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Italian Cruise Crash; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 83rd Birthday Celebrated
Aired January 15, 2012 - 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: And in just -- sorry about that, one passenger apparently as a result of the Italian cruise ship that ran aground said she thought she might die. Others told us at first that the crew said there were a few problems, but then reality set in. Survivors describe the sheer panic as people rush to get of the boat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONDA ROSENTHAL, CRUISE SHIP SURVIVOR: Everything was fine. They said there were electrical problems but then that their technicians were sorting it out and we should be fine in no time.
BRANDON WARRICK, CRUISE SHIP SURVIVOR: The gentleman that was getting the cabins ready for the evening, he kept saying, he said repeatedly to the people, he said no problems. Small technical difficulty. No worries. No worries. Go to your cabin. No problem. So we went into our cabin and prepared to get ready for bed.
ROSENTHAL: The crew didn't really act like it was a big deal. And then it tilted a lot more and that's when people started to freak out. Also the lights went out.
UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: There were passengers trying to help. There was chaos. I think they were trying hard, but to us it appeared as if they weren't trained well.
UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: They were like, is it sinking or is it not? It was just so slowly, slowly going down.
ROSENTHAL: We were, like, running out when the ship started taking on water. I saw the river of water gushing in. I started to panic then. And I started sprinting toward the boat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE SURVIVOR: It is 30 minutes if not longer and we were just circling going around and around until I finally went to the shore and docked at a pier. It just seemed like so chaotic and the boats really were needed to get back to the ship for more people, there were still a lot of people on the ship.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE SURVIVOR: During the waiting period, it was just kind of waiting there. We had nothing to do. We were powerless.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SURVIVOR: We would joke about, oh, like, what if, like, "titanic," like part two and we always look at the lifeboats and see, I wonder if there would be enough for everyone and just kind of joke about it, but now, you know, it actually happens.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE SURVIVOR: It was terrifying at the time, definitely. But, I mean, I don't know --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SURVIVOR: Now that we're safe --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE SURVIVOR: Yes. I'm just glad to be back on land.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: And search and rescue teams are still in the waters trying to determine whether there are any other survivors or bodies that could be recovered from that wreckage. Thus far, we understand that confirmations of five people have been killed.
And now we also understand that they continue to look for people who are missing as many as 20 people remain missing.
Our Dan Rivers is there in the location of where the survivors of that wreckage have been collecting as well as it kind of has been a central command point as well for many of the search and rescue teams.
So Dan, give us an idea of what they're able to tell us right now about the continued search.
DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're right. It is going on through the night. We have seen firefighters coming and going on different boats. As you can see, it is well after dark here. The ship is out there in the dark. But still the subject of a really pretty intense search and rescue operation. There are still 15 people on unaccounted for. Five now confirmed dead. And until they know exactly what happened to those other 15. I think the plan is to keep going through the night and through tomorrow and the days after if need be until they have, you know, ascertained whether those people are alive and simply have gone ashore in the confusion, not told the authorities or if perhaps they're trapped on board, alive or possibly have perished in this accident.
It is difficult because, of course, half of the ship is under water. So they're not only searching above the water line, but also have got divers who have been searching below the water line. And you can imagine how difficult and dangerous that is, with an unstable ship on the rocks and all of those thousands of rooms and cabins to try and go through. It is a huge task.
WHITFIELD: And, Dan what more do we know about the ship's captain, that he had been questioned, that he may be facing manslaughter charges as well as abandoning ship?
RIVERS: Well, absolutely. He's facing some very grave charges indeed. Francesco Schettinohe captain we're told. He joined as the safety officer in 2002. He was appointed a captain in 2006. Now, Costa cruise is which is a U.S.-owned company, has receiving, put out a statement so that distancing itself basically from the captain saying that they are looking -- there may have been significant human error on the part of the ship's master and they go on to say the route of the vessel appears to have been too close to the shore. And the captain's judgment in handling the emergency appears not to have followed standard Costa procedures.
So while they are saying, you know, this is clearly still under investigation, from their initial inquiry into all this, they think he did take the ship too close to shore. That ties in exactly with what we have seen here on the island. We have been out on the water with the local diver who knows these waters very well. And he is sure that the ship went too close to a string of rocks that comes out over that way, which is clearly not to (inaudible) he says which is well known. And simply went too close to shore. It gauged that massive hole down the port side of a hull. The ship started taking on water. They then came around here and kind of performed a u-turn. And then as we heard from the passengers, there seemed to be quite some time where they initially tried to sort of suggest that it was a sort of technical problem and they were going to fix it.
