's ready to take on what analysts call one of the most unenviable jobs on the continent.

JOHNSON-SIRLEAF: I'm ready for this job. I'm ready for it professionally, emotionally, spiritually, and I'm also -- you know, to give our people an uplift that the long, hard road of suffering and devastation is now at an end, and it is a new era. KOINANGE (on camera): And that new era begins Monday, January the 16th. Many here are hoping that the day will signal a turning point and the beginning of a new chapter in this country's often turbulent history. Jeff Koinange, CNN, Monrovia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And now, due to an error in translation, CNN incorrectly quoted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his speech given yesterday as saying that Iran has the right to build nuclear weapons. In fact, President Ahmadinejad said Iran has the right to nuclear energy and that, quote, "nation that has civilization does not need nuclear weapons," end quote and, "our nation does not need them." Another quote. CNN takes this matter very seriously and apologizes for that error.

And Iran topped our news from around the world this week with its president having declared that the Holocaust is a myth, Iran announced plans today for an international conference on the Nazi campaign against the Jews. Tehran's Foreign Ministry says the meeting would review the matter scientifically. It's far from clear who would attend. Japan's TV Asahi is airing picture that appeared the rarely traveled leader of North Korea visiting China. Neither North Korea nor China has confirmed the rumored visit of Kim Jong-Il. Reports out of Japan say the reclusive leader is touring technology firms with the hope of boosting his communist's nation's severely ailing economy.

Also today, a hospital in eastern Turkey says today's death of a 12-year-old may have been linked to bird flu. The girl's younger brother is known to have the virus, one of 19 cases confirmed in Turkey so far.

Now, he was a standout on "Saturday Night Live" but can Will Ferrell stand out in Hollywood? The Golden Globes are tomorrow night and we're live from the red carpet next

And later, a love story of humongous proportions, how this unlikely pair found love and friendship. You've got to see it to believe it.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The Golden Globe Awards get under way in a little more than 24 hours from now in Hollywood. The Globes are often an early indicator of which films, which actors will take home Academy Awards perhaps later on in the year. For a preview of the Golden Globes, let's join CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas in L.A. Hello, Sibila.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, I'm out here on the red carpet. Let me tell you, the energy is palpable as all the last-minute preparations are underway for this big party. There's about 30,000 square feet of red carpet that is being rolled out right now. About two thirds down. The other third they're still working on it. And again, the stars will be making their ways down this red carpet. One person in particular, who is going to be making his way for the second time in a row is actor Will Ferrell. Last year he was a presenter, but this year he's actually here as a nominee for his hilarious role, let me tell you, hilarious role, his supporting role in "The Producers."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS (voice-over): Will Ferrell has a lot to sing about in the new year. The animated actor: he picked up his first Golden Globe nomination last month in Beverly Hills, capping off a very busy 2005.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will Ferrell produces.

WILL FERRELL, ACTOR: It feels great, just kind of a continuing this kind of fairy tale existence.

VARGAS: Ferrell, a former "Saturday Night Live" standout has been a very popular comedic actor in Hollywood, making a name for himself in box office hits such as "Old School," "Elf" and "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy."

FERRELL: You stay classy, San Diego.

VARGAS: Ferrell continued his on-screen appeal last year in "The Producers," playing the role of playwright and Nazi sympathizer Franz Liebkind.

FERRELL: Not many know this, but the Fuhrer was a terrific dancer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really? We didn't know that, did we, Leo?

FERRELL: That's because you were taken in by the BBC.

What we're trying to achieve here is a mix of insanity with only enough sweetness, and that he's got to be this guy who's out of his mind.

VARGAS: Although Ferrell is no stranger to award shows, this year's Golden Globe should hold new experiences.

FERRELL: It's kind of ironic that last year I was there for the first time as a presenter and now I'll be there as a nominee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS: Ferrell is stepping up his game this year. He was so hilarious. I recently spoke to Mel Brooks, who of course is the creator of "The Producers." And he just thinks Will Ferrell is amazing. In fact, he says, I don't even think he's real, he was so good that he kind of stole this movie.

Fredricka, back to you.

WHITFIELD: Wow, lots of fun. All right, Sibila, thanks so much. You're sounding a little Lauren Bacall, you need to get a little rest.

VARGAS: Oh, it is going to be long tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: No more partying, girl.

VARGAS: All right, I won't

WHITFIELD: Carol Lin in here to take over the next hour. And throughout the evening lots ahead.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The next couple hours. We'll be covering all the day's news as you have been doing, and we're also going to be having a couple stories you'll find interesting. At 6:00 the house that once belonged to the former slave that was inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe's book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," it fetched a million dollars and now it is going to be open for the public. But we are going to give people a preview, a tour of that property.

WHITFIELD: It's an incredible family story how it was passed down, too.