But now we know that water was pouring into the hull and gradually the ship started listing over until it went right over and effectively sort of capsized. And those dramatic scenes as people were scrambling for their lives to get out.
WHITFIELD: And so, Dan, there have been questions as to whether the captain or someone made the call for that ship to go on the wrong side of the island, that it didn't follow the regular route that this boat takes, some 52 weeks out of the year.
RIVERS: Well, yes, I mean, that's not clear because we talked to some people here who suggested that, you know, the ship this particular ship, the Costa Concordia, did come this side of the island quite regularly but not as close as it did this time, clearly.
But it did come past here that they would often come down the island as here to sort of give it away. But there were links between that particular ship and this island, some crew members serving on the ship are from this island, former captain, now lives on this island.
And so, there was a kind of a bit of a relationship between the island and the ship, and they used to sort of salute each other as she went past. What perhaps may happens this time is that they simply got sort of relaxed about it and went way too close, where there some sort navigational error, and went way too close and resulting in that huge gash down the side of the hull.
And then what appears to have happened then is the -- we're told, the captain then took command and decided that the safest thing to do was to kind of come in behind the harbor wall there, perhaps because he realized the situation was beyond salvage and that the best thing for them to do was to get to as close to shore as possible because he knew that they were going to have to effectively abandon ship.
Some people on the island have told us for example, you know, if they had continued going further on, just a bit further out, it shelves very steeply there, and had the ship carried on taking water in the deeper part of the sea here, she may well have gone right to the bottom. WHITFIELD: Dan Rivers, thanks so much, from Giglio Island.
So, this is the ship that we're talking about, the Costa Concordia is triple the size of the titanic, three and a half football field long. It was at cruising speed when it apparently hit those rocks. And back in 2006, when it was christened, it was believed to be Italy's biggest cruise ship. It is run by a company called Costa Cruises whose parent company is carnival which is based Miami. And in 2010, Costa Cruises had a pretty bad year. One of its cruise liner collided with a cargo ship hurting three people. And another Costa ship smashed into a dock in Egypt, killing three crew members.
So witnesses say the ship shuttered when the lights went out and it wasn't long before everyone realized the situation was pretty urgent and they headed for the lifeboats. I want to talk to Chris McKesson. He is a professor of naval architecture at the University of New Orleans.
So, professor McKesson, good to see you. So, this vessel is a pretty big one, a three and a half football fields long, one of the largest Italian cruise ships ever built. Surely it has the mapping and the depth gauges that would be very sophisticated, right?
CHRIS MCKESSON, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS: Yes, that's correct. She should have had the latest 2 21st century complement of navigation equipment on board.
WHITFIELD: So, what potentially could have done wrong here? Do you see this strictly human error more likely or could there have been an electrical problem on the ship and perhaps the crew was not able to rely on the gauges that usually allow them to get through rockier, shallow areas like this?
MCKESSON: Well, of course, we don't have a complete picture of what took place, of course. So there is a lost speculation involved. It seems, my opinion, that is formulating as I'm watching the same news reports everybody else is, is that this really is a human failure as opposed to an engineering failure. It appears the mechanical systems of the ship did what they were supposed to do. The breakdown seems to have been in the communication, the way the evacuation was handled and such.
Your specific question about the navigation equipment and such, certainly, of course, if there had been an electrical problem or power outage. It would be possible to lose some portion of the ship's navigation equipment. But we do have redundant systems on board. There should be paper charts on board as well as electronic charts and I hope the possibility of that would be quite minimal.
WHITFIELD: And then how liable would the captain or anyone be like on the bridge crew that would be able to convey what they're seeing, just simply line of sight?
MCKESSON: Well, canning one of the ships is, is a very complicated job and technical job in the 21st century. It is not a matter of steering a small boat. It is computer intensive, workplace, and in fact we refer to the bridge crew as the bridge team because there is a whole hierarchy of command disciplines that have to take place up there.
In fact, there is some indication we could just -- I heard one of the stories about the ship first leaning to one direction because it felt like she was going into a turn, and then the bump happened.
To my mind, that actually suggested that perhaps at the last minute a crew member did see the rock close aboard on the port hand, tried to steer the ship to starboard to the right to miss the rock, but kind of like driving a large RV, you know, if you swing the nose to the right, the tail will swing a little bit to the left and what we see in the video images is that the rock impacted the ship on the left side, after the mid-ship, the back half of the ship, and that again would be consistent with if she was turning a little bit to the right and then her stern section swung over into the rocks. So to my mind there is some indication that someone on the bridge team did see at the last minute that and try to intervene to prevent the collision, but alas too late.
WHITFIELD: But at the same time, do you want to give credit to the crew or even the captain to try to get that boat apparently as close to shore as possible, even once it had run aground, because reportedly that's what the crew may have tried to do.
MCKESSON: Well, again, there was a tremendous amount that went right and to put this in context, I would like to remind you that we're talking about 4,000 people and that's about the same capacity as 20 modern jetliners.
So, if you try to imagine an aviation disaster involving 20 aircraft and with the loss of life as small as we have had in this case. Of course, one is too many, but still I think that we should be proud of what did go right.
For example, the captain did correctly try to take the ship into shallow water in order to improve the evacuation possibility. When he gave the abandon ship order, the ship did maintain the engineering systems, did maintain propulsion and steerage capability on the ship. The lights were burning for several hours after the allegiance, so a lot went right in the situation.
WHITFIELD: Chris McKesson, thanks so much for joining us from New Orleans.
MCKESSON: Thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: Two women, both icons, both trying to make a difference. Yoko Ono tries to extend women's rights worldwide. And Oprah Winfrey, her South African school celebrates a milestone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Two iconic women trying to make impacts on two different continents, Oprah Winfrey and Yoko Ono. In the case of Winfrey, she celebrated with graduating pioneers, 72 female students, the first to go through the leadership school. She founded if South Africa. She opened at academy five years ago to promote opportunities for young women facing adversity. Winfrey told CNN there is one word they do not use at that school.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, ACTRESS: In the beginning, I think we had teachers who were, like, oh, the girls, they come very disadvantaged so we eliminated that word disadvantaged because disadvantage allows other people to look at you like you have some kind of disease and they lower their expectations, and would you I said. Nobody has a disadvantaged brain. Nobody is here with a disadvantaged mind. Nobody is disadvantaged spirit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So let's talk more about the power of celebrity and not just in Oprah Winfrey, but Yoko Ono trying to extend women's rights around the world. Ralitsa Vassileva here with CNN International.
So, this is pretty extraordinary. On this weekend, these two iconic women doing extraordinary things. In the case of Yoko, what is she doing in India?
RALITSA VASSILEVA, ANCHOR, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Well, she's opened her first exhibit, which is called our beautiful daughters. And it honors Indian women and raises and highlights the situation, the struggles, the exhibit, of course, this is Yoko Ono. It is a pretty disturbing. We have some pictures of it. It shows, you see there, bodies of women, headless, and they don't have feet. There is also a box of ashes which invites people to participate. They either rub those ashes on them or on the bodies and she says the message is just to draw attention to women and the disparities, specifically, in India, which they face because we have talked before about the fact that girls are considered burdens and parents tend to find out when a woman is pregnant if she has a girl and some parents prefer to try again for a boy.
WHITFIELD: So, she's using shock to try to get her message across.
VASSILEVA: Exactly. And here's the message in her own words. Let's take a listen to the way she describes it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOKO ONO, ARTIST, PERFORMER: Because now the whole world is starting to understand how important women power is with the world, not just for women, for the world. And, you know, think about how much we are focusing on getting older. Women are much more important than oil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VASSILEVA: So women are much more important than oil. Also, she says in this very same interview that women are 50 percent of the population of the world and it is not just about Indian women. It is also about disparities faced by women around the world, but specifically she wants to draw attention to this practice in India, which is getting worse. The census shows the disparity between boys and girls is growing. There are less girls than boys.
WHITFIELD: Why is this important to her? Why did she select India?
VASSILEVA: She said that she has been very fascinated with this country, with women and their strength. In fact, she and the late John Lennon actually visited India about 40 years ago, for this spirituality. She said that was for religious reasons.
But she's always been drawn to Indian's spirituality, but this time she's drawn by the women's issue, by the women's plight over there and she just decided that she wanted to go there and launch this exhibit and make people think and participate and hopefully contribute something.
WHITFIELD: Powerful messages from two powerful women and definitely make everyone think.
VASSILEVA: And they have the power to make a difference.