LIN: You bet. And at 7:00, you know the story about the Donner Party and what's most famous, that they ate their dead in order to stay alive. And obviously that plot didn't work, but there is new evidence that they did not eat each other, that there was no cannibalism. It's kind of a relief to the descendants of the Donner Party who are living with this legacy of cannibalism. So a real interesting story at 7:00.

WHITFIELD: It is interesting indeed, thanks very much, Carol. Good to see you.

Other headlines making news across America now, a standing ovation for Coretta Scott King last night in Atlanta. It was one of the first times she's been seen in public since recovering from last summer's stroke and heart attack. The occasion was a fund-raising event for the King Center. Tomorrow, of course, is Martin Luther King Day, today actually being his birthday

A deadly blaze at a suburban Atlanta hotel is under investigation tonight. One person died, many others hurt in the three alarm fire. About 168 guests were in the Holiday Inn at the time. The hotel is located in Marietta, Georgia, just north of Atlanta

And in Rochester, Michigan, rap mega star Eminem has made good on his threat to remarry his ex-wife. That first time around was notable for being volatile and ended in an ugly divorce back in 2001. To almost everyone's surprise, however, Marshall and Kim Mathers reconciled in 2004. More recently Eminem announced he and his high school sweetheart were back together and would probably give marriage another go-around.

Well, love is a many a-splendid thing, especially when it can overcome odds like age, lifestyle and species. Jeanne Moos makes the most of it when CNN LIVE SUNDAY returns.

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WHITFIELD: This information is just in out of Central Florida. The young boy, Charles Penley, who had been shot by a SWAT team member in his middle school after waving what officials thought was a gun, turned out to be a pellet gun, well, now Seminole County officials are now saying he is dead. Of course, when we get any more information on the 15-year-old boy, we'll be able to bring that to you. More after this.

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WHITFIELD: Who ever said love knows no bounds had it right. It's an inter-species love story as only Jeanne Moos could tell it. You saw it first on CNN's PAULA ZAHN NOW.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the odd come that makes that other odd couple seem bland. Maybe you've had heard about the baby hippo that fell for an aging tortoise in Kenya.

(on camera): I can see why the hippo would think this is a hippo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Large, round, gray.

MOOS (voice-over): Hippos do have poor eyesight, but even in hindsight it's hard to believe even a year later, these two are inseparable.

And here's how they got that way. Just over a year ago when the tsunami's waves hit Kenya's shores, Owen the Hippo was separated from his family. He had to be rescued by villagers using shark nets. They brought him to Heller Park Animal Preserve, where he made a beeline for Mzee the Tortoise even though the tortoise ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was hissing and rebuffing.

MOOS: But the hippo glommed onto the tortoise, the tortoise relented, and their cozy photos made them a world-famous couple. Now Mzee and Owen sleep together, they wallow in the pond together. Owen tends to follow Mzee around like a lovesick dog. A two-year-old hippo and a 130-year-old tortoise. Their age difference puts even Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones to shame.

DR. PAULA KUHUMBU, GEN. MGR., LAFARGE ECOSYSTEMS: I've seen Mzee put his head into Owen's mouth, and this is a hippopotamus that could crush his head, but he doesn't, they're extremely trusting of each other.

MOOS: Dr. Paula Kuhumbu is Heller Park's expert on the pair. They even munch on the same branch. Back when they first got famous, a then six-year-old girl in New York saw pictures of the two and asked her dad if they could write a book. Now, Scholastic is publishing it, a children's picture book. CRAIG HATKOFF, CO-AUTHOR, "OWEN AND MZEE": It's almost surreal what's happened between these animals. They're developing their own form of communication, which has really sort of baffled the scientists.

MOOS: We're not talking the usual snorts and moans. Doctor Kuhumbu tells us the hippo and the tortoise now make noises at each other, a high-pitched wailing sound.

(on camera): I don't suppose you could imitate the sound, could you?

KUHUMBU: It sounds a bit like this. Booowoowoowoo.

MOOS (voice-over): Fans get fanatic. This box arrived for the author of the children's book, a miniature diorama created by his mother's hairdresser. There are plans for Owen to be introduced to a female hippo name Cleo to teach him hippo behavior, because he's acting too much like a tortoise. When Owen wants Mzee to move, he nibbles on his foot. Scientists say the amazing a cold-blooded reptile would warm up to a mammal. Slow and steady doesn't just win the race, it wins the hippo.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Now that's a cute story. So much more ahead on CNN. Carol Lin is up next with more of CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

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LIN: Good evening. I'm Carol Lin. Straight ahead on this hour -- capital punishment in the spotlight. Blind and nearly deaf and sitting on death row. Tonight, arguments for and against executing a 76-year-old man.

And remembering the Sago Mine disaster. Family and friends gather to honor the dead as new details emerge tonight on the sole survivor.

And African American history in the making. The house that inspired a best-selling novel will soon open its door for the world to see. This is CNN LIVE SUNDAY.

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