WHITFIELD: Yes, all right. Ralitsa, thanks so much. And happy New Year. First time we're seeing each other in the New Year.
VASSILEVA: Happy new year to you too.
WHITFIELD: That's right. Thanks so much Ralitsa.
Alright, next, as the nation celebrates the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., the national memorial honoring him in Washington is about to see some change itself.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: On what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 83rd birthday, crowds are at the new memorial honoring him at the national mall in Washington today.
CNN's Athena Jones joins us live now from the memorial - Athena.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. That's right. There has been a steady flow of people to this site all day. This is the first year that people coming to the national mall can celebrate Dr. King's birthday at a memorial built in his honor.
Now, there have been some controversies surrounding one of Dr. King's famous quotes used here at the site. And we talked to folks about that quote and about government orders to correct it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONES (voice-over): Tourists and locals young and old brave the crowd to visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial as national park service rangers laid a wreath to honor the civil rights icon on what would have been his 83rd birthday. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. II, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'S SON: I thank God for this opportunity and I thank God that all of us are able to be here on this day.
JONES: Thousands have visited the 30-foot statue of Dr. King since it opened last summer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have done a great job with the whole park.
JONES: Inscribed on the sculpture of king and on the walls around the site are excerpts of his speeches. One edited line from a 1968 speech sparked controversy last summer when author Maya Angelou said the shortened version made the civil rights leader appear arrogant.
The line is etched into the monument reads "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness." King's original words were "if you want to say that I was a drum major, say I was a drum major for justice, say that I was a drum major for peace, I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter." Angelou said leaving out the "if" changes the meaning.
Friday interior secretary Ken Salazar gave the national park service 30 days to work with the memorial foundation, the king family and others to choose a more accurate version of the quote.
KEN SALAZAR, INTERIOR SECRETARY: We do want to correct what generations yet unborn. We do not want it as a distraction.
LUTHER: It is certainly the right thing to do. The context is probably most important to me.
JONES: Reaction at the site is mixed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is something very important. The point gets across and that's certainly that this is a beautiful tribute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think shorting the quote robs us of his true nature and authentic verbiage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I enjoy the full quote. So, I was excited to see they were going to change that this week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: Now, memorial foundation president Harry Johnson who we heard from just now in that piece told us it is going to take some time to determine how to change the quote and even whether the quote can be changed. And so we shouldn't expect to see the actual correction happen too soon -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Athena Jones, from the national mall in Washington.
So we could be looking at a first in the GOP presidential race. Josh Levs is here to tell us about that -- Josh. JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Hey there, Fred. This presidential race could make U.S. religious history. I'll break that down for you right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The Italian company that owned the cruise liner that ran ground and sank this weekend is saying significant human error contributed to the accident. At least five people are confirmed dead and several others are still missing. The ship hit rocks and listed on to its side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were waiting for, like, two or three hours.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The crew was so young. And you would have thought they could have handled it better.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were fortunate. We boarded the lifeboat early enough. We were taken to shore early enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Republican presidential contenders going on the attack against front-runner Mitt Romney. Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry all touted their conservative records on morning talk shows. All three stumped in South Carolina today, trying to head off a third straight Romney victory in Saturday's upcoming primary.
An unusual moment on the campaign trail today, Mitt Romney gave a handful of cash to a financially strapped woman at a rally in Sumter, South Carolina. A Romney aid says the woman told the candidate about her financial problems at an event earlier in the week. And when Romney spotted her at today's rally, he gave her all the money he had, between $50 and $60 in his pocket.
The 2012 race for the Republican presidential nomination could make religious history. Our Josh Levs is here to tell us all about that.
LEVS: You and I have been talking about this, the intersection between politics and religion in America n is fundamental to what we have been about, right? As we're seeing something new this time around, this could be the Republican Party's first non-protestant nominee ever in modern politics. And it says a lot about politics and religion in the U.S.
Let's start off with some of the firsts we could see in this upcoming race, on the GOP side. If front-runner Mitt Romney gets the nomination or Jon Huntsman, either one would be the first Mormon nominee ever for either major party and will be the first Mormon president.
If Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich gets the nomination, either would be the Republican Party's first catholic nominee ever, only the second catholic president, John F. Kennedy was the first. There are also two protestant in the race, Ron Paul and Rick Perry. Paul has been doing pretty well so far, well, so far actually. Rick Perry has not been much of a factor. He's hoping to turn that around in South Carolina.
And there is this piece I been dip for on our belief blog on CNN.com where I spoke to experts about this. They say this diversity among this PAC this year, on the GOP side, is reflecting changes in our country's history. A couple major ones we talk about. One is that Catholics were once the solid democratic voting block and that's changed.
Over the last few decades, many Catholics flipped the Republican Party in a big reason for that was Roe V. Wade, the Supreme Court decision. Many Catholics who opposed abortion rights ended up defecting the Republican Party.
Also, we talked about Mormonism. It is quickly growing religion. More and more people know someone Mormon. Americans are becoming increasingly comfortable with the idea of a Mormon president. But some are still not and that could play out in the race.
And folks, I want you to see the whole story, all linked up for you at my page, at CNN.com/josh and facebook and twitter, joshlevsCNN.
So, Fred, no matter who gets the nomination, whoever we see with this denominational diversity on the GOP side, this is already making history for this country.
WHITFIELD: So, we have already seen some real religious differences on the campaign trail, haven't we?
LEVS: Yes. We have seen some religious differences on the campaign trail, yes. And it is interesting to see how it's played out so far. There are a couple of places you can see some voters are influenced by the differences. Evangelicals, for example, have shown more support for Rick Santorum, one of their own.
But if you look at the latest contest in New Hampshire, catholic and protestant voters went for Romney over other candidates. Just as other voters did overall. So what was once an American history, a huge challenge, once upon a time, huge challenge for catholic, it would have been unimaginable to have had a Mormon candidate do this well.
This time around, we're not seeing that kind of change. And Fred, I'll tell you, there is also something else going on that I find really interesting, experts told me about that is that these days they said there is a fissure in all the denominations and Mormonism and catholism and pretestenism.
You have a growing split between liberals and conservatives so what has happened is conservatives among all the different denominations have formed bonds including political bonds and the Republican party capitalized on that, done a good job of reaching out to conservatives across all the bonds. So, these days, that conservative versus liberal differentiation in America has become more powerful politically than the religious. WHITFIELD: Wow. Where religion and politics come together. All right, thanks so much, Josh Levs, appreciate that.
LEVS: Thank you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: So with less than a week before the South Carolina primary, candidates are scrambling to have their messages heard. Tune in to what they're saying. CNN's southern Republican presidential debate airs Thursday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
France welcomes some pretty unusual guests. Two giant pandas, all the way from China. We'll tell you why these are so special.
Next, how to tackle credit card debt, our Christine Romans has an action plan to help you out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Checking international headlines today, a blunt message from U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon to Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad. He tells him to quote, "Stop killing your people." A (inaudible) state television reports that Al-Assad is granting general amnesty for all crimes committed by protesters since the uprising last spring.
In Bucharest, and 18 other Romanian cities, protesters gathered for the fourth day asking their president to step down. Seventeen people were in during clashes between police and protesters. Demonstrators blame the government and austerity measures for their poor living standards.
And this week, the queen of Denmark celebrated 40 years on the throne. Thousands of people crowded into the streets to celebrate and cheer the popular queen.
And France gave two giant pandas a state welcome. The pair, well, they're on a ten-year loan to the country's zoo from China. It is a gesture aimed at strengthening ties between France and China.
All right, there are -- we're three weeks already in the New Year and we're wondering, are you still on track with your financial new year's resolutions? If not, the best investment you can make is getting out of credit card debt. Christine Romans shows you how in this week's smart, is the new rich.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: America's national debt is now about as large as the entire U.S. economy, more than $15 trillion and growing. Politicians are deadlocked over how to fix it, but only you can tackle your own personal debt and we're going to help you do just that.
I mean, you can pay down your highest interest rate credit card first. That's a lot of advice. But, if you need to pay off one that is a low interest rate but a smaller balance because it will make you feel good, you can do that too, whatever it takes to get you to start spending -- cutting down that debt.
Also cut your spending. Strive to live on 70 percent of your income. If you can't afford it, put it down. Use a debit card if you need or use cash to limit spending. And don't activate the overdraft protection.
But, you can take advantage of your credit card protections. Keep your credit card balance below 30 percent of your overall limit. And finally, please, please, please, please, please. Check your credit history at annual credit report.com, clean up any mistakes right now.
Don't just close your eyes. You got to find out what the credit history looks like. It is really important, folks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Alright. That was Christine Romans for smart is the new rich.
So, it started out as a dying woman's wish to be buried in a nice quiet cemetery. But it erupted into a legal battle with racial overtones.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The burial of an African-American Christian woman in a cemetery is erupting into a nasty battle. There are allegations of racism coming from the woman's family.
But as CNN's Susan Candiotti reports, the controversy is also pitting members of a Connecticut synagogue against each other.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Paul Steer followed his sister's wishes when he buried Juliet, a Christian, in this Jewish cemetery. She was only 47 and died of lymphoma.
Paul, what did your sister like about this place?
PAUL STEER, EXECUTOR: Nice, peaceful, quiet.
CANDIOTTI: But there has been little peace since congregation board member Maria Balaban did what some consider the unthinkable, suing to get Juliet Steer's remains dug up and moved out.
MARIA BALABAN, PLAINTIFF: She's not supposed to be buried there. She's not Jewish. I had no idea what she was.
CANDIOTTI: Paul Steer was flabbergasted when Balaban's lawyer called him.
STEER: So, what is all this about? Well, my client doesn't believe your sister accepted the faith and she has to be exhumed. We're going to take her -- I said, man, get out of here. You are nobody. You can't do that. CANDIOTTI: Balaban has also suing her own congregation, even though they say she voted two years ago to create an interfaith section.
ARTHUR LIVERANT, CONGREGATION AHAVATH ACHISM: This, to our right, is the Jewish section. And to our left is the newly opened interfaith section.
CANDIOTTI: But Balaban says this interfaith section was never supposed to include non-Jews without any ties to the congregation.
BALABAN: I would never approve that and I did not approve it.
CANDIOTTI: Paul Steer is troubled that Balaban hasn't objected to four other plots in the interfaith section. They're reserved by white families.
STEER: There are another four that are reserved for white.
CANDIOTTI: You think the woman behind this lawsuit is racist?
STEER: Well, my belief, yes, I think so.
CANDIOTTI: Are you racist?
BALABAN: No, I am not.
CANDIOTTI: Balaban says the other our four plots reserved by white families have ties to the Jewish congregation and that her long track record as a social worker helping black teens speaks for itself.
BALABAN: I did not want to hurt the pour Juliet who is buried there, that she thought she would be buried in a peaceful place. I'm fighting for those who have proved that.
CANDIOTTI: Balaban's fellow board members maintain she knew what she was voting for.
LIVERANT: Anybody of any faith could be buried in an interfaith cemetery.
CANDIOTTI: Do you think Juliet should be moved?
LIVERANT: Absolutely not.
STEER: The judge will give us justice and I know my sister will be at peace.
CANDIOTTI: Next month, a judge may decide whether Balaban's religious objections will force Juliet steer from her final resting place.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Coal Chester, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And I talked with our legal guys, Avery Friedman and Richard Herman, about this case yesterday. And they agree on one thing, it is a sad situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: She has to prove whether or not it is appropriate to exhume the body. I think she's going to lose this case, but it is a fascinating question. And it is sad for everyone, actually.
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This is just a disgusting case, Fred. This woman was 47 years old, she died of cancer. She selected this plot. They took her money like you said. Even though her lawyer proclaims her motives are pure, this is nothing but just blatant racism. This is horrible. And I hope that the judge will dismiss this immediately or, you know, as soon as they can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And you can see our legal guys live each Saturday, noon eastern time.
Alright, big night in Hollywood, the Golden Globe awards. Take a look at live pictures right now. The red carpet is just below that awning there and British comedian Ricky Gervais is going to host the show for the third time. What to expect. We'll get a preview of the Golden Globes right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Alright, the big night for Hollywood with the golden globe awards tonight. Soon, everybody will be watching the red carpet to catch a glimpse of the stars and of course, to see who are they wearing.
Showbiz tonight's A.J. Hammer is in Beverly Hills on the red carpet. Who are you wearing, A.J.? And who is there with you?
A.J. HAMMER, HOST, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: Who am I wearing?
WHITFIELD: Yes, you know?
HAMMER: Who am I wearing?
WHITFIELD: The designer.
HAMMER: Yes. I'm working the boss tonight. But listen. The real boss tonight is going to be George Clooney when he makes his way down this red carpet because everybody is waiting for George. Of course, the Hollywood foreign press association puts on the Golden Globes every year, loves Clooney so much because he is a modern day classic Hollywood star.
And as I look around, right now, it is just people getting in place before the stars start to arrive, 150 media outlets from around the world as the Hollywood foreign press association gets set to honor the best in film and the best in TV, which is part of what makes this such a great party. But, let me run down a couple of the movie categories right now. And let's start with the Clooney category. He's got two nominations in this category. In the best picture drama category, the film that he's a huge star and nominated for best actor, "the descendants" is nominated along with "the help," "hugo, " ides of march," Clooney directed film, "money ball" that's a big break Pitt film of course and "warhorse".
And let me run down - and first of all, I should point out, "descendants" really, the favorite in that category by so many people to win tonight. In the best motion picture comedy or musical category, Fred, is a little more of a horse race this year. I don't think it is as easy to predict who will win that one. The nominees in that category are "50/50", "the artist", "bridesmaids", "midnight in Paris", and "my weeks with Marilyn." I mean all tremendous films. So many people are leaning towards "the artist." There is a piece of me that wants me to see "bridesmaids." how fun that category, I mean, come on. What an unbelievable and incredible film. How fun was that?
WHITFIELD: So funny. I mean, side splitting, you know, humor. OK. So, Ricky Gervais, you know, he tends to make people really crack up as well, except are a lot of people, particularly the stars, kind of nervous about what he might say or are people excited about the third time?
HAMMER: Yes. People are nervous, for sure. Are you kidding me? I think everybody is wondering if they're going to find themselves in his cross hairs. Because, let's remember, after last year's golden globes, the following day, that's all I was talking about. It was the big story. How he went after everybody and some say in too harsh a way.
He went after the stars, he went after the Golden Globes, Hollywood foreign press association, themselves, but they asked him back. And if you told me a year ago tomorrow that he would be asked back for the globes, I would have said not a chance. And now he's been asked back, I say all bets are off. He was warming up last year.
And here's a thing, Fred. He's going to be tweeting this year. Now, he said he would come back and host the show once again if nobody knew other than him what he was going to say before he actually said it. But he's also going to be tweeting this year. There's no delay button on the tweet.
But, just to soften the blow, Fred, of course, the thing that sets the globes apart from the other awards shows, the booze. You see this little bottle? They're handing out a thousand of these. They are doing these as giveaway. They estimate about 20,000 cocktails will be served in the course of the night. So, I have a feeling it will soften the blow for Ricky Gervais finds you in his cross hairs.
WHITFIELD: Yes. There will be a lot of giggles not just because of his punch lines but because of the bubbly. Alright, A.J. we'll be watching you. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Alright, we'll have much more of the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead. No bubbly allowed. Don Lemon is bringing his own natural effervescence, however.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why no bubbly? Wouldn't it be great to do a show with champagne?
WHITFIELD: We can't slur. Just give it to us straight.
LEMON: It would be great to watch the Golden Globes, perhaps on a new big 3D wide screen television, maybe watch it on the computer.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Or 3D without the glasses.
LEMON: You know. And if you want a new TV, if you want a 3D TV and see what is coming up, you probably should have been in Vegas last week. Everything was there. If it plugs in, Fred, it was on display at the consumer electronics show.
So, what are the hottest and best electronics you're going to want in 2012? Our favorite tech geek, she's cute, we love her, runs them down for us at 7:00 Eastern tonight. And then something that you and I have been talking about, interesting discussion about what really defines someone as being black, right, or white.
In years following aviation of slavery, Fred, states began passing laws to make sure that any child born from mixed parents to be considered black and therefore denied the rights of white people became known as the one drop rule. It was ruled unconstitutional back in 1967. But some say the legacy of the one drop rule still exists and I'm going to talk with Dr. Yaba Blade, an African-American scholar who does research on skin color about her one drop project.
And what I spoke with you about, the blog I wrote for CNN.com in America, go to CNN.com/inAmerica and also on the home page at CNN.com and you can see the piece that I wrote about my experience with passing in with the one drop rule and fair skin, dark skin, all of that. So, it is very interesting discussion.
WHITFIELD: Alright, we look forward to all of that. Thanks so much.
LEMON: You look like you should be on the golden globes, always.
WHITFIELD: Yes, OK.
LEMON: Strike a pose.
WHITFIELD: All right, Don. He brings his own effervescence and bubbly without the bubbly.
LEMON: I could be drunk.
WHITFIELD: Come on now. All right, Don, thanks so much. We'll be watching you. NEWSROOM straight ahead.
Alright, so this winter some areas are not getting their usual snowfall. That makes some people a little upset. Not Don. He likes the warm weather. Upset in a very big way. It is impacting businesses and Jacqui Jeras will be along to tell us about that. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The movie "red tails" is in screenings around the country. It's about the Tuskegee airmen and their roles in World War II.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's give those newspapers something to write about.
So among those who watched an early screening of the movie, Robert friend, one of the original P-51 pilots. He explains why sharing this history in person or on film is so important.
ROBERT FRIEND, P-51 PILOT: I flew 142 missions.
WHITFIELD: You say that like it's no big deal.
FRIEND: Was no big deal.
WHITFIELD: Really?
FRIEND: Nope. In fact, when the war was over, I was really a little bit disappointed because I was frustrated that I didn't know what I was going to do the next day.
WHITFIELD: Did your gut ever say that this was a program that was designed more for failure than it was success?
FRIEND: I don't believe that you can design a program for failure because you can't control all of the elements. They couldn't keep us from doing the right thing. They couldn't keep us from learning what we could.
WHITFIELD: Portions of this history have been told in various ways, but it seems as though within the past 15 years or so there's been almost like a birth or a rebirth of interest.
FRIEND: Probably because it's starting to disappear, down to a very few.
WHITFIELD: There may be only about 40 --
FRIEND: 40 of the ones that were overseas, yes.
WHITFIELD: And maybe as a whole about 300 airmen.
FRIEND: Less than two.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So be sure to join us next weekend for our full interview with Tuskegee Pilot Bob Friend as the movie "red tails" hits theaters across the country as well.
Alright, here is a look at what's going on in the business world this week.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Well, the week ahead brings a big batch of earning major financial institutions. Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, CITI groups, Wells Fargo, and Morgan Stanley are slated to clock in with fourth quarter numbers.
The banks are a concern especially right now because of the debt crisis in Europe, and on Friday JPMorgan chase kicked things off with pretty disappointing results.
Also coming up, the latest home sales figures and two key readings on inflation. The market, of course, is closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day, but we'll track it all for you all week on CNN money. Fred, back to you.
WHITFIELD: Alright. Thanks so much, Poppy.
So it's been a pretty warm winter this year, and in many places they have seen little or no snow when they usually get tons.
Let's ask meteorologist Jacqui Jeras if some areas in the west might see a change this week.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. You know, it's just been terrible really for a good month or more across parts of the west, Fredricka. They've been in what we would call a snow drought, and we finally see a significant change in our weather pattern that is finally bringing some snow.
Look, you can see it already in Seattle and into the Portland area with a lot of moisture starting to come in across parts of the south out ahead of this. As we look at the week ahead, our jet stream is shifting to the south, and so that means we're going to be seeing a series of storms across the west slam in, and within one week almost all of these mountain ranges are going to have accumulating snow.
So, this is actually some really good news, but we really need at least three storms to line up to start making up for some of this deficit we've been seeing. I mean the snow packs are record or near record across most of these areas.
WHITFIELD: And so, Jacqui, this snow is important, particularly because some areas are counting on that snow to replenish or keep their water supply, what they need.
JERAS: That's right. The ski resorts have been suffering. Of course, tourism across the mountainous west certainly relies upon people coming into these areas and wanting to see the snow.
This map shows you what the snow/water equivalent is. So, if we took the snow, we melted it down, and this tells us what the deficit is. So, when you look at the red states, this is Oregon, this is Nevada, and then we look across the Wasatch range here in Utah, all of these areas are less than 50 percent of normal, and one of the worst hit areas here is lake Tahoe area where they're like 10 percent of normal. So it really is an extreme situation. Last time this year, Fredricka, to put it in perspective, 227 percent of average snowfall in Tahoe.
WHITFIELD: Quite the opposite. What a difference. Thanks so much, Jacqui. Appreciate that.
JERAS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Alright, birthday wishes for a boxing legend.
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CROWD: Happy birthday dear Muhammad, happy birthday to you.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Everybody loves Muhammad Ali, boxing champ. Ali is celebrating a big birthday bash in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. The champ turns 70 on Tuesday. About 350 people were at the party including a boxer Lennox Lewis and singer John Mellencamp. Happy birthday!
That's going do it for me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Much more of the NEWSROOM straight ahead with my colleague Don Lemon. Here he is.
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